Episode 5
Thursday 9 September 2010
One immediately associates the name Boeing with the dynamic world of aviation, enormous aircraft, global air traffic, as well as success and economic power. Yet hardly anyone realises that the mighty “global player” was once a family-owned business, only very few people know that the family originally came from Germany. The film “William Edward Boeing – Ace of Aircraft” visits original sites where you can still feel the Boeing story to this very day. It delves into the archives and finds surprising new information about the family history, and includes interviews with the son of the company founder William Boeing. Detailed re-enactments, filmed in the USA with the help of a German-American team, revisit the days long gone by days of the late 19th and early 20th century in touching scenes. The result is an exciting family portrait, the gripping story of an immigrant family and an astounding documentary about an entrepreneur – the history of the Boeings and Boeing whose family ties span the Atlantic.