Boeing’s First Airplane Was This Tiny Seaplane Called The B&W

The year was 1916, just 12½ years after the Wright brothers had their first successful flight at Kitty Hawk. World War I was underway in Europe, and the U.S. would join the fray the following year. Enter William Boeing, who, with his partner, Navy Lt. George Conrad Westervelt, had just completed the first airplane he would ever build, the B&W Bluebill, a two-seater seaplane. Its length was either 15.5 feet, 25.5 feet, or 31.2 feet, depending on whom you ask, but it was still a far cry from the huge seaplanes of today. On June 15, Boeing piloted his plane on its maiden flight above the waters of Lake Union in Washington, marking the humble beginnings of what would become a major force in aviation.

William Boeing may not have even started manufacturing airplanes if the first plane he owned hadn’t crashed. At the time he was a boatbuilder and timber baron, so aviation was a hobby for him. He hadn’t even seen a plane fly until he visited the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909, but that was enough to get him hooked. Just six years later, he bought his very own Martin TA, then learned to fly it from the manufacturer’s founder, Glenn L. Martin. Soon after, he started the Pacific Aero Club for like-minded aviation enthusiasts.

History would take a fortuitous turn when Herb Munter, Boeing’s first test pilot, crashed the Martin TA. Boeing tried to order parts to fix it, but Martin told him it would take months for the parts to come in. That wasn’t good enough for Boeing. He told Westervelt that they could build a better plane in a less time. Westervelt agreed, and the B&W seaplane was born a short time later.

The Bluebill was modest by today’s standards. It had a wingspan of just 52 feet, and weighed 2,800 pounds loaded. It was made from wood, covered in linen, and held together with wire. But it had a maximum speed of 75 mph and a range of 320 miles. It also stood on pontoons so that it could take off and land on water.

Later in 1916, Boeing and Westervelt produced a second B&W, the Mallard, which also flew successfully. Figuring the U.S. would soon join the war in Europe, Boeing incorporated Pacific Aero Products Co. on July 15, 1916, and offered the B&W planes, also known as the “Model 1”, to the U.S. Navy. But the Navy wasn’t interested, though it would order 50 planes of the later Model C in 1917, after the U.S. entered the war. Boeing would continue to make seaplanes in the following decades, even large commercial ones.

Boeing later sold the B&W seaplanes to the Walsh Brothers Flying School, the first flying school in New Zealand. The school used them to train pilots for the British Royal Flying Corps, and many of them would fly in World War I. This transaction was the first international sale for Boeing, something that’s routine for the company today. After the war, the planes were put to use making express and airmail deliveries for New Zealand’s first airmail service. In fact, the first official airmail flight in New Zealand was made by a B&W on December 16, 1919. Earlyier that year, the B&W had set a New Zealand altitude, flying to 6,500 feet.

What happened to the planes after that, however, is quite the mystery. They were reportedly burned in 1926. But some people aren’t so sure about that. George Bolt, the New Zealander pilot who set the altitude record in the B&W, said that the planes were sealed in secret underground tunnels under North Head, the site of a former military installation in New Zealand.

Author Martin Butler has spent years investigating what might have happened to the B&W seaplanes, claiming to have uncovered deception and cover-ups about their fate. Even filmmaker Peter Jackson, known for his “Lord of the Rings” movies, wrote to local government authorities, urging them to launch an investigation into what happened to the planes. 

Of course, the party that’s probably most interested in finding the B&W planes is Boeing. After all, these are the first two planes the company ever built, making them an invaluable part of its heritage. According to North Head Books, in 1991 a documentary on the subject claimed that Boeing was willing to pay the monetary equivalent of a 747 to buy back the planes. Certainly, the B&W is an important part of aviation history. It launched Boeing and left a legacy that has lasted over a century.