3. Vanguard Airlines Boeing 707-120B "1958-1965"

In 1958, the Vanguard Airlines was propelled into the jet age with the delivery of the first jet powered Boeing 707. A small, regional carrier spanning the southeast and south central US, Vanguard would need the 707 to become a competitive airline in the growing aviation market. After petitioning the CAB for longer routes, it managed to secure the lucrative Memphis to New York and Houston to San Francisco routes for it's new Boeings. As 1959 came to an end, the airline put the 707 in service to a resounding success. Despite operating the 707 in small numbers initially, the airline managed to attract enough business to fill the seats and introduced some of the world's first economy fares, bringing jet age traffic to more people than ever before.

Because of the turbojet type engines on the 707-120Bs, Vanguard's 707s were soon called the turbojets by the maintenance and flight crew personnel who worked on them, and the name stuck even after Boeing opted to remove the Turbojets from later model 707s. The first 707 flight took place on March 12th, 1958 from Memphis to New York City. The airlines' 707 bases in New York, Memphis, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Las Vegas lead to the 707s becoming the "aircraft of Hollywood" by flying big names such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Grace Kelly and many more.

The last 707 was retired in 1977 after 20 years of service. In 1994, An ex-Vanguard Boeing 707-120B was located, saved from scrap and brought to Memphis in pieces, cosmetically restored and put back together for display at the Vanguard Airlines Flight Museum in the 1958 jet age livery.