This Death-Defying Stunt Was The World's Introduction To The Boeing 707

When you think of an aircraft performing a barrel roll, the first kind of plane that comes to mind is likely a military jet fighter or a small, high-performance aerobatic plane performing at an air show. Maybe it's even Red Bull's wild, stunt-performing helicopter pulling off one of these dazzling moves. What you don't expect to see doing a barrel roll, though, is a four-engined commercial jetliner. But that's exactly what happened over 70 years ago in the skies above Lake Washington near Seattle. 

The aircraft was a prototype version of Boeing 707, and behind the controls was famed Boeing test pilot Tex Johnston. Though it was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Johnston that was not rehearsed, planned, or encouraged by Boeing, the successful stunt ended up serving as a high-profile introduction for a jet plane that was about to change commercial aviation forever. It was a move that brought the spirit of early, barnstorming pilots into the corporate jet age, and an aviation moment that went viral about 60 years before that term even existed.

The 707 isn't just deserving of a spot among the ranks of Boeing's best passenger jets. It's considered to be one of the most important aircraft in the history of aviation. But before the industry-changing jetliner began carrying passengers across the world in airline service, Tex Johnston decided to go above and beyond in demonstrating the 707's performance capabilities. The stunt happened in Seattle, Washington, in August of 1955, when the city was hosting not just its annual Seafair boat racing competition, but also a convention of the world's top airline executives from the International Air Transport Association. 

At the time, Boeing was deep in the development stage of the 707, which, in test-plane form, was known as the Boeing 367-80. The 'Dash 80' had first flown a year earlier, and Boeing chairman Bill Allen thought this would be the perfect time to show off his new plane to potential customers. The Dash 80 was a sleek, highly advanced plane poised to bring Boeing into a new era of jet-powered commercial aviation. In Allen's mind, some simple flyovers across the lake would have been more than enough to show the plane off, but Tex Johnston decided to up the ante. 

With Allen and the airline executives watching from boats on the lake, Johnston took matters into his own hands, performing not one, but two, barrel rolls in the Dash 80, rolling the jet inverted across its axis at a speed of 490 miles per hour. Needless to say, the executives were wowed by the maneuver, as were the rest of the public spectators along the lake. Bill Allen, meanwhile, was less than enthused by the stunt, which was captured on film for the world to see.

For Tex Johnston, a legendary test pilot with seat time in all types of military and commercial aircraft, the barrel roll was a casual maneuver, which he saw as being well within the 707's performance envelope. When asked by Allen the next day about his reasoning for attempting the stunt, Johnston replied with a simple and truthful answer — "I was selling airplanes".

While it's hard to say specifically how much of an impact the famed barrel roll had on 707 sales, it certainly boosted the jet's appeal. The soon-to-be legendary Boeing 707 airliner, which began operations in 1958, would go on to become one of the most influential aircraft all time, helping to transform Boeing into the titan of jet airliners that it is today.