Scale : 1/48
Wingspan : 18.5"
Length : 12.63"
Code : KB247UATE

Boeing had eclipsed other aviation manufacturers by introducing a host of aerodynamic and technical features into a commercial airliner. This advanced design which was a progression from earlier Monomail (Models 200, 221, 221A) and B-9 bomber designs, combined speed and safety. The Boeing 247 was faster than the U.S. premier fighter aircraft of its day, the Boeing P-12, which was an open-cockpit biplane.  Yet its flight envelope included a rather docile 62 mph landing speed which precluded the need for flaps, and pilots learned that at speeds as low as 10 mph, the 247 could be taxiied "tail high" for ease of ground handling.

In addition, the 247 was the first twin-engine passenger transport able to fly on one engine. With controllable pitch propellers (standard equipment on the 247D), the 247 could maintain 11,500 ft at maximum gross takeoff weight. Its combination of features set the standard for the Douglas DC-1 and other airliners before World War II. Originally planned as a 14-passenger airliner powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, the preliminary review of the design concept by United Air Lines' pilots had resulted in a re-design to a smaller, less capable design configuration. Nonetheless, the 247 was a remarkable achievement and was the company's showcase exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.

The cockpit windshield of the first 247s was angled "forward" instead of the conventional aft sweep. This was the design solution (similar to that adopted by other contemporary aircraft that used a forward raked windscreen) to the problem of lighted control panel instruments reflecting off the windshield at night, but it turned out that the forward-sloping windshield would reflect ground lights instead, especially during landings, and it also increased drag slightly. By the introduction of the 247D, the windshield was sloped aft in the usual way, and the night-glare problem was resolved by installing an extension (the glarescreen) over the control panel.

Boeing considered safety features highly, building in structural strength as well as incorporating design elements that enhanced customer comfort and well-being, such as the thermostatically-controlled, air conditioned and sound-proof cabin. The crew included a pilot and co-pilot as well as a flight attendant who could tend after passenger needs. The main landing gear did not fully retract; a portion of the wheels extended below the nacelles, typical of designs of the time, as a means of reducing structural damage in a wheels-up landing. The tailwheel was not retractable. While the Model 247 and 247A had speed-ring engine cowlings and fixed-pitch propellers, the Model 247D incorporated NACA cowlings and variable pitch propellers.