Yesterday, I happened to watch a re-run of the 1967 Dustin Hoffman film The Graduate...🙂...on one of those (numerous) movie channels on today's (smart) TVs that someone in the family likes to subscribe, unauthorized...🙂...for 7-day-free trials. I'm told it's free, but it's not really free because here is one more thing for me to remember to un-subscribe after a week...🙂...Oh well...The film opens with an iconic scene where the (said) actor, actually ~30 years-old then, but portraying a (dashing) 21-year-old recent college graduate in the film, is seen seated on an airplane, supposedly returning from Europe back home to KLAX airport. The airplane, AI tells me, was a B707, but it's unconfirmed, so don't take my word for it...🙂...because we never actually see the exterior of this airplane. 

Anyway, this made me think a bit about what else was going on in our world of aviation at that time. It immediately struck me that the venerable Boeing 737 (somewhat maligned in recent times but still surviving) flew for the first time in April of the same year, 1967, and its first ever commercial flight occurred next year in February 1968 with Lufthansa. Somewhere in between these two (737) milestones, the Graduate film was released in December (1967), and it also made me wonder for a moment if in that year, I even existed...🙂..., or was crawling, walking, or maybe in the elementary school...🙂... 

I recently read the news that, earlier in this month of Oct., Airbus A320-family flew past Boeing 737-family as the most delivered jetliner in aviation history. Boeing's record fell, on Oct. 7, 2025, with the handover of an A320neo to Saudi carrier Flynas, bringing the total A320 deliveries to 12,260. To put things in proper perspective, here, below, are a few significant milestones of our commercial aviation history (in the reverse chronological order):

1. Oct. 31, 2025 - I watched the (1967) film The Graduate...🙂...
2. Oct. 7, 2025 - A320 overtakes B737 to become the most-delivered jetliner in history.
3. Oct. 9, 2020 - Airbus delivered the 10,000th A320-family a/c.
4. Mar. 13, 2018 - Boeing delivered the 10,000th B737-family a/c.
5. Mar. 28, 1988 - Airbus delivered the first A320 to Air France (21 years after the first 737 delivery; see below).
6. Dec. 28, 1967 - Boeing delivered the first B737 to Lufthansa.
7. Apr. 9, 1967 - Boeing 737 took to the skies for the first time, heralding the commercial age of wing-mounted twin-engine concept, that's still the golden rule in today's aviation. Some innovative ideas never go out-of-style; it was Joe Sutter, to be later known as the "Father of the 747", who chose to go against the prevailing (tail-mount) design mindset; per the 737 Wiki, "Engineer Joe Sutter relocated the engines to the wings...", easier said than done. Just 2 years after the first flight of 737; in Feb. 1969, the legendary 747, led by (same) Joe Sutter's design team, would fly for the first time, and a few months after that in the same year, the first man would walk on the Moon.

While aerospace technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, an honorable nod of respect and admiration must be in place for those that started it all, whether humans or machines. Unquestionably, a couple of more thoughts, here, that come to my mind now are the world's first commercial (long-haul) jetliner, the de Havilland Comet; and the world's first (pioneering) jetliner for (short-haul) domestic routes, the BAC 1-11. So, aviation's (future) progress is fundamentally rooted in the failures (and successes) of its past events. Now, examine my illustrative comparison graph (shot #4 below), purely for subjective guidance, how the A320, starting in 1988, 20 years after B737, finally caught up with Boeing's 737 production record just a few weeks ago from today; a testament to the remarkable success and popularity of the A320 type. Just FYI, here is the actual Guinness Book entry (in typical Who/What/Where/When format) of Boeing's World Record for 737s:

WHO - THE BOEING COMPANY
WHAT - 9,898 TOTAL NUMBER
WHERE - UNITES STATES (RENTON)
WHEN - 08 March 2018

I've mentioned Joe Sutter above, and here is another, Brien Wygle, who played a critical role in the development of the first 737. Born in Seattle (Washington) and having moved to Canada, when he was 3 years old; he grew up on a farm in Calgary (Alberta). Fresh out of high school, he flew for Royal Canadian Air Force in WW II, and as Boeing's Test Pilot, flew the first 737 in 1967 and co-piloted the first jumbo jet flight in 1969 (two of the most remarkable milestones in our aviation history). He taught Howard Hughes how to fly jets, and recruited Boeing's first female test pilot, Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, who would go on to be the lead test pilot of the B777 program. Brien Wygle, an unassuming gentleman and an intrepid aviator, led an adventurous life packed full of bold actions and heroism; the 737 being part of his endearing legacy.

