Boeing 747's secrets were revealed on napkins in Paris restaurant in scene straight out of James Bond movie

The Boeing 747’s secrets once crept out of a Paris restaurant, bundled into napkins in a scene out of a James Bond film, and one that Boeing didn’t want to see for its jumbo jet.

The Boeing 747 has long been seen as the queen of the skies, even if the late-1960s aircraft is one of the oldest airliners ever made.

Incredibly, though, its secrets once crept out of a Paris restaurant tucked into napkins, in something straight out of the Cold War or a James Bond film.

Remarkably, however, this was more than just a back-alley deal via Soviet espionage.

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Why were the Boeing 747’s secrets handed to the Soviet Union?

The deal took place in the late 1960s in the French capital.

Chief engineer of the 747, Joe Sutter, headed to a restaurant that evening, meeting a delegation of aeronautical engineers from the Soviet Union.

This might sound like the result of Soviet espionage, like with the Tupolev Tu-144.

But this was a U.S. Department of State-sanctioned mission.

It had asked the company to hand over technical information on the aircraft to the Soviets.

Why did Boeing need to do this?

During this time, it was also pursuing the Boeing 2707 Supersonic Transport (SST), a rival to Concorde.

However, the American manufacturer needed to fabricate the airframe out of titanium, but didn’t have the expertise to do it on a large scale.

However, the Soviet Union did.

The handing over of secrets was a calculated risk

At the same time, the Soviets were attempting to create their own jumbo jet, similar to the 747.

It, however, was struggling, and wondered why Boeing was placing the engines for its aircraft on wing pylons, not on the rear fuselage.

Keen to obtain this knowledge, a quid pro quo deal was struck where Boeing would hand over 747 information.

Then, the Soviets would hand over details on the intricate art of titanium fabrication.

Boeing SST expert Bob Withington got the information he needed from the Russians.

Sutter then sketched out the airliner’s design onto napkins, explaining the wing-mounted pylons for the engines.

As dinner wrapped up, the Soviets took home the napkins, ready to put them into practice.

It did so with the Illyushin IL-86 airliner.

However, the story ends with sweet irony following the first flight of the 747 in 1969.

The company ended up cancelling the 2707 project, and the IL-86 Jumbo Jet was ruined by inefficient and outdated engines.

In many ways, the whole exchange of the Boeing 747’s secrets was a complete waste of time!

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