AVIATION: Early Bird

A month ahead of schedule, Boeing Airplane Co.'s big four-jet tanker, the 707, was rolled out last week at Renton, Wash. The 707, which can be converted into a commercial liner, will have a cruising speed of 550 m.p.h., about 100 miles faster than the grounded British Comet. The first U.S. entry in the international commercial jet transport race is powered by four Pratt & Whitney J57 engines similar to those on Boeing's B-52 heavy bombers.

The new plane will be able to fly nonstop across the continent in less than five hours,...

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