Slashdot reader schwit1 writes: Joe Sutter, Boeing’s lead designer for the design and construction of the 747, has passed away at 95. This documentary of the 747 and Joe Sutter is excellent: Jumbo Revolution.
Sutter and his engineers “initially played second fiddle to the more glamorous Boeing development project at the time, the Supersonic Transport (SST),” according to Stuff.co.nz. “But the US government ultimately killed funding for the SST, and the 747 turned into the icon of international long-haul flying that established Boeing’s supremacy in commercial aviation for more than two decades after it entered service in January 1970.”

Sutter’s team completed the roll-out of the 747 in just 29 months — a record — and in 1986 Sutter also served on the team investigating the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. “Appalled that NASA’s safety standards were lower than those in his commercial airplane world, Sutter was typically vocal in his criticism and pushed a key recommendation of the committee to implement a new safety management system.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Legendary 747 Designer Joe Sutter Dies Age 95