1:15 pm, June 15th, 1928

Quick Aeroplane Company, LTD

Huntsville, Alabama

Sticking out his hand Bill Boeing stood. "Mr. Quick, you drive a hard bargain, but what choice do I have?"

"None if you want to get into the airplane business.” Quick grasped Boeing's hand, "Done! The Birmingham steel will start arriving by train in a week."

"Excellent." Boeing replied. "My engineers will arrive from Seattle in ten days."

Quick dug into his pocket and retrieved a cigar case. Opening it, he offered one to Boeing. "Have one - they're Cuban. I have them specially flown in on the Quick Havana Express."

"No thanks, Will. I never picked up the habit, but tell me how’s the airline doing?"

"We've done well. Expanding our Chicago to New York line."

Boeing nodded. "How extraordinary. I realize that it's Prohibition. But good heavens, man, I wouldn't have dreamed there was a market in Havana."

"Flying gambling fools! Gambling and alcohol fuels their holy land…and me."

Boeing looked out of the second story window. The acres of Quick Limited stretched from Airport Road almost to Lily Flagg's farm. He wondered idly if the prize winning cow's offspring still produced world class butter. But all Boeing could see from the window was factory buildings, hangers and of course the airport.

Huntsville International airport held a statue of Lindberg standing next to his Quick Explorer monoplane. Lindbergh and the Explorer had put Huntsville and Quick Limited on the map. After all, he made the first solo nonstop flight from Huntsville to Paris. It had taken a grueling thirty-three hours but Lucky Lindy had raised the public's interest in all things aviation. Things might have been different if Orville Wright hadn't crashed and burned at Kitty Hawk. How he wished his hometown of Seattle was the cradle of aviation instead of Huntsville. 

Quick's voice droned on, "…of course we built both the 8 and the 12 passenger models here. The Quick Airways Havana Express has several major cities in its arc." Quick smiled at Boeing. "Have you ever been to Havana, Bill?"

"No, not my cup of tea."

Quick laughed. "Ha! I'll say. It's a complete den of iniquity. Whiskey, beer and sin everywhere you look and at bargain prices."

Boeing glared over the top of his glasses and frowned.

Quick swallowed, "Er, or so I've heard. Not that I would know personally of course." He looked away and attempted to light his cigar or perhaps to hide a face turning crimson. "Tell me a little more about this flying boat we are building for you."

Boeing warmed to the question. "Using the Quick wing and the new Wright J-5 engines we have designed a flying boat that can carry 72 passengers, tons of mail across to Europe."

Boeing walked over to the opposite wall and glanced at a row of airplane models on a side table. He examined one in particular. It was a sleek two-engine low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. "This is the new Donald Douglas design. Every aeronautical engineer wants to work for the world’s largest airplane manufacturer.”

Quick beamed. "We’ll call it the Quick Commercial Model 2 and it will revolutionize air travel!"

"And what have you done with Jack Northrop?"

Quick lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Well, I can't say much. He's working on a flying wing - no empennage."

"What? No tail, no vertical or horizontal stabilizer? Impossible! It will never fly and who would want it."

Quick lowered his voice to a whisper. "The War Department."

Boeing shook his head in disbelief. "Bumbling Army bureaucrats. Next thing you know the flyboys will demand their own service.  Can you imagine what would they call themselves? Sky Rangers or some such foolishness?"

Quick though for a moment, "I know, the Air Force?"

"Air Farce is more likely." Boeing gazed at his watch. "I’m looking forward to the QC Clipper test runs on Wilson Lake. They tell me I'll be flying your QC-2 prototype to Chicago."

"Yes, we should have you in Chicago in only five hours."

"We live in a modern world. Until we meet again, Will."

Boeing left and Quick settled into his leather chair. Life was good in Huntsville and the future looked bright. He leaned forwarded and pressed his desk intercom switch. "Rosie, I'm ready to interview that engineer. Ask him to step in. What’s his name again?"

Rosie Mae Campbell, daughter of Huntsville hardware magnate, Joe Ray Campbell, shouted with a shrill but tiny tinny voice, "It's Hughes, Mr. Quick, Mr. Howard Hughes."

"Yeah, send him in."

*          *          *

Of course Orville didn't crash his Flyer in 1903, He and brother Wilber went on to build the true cradle of aviation on Long Island, New York. Where in 1928, Charles Lindberg took off on his solo flight to Paris. Howard Hughes learned to fly in L.A where he also made movies and build record breaking airplane. Huntsville would have to wait another 40 years to become the cradle of space flight and earn the title Rocket City.

However, the Quick Monoplane flew in Huntsville in 1908. You can see a full scale model of the Quick Monoplane hanging from the ceiling of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the world famous U.S. Space and Rocket Center, in Huntsville.

Learn more about William L. Quick here: www.earlyaviators.com/equick.htm