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[quote user="creepycrank"] Boeing ( and Lockheed and Douglas) had a long history of successful pressurized cabin propeller driven airplanes before the Comet. Boeing started with the 307 Stratoliner of 1940, of course the B29 cabin was pressurize and the 377 Stratocruiser based on the B29 did also. After the war both Covair and Martin produced twin engine planes with pressurization so I would think that the details of how to do it would have been in all the trade journals. Its very likely that everyone went over all their design theories after the Comet disasters just in case they missed something. I think that the British rushed to whole thing forward to leapfrog the American trans-Atlantic prop jobs. I also think that the 707 and the DC8 had to wait for development of a suitable engine for the size they thought that would be required. I think it was 1956 or 57 when airplanes first carried more passengers than ocean liners so a bigger plane was called for. <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] I was watching a program on the 707 on the History Channel not too long ago.  According to the program, Boeing originally designed the aircraft as a new generation Air Force transport, which ultimately became the KC-135. Boeing actually took a gamble, according to the program and also designed the aircraft for commercial use. And as they say..."the rest is history." On a side note:  1960 marks a pivotal year in trans-Atlantic travel.  That was the first year in which airline travel surpassed that of ocean liner travel.
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