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'BORN A QUEEN' That's how one journalist described the twin-engine, all-metal Boeing 247. United was so impressed with the aircraft, it ordered 60 of them and introduced the 247 to air travelers in the spring of 1933. Considered the forerunner of the modern airliner, the 247s super-charged engines and air-conditioned cabin provided a smoother, quieter ride than the Ford trimotors then in service. The 247 carried 10 passengers and flew 3 miles per minute -- cutting U.S. coast-to-coast flight time from 27 hours to 19-1/2 hours or less. The aircraft was exhibited at Chicago's "Century of Progress" world's fair as the latest U.S. technological triumph.
United had 54 of the 247s by early 1934 and 60 by 1935, but the aircraft's technology quickly was surpassed by Douglas' larger, more powerful DC-2 and DC-3. United began selling its 247s in 1935, but continued to operate an improved model -- the Boeing 247D -- on some of its less competitive routes until mid-1942, when the U.S. government purchased all but the aircraft United had turned into a "Flying Laboratory." United continued to use that aircraft for aviation research until late 1945.
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