The Boeing Model 247 was an early United States airliner, considered the first such aircraft to fully incorporate advances such as all-metal (anodized aluminium) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing and retractable landing gear. Other advanced features included control surface trim tabs, an autopilot and de-icing boots for the wings and tailplane.
"Ordered off the drawing board", the 247 first flew on February 8, 1933, and entered service later that year. Subsequent development in airliner design saw engines and airframes becoming larger and four-engined designs emerged, but no significant changes to this basic formula appeared until cabin pressurization and high altitude cruise were introduced in 1940, with the Boeing 307 Stratoliner.
The 247 remained in airline service until World War II, when several were converted into C-73 transports and trainers. The Royal Canadian Air Force's 121 Squadron operated seven 247Ds as medium transports during the early part of the war. One of these aircraft was donated to the Royal Air Force (RAF) for radar testing, where it was renumbered DZ203. DZ203 was passed among several units in the RAF before being used to make the world's first fully automatic blind landing on 16 January 1945.
The warlord "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang ordered two Boeing 247Ds for his air force. He would use one of them, named Bai-Ying (White Eagle), during the Xi'an Incident in 1936, during which he flew into the opposing Nationalist army's camp at Sian (now rendered as Xi'an) under a secret truce, and had their leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, arrested, ending the civil war between the Communist and Nationalist armies so that they could fight together against the Japanese invaders.
A number of specially modified variants included a Boeing 247Y appropriated from United for Air Corps use as a test aircraft fitted with two machine guns in the nose. The same installation later was fitted to a 247Y owned by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. This aircraft also featured a Colt .50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun in a flexible mount. A 247D purchased by the British Royal Air Force became a testbed for new equipment and received a nonstandard nose, new powerplants and fixed landing gear.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_247Below a series of pics of Boeing 247's in civil service.
Below a series of pics of Boeing 247D & C-73's in military service.
Boeing 247D at Trenton Air Station, Canada on June 21, 1940 with a Douglas B-18A (probably an RCAF Digby)
Boeing 247D with Wasp Engines in RAF service Aug 1941.
Boeing 247D OZ203 in flight.
Boeing C-73 (Model 247D impressed into USAAF), possible serials include 42-68336, 42-68363-73, 600hp R-1340
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