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American aviation pioneer (1881–1956)

For his son, see William E. Boeing Jr.

William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer.

He founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which was renamed to Boeing a year later. The company is now the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value and among the largest aerospace manufacturers in the world.

Boeing's first design was the Boeing Model 1 (or B & W Seaplane), which first flew in June 1916, a month before the company was founded.

Bob feldmann boeing biography of william

He also helped create the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1929 and served as its chairman until its forced breakup in 1934. He received the Daniel Guggenheim Medal in 1934 and was posthumously inducted in to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1966, ten years after his death.

Early life

William Boeing was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Marie M. Ortmann, from Vienna, Austria, and Wilhelm Böing (1846–1890