2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Boeing Model 40 over mountains circa 1930s: Seattle Municipal Archives from Seattle, WA· CC BY 2.0
- 2. Boeing Model 40Y NC381: SDASM Archives· No restrictions
what is it?
The Boeing Model 40 is a United States mail plane of the 1920s. It was a single-engined biplane that was widely used for airmail services in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, especially by airlines that later became part of United Airlines. It became the first aircraft built by the Boeing company to carry passengers.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 13.5 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 101 years ago, in 1925.
- Top speed is 1.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 13.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 1,046 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1925-07-20
- introduced
- 1927
- number built
- 82
- role
- mail plane
- makers
- Boeing
- engines
- 1× Pratt & Whitney Wasp
- length
- 10.1 m
- wingspan
- 13.5 m
- height
- 3.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,727 kg
- top speed
- 206 km/h
- cruise speed
- 169 km/h
- range
- 1,046 km
- ceiling
- 4,420 m
- wings
- biplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q890192, Wikipedia: Boeing Model 40 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.