My Best Boeing Afternoon

Boeing's massive complex in Everett has produced more widebody aircraft than all other manufacturers combined.

With a free afternoon after a series of business meetings in Seattle, I did what any self respecting aviation enthusiast would do. I booked a tour of the Boeing factory in nearby Everett. To visit the “birthplace” where so many of my favorite aircraft were constructed has always been a dream of mine so I couldn’t wait to get started. Feeling like a local after spending a few days in the downtown area, I took advantage of the Swift Green Line Service. Their buses depart every 15 to 20 minutes and there was a stop just a few blocks from the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. The journey took a little over an hour and couldn’t have been any easier or stress-free. The bus took me directly to the Seaway Transit Center, conveniently located across from the main entrance to the Boeing factory. This is some complex! It covers more than 98 acres and sits at the northeast corner of Paine Field, a rather large commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area and, of course, Boeing itself. It includes the largest building in the world by volume (over 472 million cubic feet) and spans both sides of State Road 526 (known as the Boeing Freeway). The factory was constructed in 1967 for production of the 747 and has since been expanded several times to accommodate new airliners, including the 767, 777 and 787 programs.

A replica of Boeing's first product, a single-engine B&W Seaplane made of wood with wire bracing and linen.

The aerospace giant we know today was founded in Seattle in 1916 as the Pacific Aero Products Company by William E. Boeing, a pilot and successful area lumberman. He was initially joined by his friend, US Navy Commander George Conrad Westervelt. They started their fledgling enterprise with an initial seaplane product which became known as the Boeing Model 1. Following Westervelt’s abrupt departure, the business name was changed to the Boeing Airplane Company. When the US entered the First World War in 1917, orders were obtained from the Navy for 50 planes. At the end of the war, William Boeing began to concentrate on commercial aircraft. He secured contracts to supply airmail service and built an airmail operation and then a passenger service which would later evolve into United Airlines. In 1934, the US government accused Boeing of monopolistic practices. That same year, the Air Mail Act forced airplane companies to separate their flight operations from development and manufacturing. Following his divestiture of the flight operations holding company, efforts were concentrated solely on the manufacture of commercial aircraft.

The first 747 had 4.5 million parts, weighed 358,000 pounds and spent 75 minutes aloft on its maiden flight.

The Boeing Company’s presence in Everett dates back to 1943 when they opened a shop in a former auto garage on Pacific Avenue where workers built bulkheads and sections for B-17 bombers used in the Second World War. In 1956 they moved 283 employees to facilities at the Everett-Pacific Shipyard to construct jigs and bulkhead fixtures for B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers. Eventually, as many as 1,728 persons worked there. But the big expansion came in March of 1966. That’s when the company’s board of directors approved the 747 jumbo jet program. It launched the next month after Pan American World Airways announced a $525 million order for 25 of the revolutionary double-aisle jetliners. Several months later, the company purchased 780 acres just northeast of Paine Field and the giant factory opened on May 1,1967. The first 747, named “the City of Everett, ” made its maiden flight from Paine Field on February 9, 1969.

The Boeing Fire Department Station 3 provides both fire protection and necessary emergency response services.

The company first began offering factory tours with the initial rollout of the 747 in the late 1960s. Since that time, more than 150,000 people visit the factory every year from all over the world. It's the only public tour of a commercial jet assembly plant in North America. The factory employs over 30,000 persons and has its own security team, daycare center, medical clinic, coffee shop and fitness center. The complex also houses a Boeing Employees’ Credit Union branch and several cafes. Across the airport to the west is the Boeing Store, a theatre and the Future of Flight Aviation Center, which runs the factory tour. The entire Boeing Everett campus is big enough to contain Disneyland with 12 acres left over for parking. It even has its own fire department! Today, that department has grown to become one of the largest private fire departments in the US, with a strong emphasis on fire prevention. The department also provides emergency medical services, structural fire response, aircraft rescue and firefighting, hazardous material response and confined space rescue services.

All things aviation and all things Boeing may be found at the Future of Flight Museum and Educational Center.

