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.
South Carolina Highway 707 project was held in August 2008. Right of way acquisitions were set to begin late in 2010 with construction starting in spring or summer of 2011. However, the SC 31 extension and the SC 707 widening were combined into one project in 2010, and in March of that year changes were made to plans for the parkway. After many delays, a groundbreaking for both projects took place November 6, 2013 at the future interchange of SC 31/SC 544. The $105 million SC 707 project was expected to be finished in Spring 2017. Due to delays stemming from weather, both the