This morning I did something I have wanted to do for several years and that was to tour the Boeing wide body assembly plant in Everett, WA. This plant builds the 757, 767, 777, and the new 787 which has yet to make its first flight.
Taking a chance on getting a ticket without a reservation in hand I went to the Future of Flight building near the plant. Here all tours start and end and a large display area and store show new features being used in the 787 Dreamliner. There were few people around at 8:30 AM so I had no problem getting a ticket for the 9 AM tour.
The tour begins with a video about Boeing and then we were ushered to a tour bus which took us around the end of the Paine Field runway and to the paint buildings and fuel test areas east of the runways. We actually had to wait for a short period while one of the Dream Lifter planes taxied out to the runway. The Dream Lifter is a very large plane built on a 747-400 body which is used to transport parts from around the world to Everett. It is big enough to carry body sections within the airframe. It is the biggest by volume aircraft in the world according to Wikipedia. Boeing has 3 of these planes in use with a fourth being built.
From the paint area we drove to the main assembly building and left the bus and went under ground to one of eight tunnels running under the building. These tunnels carry all utilities for the plant and are 1/3 of a mile long. We took a large freight elevator up to the 3rd floor so we could overlook the assembly area for the 747. Over night last night they had put the new 747-frieghter into the bay in preparation for final assembly.
We got back on the bus and drove to a newer section of the building and again went under ground and again up an elevator to see the 777 assembly line and the new 787 assembly line. The 4th 787 is almost complete.
It was a very neat tour and I would have loved to spend more time looking around but the tour lasts 90 minutes and our time was up so we were taken back to the Future of Flight building where I spent another hour looking at the displays. All in all, a very nice tour. I recommend it to everyone if you are ever in Everett with time on your hands.
No cameras are allowed on the tour but I did get a few pictures before I left.
Entrance sign.
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The Future of Flight building.
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Main assembly building. Actually, only part of it.
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More of the assembly building.
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Oh, I forgot to mention, the assembly building covers an area of more than 98 acres. It is the largest building by volume in the world.
