We started with the Boeing tour of its manufacturing facility in Everett. The tour was fascinating, in part because the facility is so large. By volume, not height, it is said to be the largest building in the world. Look at the airplane in the middle of the photo to get a sense of scale. And do you see the two small white objects just below and to the right of the airplane? Those are cars!
Here is another view of the factory, that I borrowed from a Boeing web page, to give you a better idea:
Boeing doesn't allow people to take photos inside the factory, so I borrowed another one from the Boeing web site. Being in the factory is amazing - there are at least 18 planes in the building at any one time in various stages of completion, including 747's. If you ever get to Seattle, sign up for the Boeing tour. It is definitely worthwhile.
There is an interesting story going on with Boeing at the moment, which made the tour even more visually exciting. Boeing is currently producing it's newest plane, the 787. However, there has been a problem with the jet engines, so the planes are being assembled without the engines. 40 of them are sitting out on the taxiways and runways, and tucked away in every nook and cranny on the airfield. They are everywhere!
Not to worry, though. The engine problem has finally been fixed, and Boeing delivered it's first 787 two weeks ago. We watched another, with engines, going through its paces - landings, takeoffs, and turns. Do you see how the wing tips are curved up? This airplane is made of composite materials, so has greater flexibility in form. [News flash: China cancelled an order for 24 787's today, because it has taken Boeing too long to deliver. They changed their order to 37 737's. Hmmm...]
Boeing will now queue the 40 planes sitting on the tarmac through the assembly line again, to add the engines, finish the paint jobs, test the systems, and finally deliver.
The Boeing Visitor's Center includes a small display area. The most interesting item to me was the Rolls Royce jet engine:
Lee is so good about posing for me, whenever I need him for sense of scale. He's so patient. Thank you, Lee! Behind the jet engine is the tail of a commercial airplane. It's huge!
On to the next museum, the Heritage Flight Collection. These primarily World War II airplanes have been collected by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. They have all been beautifully restored and are flown regularly.
A painter is restoring the decorative teeth on the airplane below:
Two of the planes are unique in the world, so these two are not flown They are too rare to take any chances. One is an "Oscar", a Japanese plane similar to the Zero:
Next, also on Paine airfield, were half a dozen planes owned by a wealthy Seattle lawyer:
Outside the hanger was a B-25 that the docent let us climb into. This plane was to be flown on Saturday, then placed in the hanger for the winter:
I was excited to see the mountains behind the airfield. They had "come out" for the day (ie, the cloud cover cleared):
Finally, one last museum, the Boeing museum in south Seattle:
My favorite part of this museum were the jets that are kept outside, a few of which are open to visitors to walk through. It was exciting for me to walk through a Concorde, and an Eisenhower through Nixon era Air Force One. The Air Force One seems small and primitive compared to today's Air Force One, a 747 with state of the art technology, but interesting, nonetheless.
I also enjoyed the big red barn, the first Boeing factory used back in the day when planes were made of wood and fabric:
Ornithologists and entomologists will be happy to know that Boeing used birds and insects in a couple of exhibits, to show examples of different forms of wings and flight:
