←1932: The oldest known air-to-air photo with Mount Rainier was the Boeing B-9, the first all-metal bomber. Only seven of these airplanes were produced for the U. S. Army Air Corps, the predecessor of the U. S. Air Force.
1938: In this photo, the Boeing Model 314 Clipper is seen flying over the Port of Tacoma. Boeing built 12 Clippers between 1938 and 1941 – no surviving examples exist.
1940: As the age of commercial air travel blossomed, Boeing altered the design of the B-17 Flying Fortress to produce the Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner, the first passenger airplane with a pressurized cabin. Seen here is one of only 10 that were ever built.
1941: With as many as 15 B-17s rolling off the assembly line per day at Seattle’ s famous“ Plant 2” during World War II, the Rainier tradition continued with this B-17E model flyby. Boeing produced nearly 7,000 B-17s in Seattle during the war.
1953: The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was the country’ s first long-range, swept-wing bomber. Boeing built two prototypes, the YB-52 and the XB- 52( pictured). By the 21st century, it was in its fifth decade of operational service.
Boeing built a total of 744 B-52s in all versions between 1952 and 1962.
1954: The prototype Boeing 367-80, known as the“ Dash 80,” is pictured here during a test flight. The aircraft led to the 707 airliner, the first commercially successful passenger jet, as well as the KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft.
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE NO. 46 19