ABSTRACT
Boeing's success in the 1950s and 1960s came from skilfully applying technologies developed on military projects, such as the B-47, to the business of building commercial jets like the 707 and the 720. In 1965 Boeing had produced more aircraft than ever before and the company was flush with cash. But pressures from the much abbreviated development schedule of the 747 contributed to a financial hemorrhage and the near ruin of the company. Boeing decided to stimulate commercial sales by offering a new and improved version of the 727-200 using upgraded JT8D engines and thus having increased speed and range, and the market responded. The most controversial of the projects undertaken by Najeeb Halaby during his tenure at the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) concerned the possible development of a supersonic transport (SST) in the United States, with the federal government and the FAA playing a major role in the project.