In our SIM, the 737-100 (Lufthansa livery) from Captain Sim of my nearly forgotten memory...🙂..., remains for me, to this day, the cutest jetliner SIM (of course, no FMC nor EFB...🙂...there...), I've ever flown in all my years in this hobby (btw, are we ever going to get the original 737 series (-100/-200) in MSFS...🙂...?). Lufthansa's Feb. 1968 flight of a Boeing 737-100 was the first time a non-U.S. carrier launched a new Boeing jetliner type (LH will repeat the feat with the 777X, if all goes well). That (inaugural) first (DLH) 737-100 flew just about 200 miles from Frankfurt to Munich. So, here today, I fly, symbolically, the MSFS/Asobo 737 MAX 8 also from Frankfurt/EDDF to Munich/EDDM, in the old colors of Lufthansa.

Hope you enjoy this collection of images below, as a nostalgic reminder of the original (and first ever) commercial 737 jetliner that had flown across the same skies over the same gentle hills and river valleys (see a couple of images) as in my flight today, between these 2 (German) cities...more than half-a-century-ago...

Thanks for viewing...!

Great post, great pics. And (as always) a First Officer shot that paused my scrolling.🙂

2 hours ago, John F said:

Great post, great pics. And (as always) a First Officer shot that paused my scrolling.🙂

Thanks, John. 
I’m glad, you liked the post, pics and etc….🙂…

Fine set, you may understand that i say i like that Lufthansa livery.. 🙃

cheers 😉

Hi Andy: Thanks for the like...🙂...

 

27 minutes ago, pmplayer said:

Fine set, you may understand that i say i like that Lufthansa livery.. 🙃

cheers 😉

Appreciated the comment, pmplayer.  And, yes, I totally understand your bias...🙂...

BTW, you may also like the image below. It's the CS B737-100 from the olden times ...the one that had launched 737 into commercial service. I wish we had this one in MSFS...

 

1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

Hi Andy: Thanks for the like...🙂...

 

Appreciated the comment, pmplayer.  And, yes, I totally understand your bias...🙂...

BTW, you may also like the image below. It's the CS B737-100 from the olden times ...the one that had launched 737 into commercial service. I wish we had this one in MSFS...

 

Yuup, that was a beautiful AC and Add on, in this time CS was a beautiful Developer, to bad this seems gone now 🤔

cheers 😉

the graph strongly indicates that the A320 is the superior aircraft. neck and neck despite the 21 year head start for the 737. However the 737 does have a lot more character IMO!🤔

2 hours ago, P_7878 said:

It's the CS B737-100 from the olden times ...the one that had launched 737 into commercial service. I wish we had this one in MSFS...

Mmmm, that does look good. You know, I might even consider buying a copy of that if I get serious with my FSX re-instatement program.

1 hour ago, pmplayer said:

Yuup, that was a beautiful AC and Add on, in this time CS was a beautiful Developer, to bad this seems gone now 🤔

cheers 😉

Indeed, such are the aircraft...that defines the spirit of our SIM...speaking purely for myself...🙂...

 

54 minutes ago, FBW737 said:

the graph strongly indicates that the A320 is the superior aircraft. neck and neck despite the 21 year head start for the 737. However the 737 does have a lot more character IMO!🤔

Thanks for chiming into my post...!

Judging by your username...🙂...I can see the bias, but that's fine...just as, pmplayer, here, is naturally biassed towards the Lufthansa livery...🙂...And I, as the poster, remain neutral...🙂...

Of course, 737 was already flying for 20 years before A320 introduced "FBW" into commercial aviation for the first time. Since then, competition has kept A- and B-...🙂...constantly on their toes...leading to continuous evolution and advancement in commercial aviation, which is good for the industry...

Cheers...!

Edited November 2, 2025Nov 2 by P_7878

25 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

Mmmm, that does look good. You know, I might even consider buying a copy of that if I get serious with my FSX re-instatement program.

I think it might be worth it, Andy, considering, we are not about to see a -100 soon enough in MSFS; at least, from one of the well-recognized developers...

I noticed that the base 737-200 Model and the 737-100 Expansion are currently still available from the CS website, see below. Trust me, I tried myself getting to my FSX/SE PC in my basement once...🙂...just for such a/c, but one or two spiders had made a home on top of my PC, and scared me away...maybe for my own good...🙂...

Cheers...!

Edited November 2, 2025Nov 2 by P_7878

1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

currently still available from the CS website

Yeah, I figured it would be as they seem to keep everything on there. Just had a look and I see it is available for P3Dv4, so I rather suspect my willpower may not be sufficient to avoid getting this. Especially as I see it includes an Air Florida livery and Florida is one of the True Earth regions.

4 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Mmmm, that does look good. You know, I might even consider buying a copy of that if I get serious with my FSX re-instatement program.

Milviz Classic 737 was also awesome but I'm not reinstalling FSX so I can fly it though!🤣

29 minutes ago, FBW737 said:

Milviz Classic 737 was also awesome but I'm not reinstalling FSX so I can fly it though!🤣

...🙂...I don't blame you...

Yes, I recall the MilViz 737-200, they had a very nice package, Combi and Hush Kit etc. included ...though, as I recall, they didn't have the cute -100...🙂...the original that had started the 737 lineage...

Cheers...!