The not-so-little shop of 747s

(continued from previous page)

As Bill Mead, operations leader for the 747-8 program and someone who has "worked on every 747 model ever produced," said: "This is an aviation industry icon that we build."

I think that I feel like Mead does about the planes, though I clearly have less personal attachment to them. But when I'm flying, I'll arrive early and just stare out the windows, scanning the runways for 747s, hoping to catch a glimpse of one, even though I know exactly what they look like. They're just that alluring.

Mead agrees.

"When I'm standing out front (of the Boeing factory), and one of my 747s takes off," he said, "everybody better be quiet, because I want to see it, and I want to hear it."

In any case, inside the Everett factory, Bader walked me around and showed me how the planes come together. They start off as innocuous body parts and then are fused together, piece by piece, until they form a completed 747.

As a visitor to the Everett plant, it's hard to see much of the actual construction, because much of it goes on inside tall, hard-to-see-inside scaffolding. But here and there, I caught glimpses. For example, at one point, Bader showed me where workers were putting the wings on a 747 body.

From the outside, what we could see was the view up some stairs into the inside of the wing, where its guts--a whole bunch of cables--were on display. The body of the plane, like most of the ones being worked on in the factory, was a metallic green.

Awe-inspiring in scope
Later, Bader showed me two nearly finished 747s, one still painted the metallic green and the other with the logos, blues and whites of a Japanese cargo carrier. On the green one, workers on heavy equipment scurried around by the plane's doors, welding and hammering away at a series of tasks to which we weren't close enough to determine. But this plane, which was still missing its engines, looked like it was just about ready for a maiden flight. In fact, Bader said it probably would be ready in a matter of days.

As we walked around the factory floor, we dodged endless Boeing employees on bicycles riding up and down the named "streets" inside the building--"Main Street" and "E Street" were two--and being careful not to enter areas that are off-limits to reporters.

This building is unlike anything I have ever seen. As I mentioned, it is said to be the world's largest building--"by volume," Bader said. That's 472,000,000 cubic feet, according to the company's Web site.

But that figure doesn't do the building justice. In fact, to look around is to see a structure that never ends in all four directions.

It is segmented by product (777s to the east, 747s to the west), and each plane has its own full production line.

I have to say, however, that while this was awe-inspiring in scope, there wasn't much of the romance I was expecting.

I had thought that being around 747s in progress would tug at my heart, since I love process. Instead, it felt rather sterile. I suppose that had something to do with the fact that the planes that were in the early stages of production were very difficult to see because they were hidden behind giant scaffolding structures.

Tails that are six stories high
Still, there's something special about seeing these planes come to life. And something noteworthy about seeing wing segments that look about a block long; tails that are six stories high and whose horizontal stabilizers are as long as 737 wings; and nearly finished planes that, up close, completely dominate one's field of vision.

Thus begs the question: What do they do with the planes, once they are finished?

The answer is that they pull them out through gargantuan sliding doors in the building's side and tow them to a painting facility that, as it happens, is on the other side of a highway that runs alongside the factory.

Bader explained that in order to get the planes to the painting facility, they must be towed across a bridge that runs over the highway.

"It's done at night," he said, "because it's kind of a distraction" to drivers.

Bader also commented on the pace of production, which requires three shifts, each lasting eight hours, every day.

"It's pretty phenomenal how fast things happen here," he said. "You'll come in one day, and there won't be a plane in final body join. And the next day, there is. And it all happens at night."

I wouldn't know, because I was only there for a couple hours during the day.

But I can say, as a 747 fan and someone who loves to see things come together, that having the opportunity to watch people build these planes is something I'll never forget.

And the next time I'm aboard a 747 or notice one flying overhead, I'll have to wonder: Did I see its wing sitting on the floor of the world's largest building?

[rmiecznik]

Everett, WA FYI.

FYI

I live right next to this manufacturing facility, pretty close by, for those who are interested, there is now a brand new Museum build for Aviation History by Boeing that you can visit and a Hotel was built right next to it, so you don't have to worry about finind a place to live.

Also in the summer time, there are aviation shows on Paine Field.

[jimeisaac]

Romance of Travel my aching patootie

Air travel has no romance. You are packed into a seat that is too small, has no leg room, is about as comfortable as a bed of nails, and then the person in front of you leans their seat back. You are discouraged from getting up to stretch and the air quality is downright un-healthy.
Yep, sure sounds romantic to me...

[rmiecznik]

yep

I hate air planes as well, so maybe you should spend more money and fly first class.

[kayoub]

aching patootie

I'll take it. A century ago, instead of getting halfway around the world in less than a day, you could count on several weeks of getting seasick, breathing coal smoke, eating stale food that was not well refrigerated, and using dubiously sanitary facilities. And that was if you had enough money to avoid going steerage.
Someday traveling may be as easy as "Beam me up, Scotty," but I don't plan to be around that long. In the meantime, I'll put up with some minor discomfort instead of staying home to whine.

[Andrew J Glina]

I love the bias

While I agree that another stretched 747 that doesn't exist (with a first flight planned in 2008) could end up being more successful than the already flying A380, it is not a fact. So saying...

"And thus, the 747-8 is poised, upon its launch in 2009, to become the dominant long-haul plane in the skies for years to come."

...is extremely biased. Please in future label stories like this as editorials or advertisements.

[tmccarty8]

I love the bias

Well I for one am completely biased toward Boeing. They have been building the best aircraft for what, 75 years! When they say they will do it, it gets done. I would rather fly a Boeing aircraft than any other manufactures, especially those built in France.