747 is the thrilling story behind "the Queen of the Skies"—the Boeing 747—as told by Joe Sutter, one of the most celebrated engineers of the twentieth century, who spearheaded its design and construction. Sutter's vivid narrative takes us back to a time when American technology was cutting-edge and jet travel was still glamorous and new. With wit and warmth, he gives an insider's sense of the larger than life-size personalities—and the tensions—in the aeronautical world.
Father of the Queen of the SkiesSeptember 13, 2006 J. Jensen(United States) 6 out of 7 found this review helpful
There have been many books written about the 747, but none of them tell the human side of taking one of the largest aircraft off the drawing board and into the skies in two years time. Joe Sutter is the consumate engineer, he engages you in a voice that keeps you interested all of the way through the book. He does it in such a way that makes you feel that maybe you where there. Boeing bet the company on the 747, if it had been a failure the company would probably be a footnote in history. The company put their trust in one single man, who claims he and Boeing grew up together. Joe also includes the stories of many others along the way, he never takes credit for himself but always makes you aware that it was a team effort. In fact he leads off with a disclaimer that if he remembered it wrong he was sorry.
The book arrived just in time for the bi-annual Farnborough airshow in England, he was asked by several reporters to critique the A380. Being ever the gentleman he declined to take the bait. But he is straight forward on his views of NASA and the Challenger accident, still just as analytical when he was half his age. His love of the 747 is evident, he is excited to see it exist today and hopes with newer technology that it will be around 50 years from now.
If you love big airplanes, or want to know what it took to build something that changed the World. This book will capture you for every page. Straight from the man who's shoulders carried a company and probably most of livelyhoods of the Pacific Northwest. It is a joy to still have Joe around to tell his story. To me the 747 will always be the greatest airplane ever built and Joe will always be the greatest airplane engineer that ever lived.
Building The Greatest Commercial Airliner YetJanuary 26, 2008 Dianne Roberts(Los Angeles, California United States) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful
747 is simply a must for anyone in the aerospace design industry, or for people who are just interested in how the 747 was built. Joe Sutter, the airplane's director of engineering and the one most responsible for its actual design, has written a trim, quick, and enjoyable to read history of the 747 program encased in a semi-autobiography.
After a few chapters exploring the author's early life, including his college time and Navy life, the book spends its bulk on a 50,000 foot overview of what was going on with the 747 development program from its inception until its most recent incarnation to fly in the form of the 747-400 family of derivatives. The final chapters sweep the remainder of the author's professional career including his service on the Challenger Disaster commission. Joe (and after reading the book you definitely get the feeling he would prefer to be called that then Mr. Sutter) has certainly led a very interesting life, and has had the privilege of experiencing a truly gilded age of aviation from the peaks of its ambitions and the lows of its difficulties and uncertainty. But the star of the book is truly the magnificent 747 aircraft and even his more autobiographical chapters tie into the aircraft and its design.
Much of the author's life exerted an inexorable influence on the design philosophy he brought to the plane. As an early child he grew up in Seattle and watched, literally from his neighborhood, as Boeing would roll out new aircraft through the twenties and thirties and try to push aviaiton forward and make the world a smaller place. Caught up in the majesty of flight Joe wanted very badly to design airplanes, but as WWII dawned when he was in college that would have to wait for more important world events to be sorted out. Joining the Navy he became a deck officer on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic, where he had a formative experience. Returning to Boston Harbor his ship started to become glazed with rapidly growing layers of thick ice in the midst of a storm, making the ship dangerously top heavy. With no anti-icing system and no ability to get people out on deck to hack off the ice the crew had to just ride out the storm praying they wouldn't die. From this moment on the author decided safety would be a primary criteria of anything he designed.
The legacy of the 747 is one of carrying on Boeing's legacy of leading the pack in aviation with an unparalleled record of safety, thanks to smart design and brute force quadruple redundancy. (Brute force is by no means meant perjoratively here!) The 747 came about during an amazing time in aviation history. It was the first wide body airliner (against the initial full double decker narrow body wishes of its launch customer), the first turbofan (or fanjet as they are sometimes called) powered airliner, and it was designed by a slimmed down workforce in the shadow of the ill fated 2707 SST, while the 727 and 737 were also absorbing significant company resources, and while Lockheed's L-1011 and Douglas' DC-10 provided competition. The story of how this giant came about and triumphed in spite of the decidely low expectations Boeing clearly had for it at the begining is a truly fascinating one, filled with such aviation luminaries as Juan Trippe, Bill Allen and Charles Lindbergh. Joe's life on the program is also filled with equally amazing events including state department sponsored dinners with the Soviets in Paris at the height of the Cold War (in the spirit of "Detente"), and trips all over the world ranging from the expected places like Japan and New York, to Baghdad.
In addition to being a great story well told, there are real gems here for aviation program managers and aircraft designers about how to make a successful airplane. Absolutely worth reading, and would be something I would like to see as a textbook for aeronautical engineers, perhaps in an aerospace history course, to give them some real world perspective that is so often lacking in modern engineering degrees.
An outstanding book, highly recommended!
Great, Fast ReadJuly 22, 2007 Too Cold in Madison(Madison, WI, USA) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a quick read because it is well-written and fascinating. Not only is it an account of the creation of the 747, but it is also an interesting autobiography of a man who has been deeply involved in commercial aeronautical engineering for sixty years. I found it to be a truly rewarding read.
Great lessons on aircraft manufacturing and project managementAugust 5, 2007 Allison Fix(Baltimore, MD USA) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a project manager/engineer and aviation enthusiast, I knew I had to read this book. It did not disappoint. Joe Sutter seemed at first like a typical engineer thrust (no pun intended) into a dream job--designing and building a new aircraft that most couldn't even imagine. By the end of this book, however, he'd discussed not only the technical challenges he faced, but the political roadblocks he encountered along the way. The story is compelling and interesting and taught me a few lessons on dealing with angry higher-ups and demanding customers.
I especially liked how Joe weaved in a few details about his personal life and his background, without detracting from the story of designing the 747.
This was a fascinating read and one that I may have to revisit. Thank you, Mr. Sutter, for sharing this story with the newest generation of engineers.
747 by Joe SutterJanuary 12, 2008 Roberta Jonnet(Everett, WA) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
History was made in Everett, WA 40 years ago when the "Queen of the Skies" was developed and built. It was Boeing's Jumbo Jet, a double-deck airplane. Everyone has interviewed Joe Sutter, the "father of the 747",Chief Engineer on the project, and now he's written his own account.
It's his personal story as well as the making of history in aviation. Juan Trippe of Pan Am was a driver behind the development of this airplane.
The book gives one insight to the struggles of developing a new airplane.
You can take guided tours of the assembly plant in Everett, where they assemble the twin-aisle airplanes, including 747 and 787.
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