Patrick Smith returns to Airliners.net with a history of Boeing's most graceful and timeless bird, and tells of how Boeing has recently looked back to its roots to recreate its style. Smith also demonstrates how Boeing’s innovation is exactly what will keep the manufacturer ahead of the competition. In the mid-1960s, the engineers and aerodynamicists at Boeing faced a momentous task. Their assignment: to build the largest commercial jetliner ever conceived—one that would feature twice the tonnage and capacity of any existing plane—and make it pretty. Where to begin? Well, specifically, you begin in the front, and in the back....