Boeing Tour

[Jack] Every time Lorin and Arlene are in Seattle we remember that to take the tour of the Boeing plant in Everett you need to make reservations months in advance. Bummer! But now Boeing has revamped their tours (no need for advanced reservations!) and built a beautiful museum. We took the tour yesterday!

The main assembly building for the two-aisle planes (747, 767 and 787 I think are the numbers) is the largest building in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. It covers 90 acres and has 6 doors that are the size of football fields. You read that right - the doors are the size of football fields! The building has no heat - but the 1,000,000 light bulbs (that's right, a million light bulbs!), equipment and body heat from the employees keeps the huge building at 68 degrees year around. If it gets too hot, they just crack open a door or two.

Here's a photo of the assembly building in the background on the left (each of those blue doors is the size of a football field!) and the painting buildings on the right (a 747 will weigh 600 - 1200 pounds more after the paint is applied!).

We viewed several jets in various states of assembly on the 90 minute tour. No cameras are allowed - so I don't have pictures of the process. But on your next trip to Seattle, be sure to make the Boeing Tour a stop on your itinerary!

After the tour we spent some time strolling through the exhibits in the Museum. They were equally interesting and told the story of the Boeing company, the various airplanes and had several exhibits that showed how planes have improved over time. Here's a photo of Lorin and Arlene preparing to take off in a 727 cockpit...