A few influential aircraft companies (e.g. Lockheed Martin and Boeing) have been celebrating the centennial of their founding in recent years. Centennials are, by their very nature, celebratory; allowing participants and historians to reflect on past accomplishments. In most cases, their time in the limelight is cause for national pride and a source of time-honored traditions. How can you best write the history of an aircraft company as it celebrates its 100th anniversary? One such approach is to write about its buildings, test facilities, aircraft types and aircraft versions built over the years, and illustrate with statistics the impact to the industry and their customers. Another, perhaps less exercised, is to write about the company employees and their recollections, and the cities and communities that hosted them.
展开▼
