Boeing 707 Douglas competition, Boeing soon realized this would not provide a viable payload, so it widened the fuselage to to allow five-abreast seating and use of the KC-135's tooling. Douglas Aircraft had launched its DC-8 with a fuselage width of . The airlines liked the extra space and six-abreast seating, so Boeing increased the 707's width again to compete, this time to . The first flight of the first-production 707-120 took place on December 20, 1957, and FAA certification followed on September 18, 1958. Both test pilots Joseph John "Tym" Tymczyszyn and James R. Gannett were awarded the first Iven C.
Boeing Renton Factory the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter for the United States Air Force. In all, 943 C-97s were built in the Renton plant. In May 1954 the prototype of what would become the Boeing 707, the Boeing 367-80, was rolled out at the Renton plant starting a long association with the production of the Boeing 707 line. When the first production Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker first flew in August 1956 from Renton it was named "City of Renton". The first production Boeing 707 was rolled out at Renton on 28 October 1957 and production continued to the last 707. The Boeing 707 final assembly