Boeing spent $16 million building a jet airliner no airline had asked for.
In 1952 airlines were thriving on propeller planes, a market Douglas dominated. Boeing built the Dash 80 prototype anyway, with no customer for it. At a 1955 hydroplane race, test pilot Tex Johnston rolled it twice in front of airline executives. Before the 777’s first flight in 1994, Boeing’s president gave its pilot one last instruction, “No rolls.”
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