In 1909, during the Pacific Exposition held in Seattle, William Böeing - the son of an emigrated German family - saw an airplane fly for the first time.
Mr. William Böeing
This sparked a fascination with aircraft, and in 1910, he traveled south to attend the Los Angeles International Airmeet. Here, he approached most of the aviators asking for a ride but was turned down by all of them except for a French aviator (Louis Paulhan).
Boeing waited for three days for the promised ride, before learning that Paulhan had already left the city.
Eventually, William figured the first step was to learn to fly himself. He applied to the Glenn L. Martin School in Los Angeles for training. After completing the course, he ordered a plane from the Martin factory known as the Model TA.
Unfortunately, Boeing's test pilot soon damaged the plane. When he was told by Martin that replacement parts would not become available for months, Boeing told his friend, George Westervelt, "We could build a better plane ourselves and build it faster". Westervelt agreed
Boeing's first factory - a converted old shipyard in Seattle near the Duwamish River
A month later, on July 15th, 1916, William Boeing and Conrad Westervelt founded the Pacific Aero Products, which nowadays is called The Boeing company: one of the largest global aircraft manufacturers.
You’d have better given a ride to Mr. Boeing when he asked for that
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