Once arriving at the factory with my ticket in hand, I was granted admittance into the Future of Flight Aviation Center which serves as the starting point for the tour. The first thing I stopped to marvel at (and touch) was the imposing 33-foot high tail of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. In this combination museum and education center, Boeing’s ongoing journey of innovation is mapped out. The interpretive facility is located inside a 28,000 square-foot hangar-like building on Paine Field. It encompasses aircraft, spacecraft and educational exhibits. New and emerging Boeing properties and technology are also showcased here and the selection of aircraft on display was impressive. I really didn’t want to leave when they announced the beginning of our actual factory tour but I wasn't going to miss that either.

The factory has 26 overhead cranes that male 45,000 lifts a month and cruise on 72 kilometers of networked tracks.

The tour itself lasts about 90 minutes and a short movie is shown before boarding the busses. There is strict adherence to rules that forbid cameras, cell pones and other electronic devices as well as food and drink. (No-cost lockers are made available for safe storage of personal belongings.) Height requirements are also strictly enforced. But all those rules are soon forgotten when given the unique opportunity of seeing the actual assembly of Boeing airliners. It’s nothing short of amazing. On the day of my tour, Boeing was building 777 airliners. (All models of the 737 are constructed in nearby Renton and production of the 787 Dreamliners takes place in the company’s South Carolina facility in North Charleston.) The “triple seven,” as it’s affectionately known, is a long-range, wide body, twin-jet airliner. Since I've had the privilege of flying aboard this model several times, I’ll never forget how special it was watching their assembly. We walked about a third of a mile during the tour and climbed up 21 steps at a time to reach areas set directly above the factory floor. These “overlooks” provided ideal vantage points to watch aircraft production up close and that was really something to see. At first glance it looked chaotic with so many workers on the floor all involved in different tasks, but production moves at a deliberate and defined pace, regardless of how it might appear. In fact, from the delivery of the first aircraft part to the finished products’s final flight test, it only takes (on average) about 83 days for Boeing to build these very large aircraft. That’s less than 3 months!

After more than 8 miles of tape, 178 gallons of paint and 1.7 miles of paper, this 777-300ER will be transformed.

I was particularly fascinated to watch the action in the “paint shop." It’s a four-day process to put a livery on these massive jetliners. This 12-story hanger‘s as long as a football field and nearly two-thirds wider. It needs to be as the 777-300ER is 60-feet high and 242-feet long with a wingspan of 212 feet! The “paint shop” I referred to is an aerospace version of an automobile paint bay. Before paint touches aluminum however, the plane is masked with paper and tape to keep the colors away from tires, windows, antennae and other critical areas. Crews of eight painters, three on each side of the fuselage and one on each wing, hover over the plane on platforms that effortlessly ascend from floor to ceiling. (The wing painters have since been replaced by robots.) After each application of paint, crews crank up the heat in the hangar to 120 degrees to cure each layer for four hours. Not only does the paint have to meet strict safety and customer specifications, but it also has to be strong enough to withstand temperature extremes. These might range from a high of 120 degrees during takeoff from desert airports to a low of 50 degrees below zero while in flight. The paint actually has to stretch and shrink with the fuselage as pressures and temperatures change. The process is incredible and the finished products are not only beautiful but airworthy.

A Garuda Indonesia B777-300ER completes one of its test flights at Paine Field next to the Boeing factory.

The tour ended with a visit to the Sky Deck providing panoramic views of Paine Field and the nearby Cascades Mountain Range. Here I saw several completed 777-300s take off and land during a number of test flights. As was common on the factory floor, most of these aircraft had not yet been painted but I noticed that many sections of fuselage appeared to be green. I’d always wondered why and soon learned those sections were still coated with an anti-corrosive green zinc chromate or zinc phosphate primer over their aluminum skins which serve as protection. Our guide was so knowledgeable and I was so appreciative. Observing airplane production and then watching completed aircraft take to the skies gave me a deep appreciation for the dedication and skill of the thousands of Boeing professionals who make it all happen.

Until next time...stay safe.