The Man Who Built The 747

It was certainly something new in 1966 when Malcom Stamper was approached by then-Boeing CEO Bill Allen.

"How would you like to build an airplane — in fact, the biggest airplane in the world?" Allen asked, according to "Legend and Legacy," a history of Boeing written by Robert Serling.

"Mr. Allen, the only airplane I ever built had rubber bands on it," Stamper said.

"Do you or do you not?" demanded Allen.

"I'd welcome the challenge," Mr. Stamper replied.

And a challenge it was. Boeing put its future on the line for the 747 -- as did Stamper. He oversaw the construction of the world's biggest factory in Everett, WA, to build the jumbo jet. Even years later, Stamper was awed by his company's creation.

"I get an emotional pull when I see one fly," he told the Seattle Times just before retiring in 1985. "I go into a trance. It's still very magical to me that people could put all that inanimate stuff -- aluminum, copper, wire, rubber and plastic -- together and make it fly."

Stamper died Tuesday of prostate cancer in Seattle. He was 80.

While Boeing was certainly the focus of his life between 1972 and 1985, Stamper did have other driving interests. He climbed Mount Ranier. He ran for Congress. He skied in the Arctic and served on the boards of several corporations. But perhaps next to Boeing, his greatest love was for children's books. After retiring from the aerospace business, Stamper read a book written by his son, Jamie. He fell in love with it -- so much so that, along with wife Mari,  he started a company to publish it.

"He thought books about animals conveyed some good messages to children, messages of compassion and respect and responsibility," Judy Golden, president of the Boston-based foundation Operation Outreach-USA, told the Times Thursday. Her operation has distributed 1.8 million free books and helps about 60,000 children a year.

A sentimental and gentle man, Malcom Stamper has gone west, where airplanes fly unfettered and children always have something good to read. Happy trails, Malcom.

FMI: www.boeing.com