Joe Sutter, Jay Spenser

 Joseph F. "Joe" Sutter (born March 21, 1921 in Seattle, Washington) was an engineer for the Boeing Airplane Company and chief engineer for the development of the Boeing 747 under Malcolm T. Stamper.

Aviation author and historian Jay Spenser worked closely with Sutter for 18 months to write his autobiography, entitled 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation . It was published bySmithsonian Books/HarperCollins as a hardcover in 2006 and as a paperback in 2007. This book tells of Sutter's childhood and describes his life and 40-year career at Boeing.

The book details Sutter's tenure as chief engineer of the development of the 747 and elaborates on its design, manufacturing, testing, certification, and delivery to the world's airlines. The book also describes subsequent models of the 747 and the two major-derivative updates to the type, the 747-400 of 1989, and the 747-8.