Boeing Factory

Dave and I talked about taking a trip to Oregon this weekend for the Thanksgiving break. Ray was out of school and I wasn't working so it is one of the few times during the school year that we can all get away together for a few days. We would drive down the coast, stop and see some friends and relatives, maybe go to the Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville (again). But, as it turns out, the teenager didn't want to go. Too boring. He wanted to stay home and we were okay with that.

Everybody wanted to go to Everett, however. We took Ray and a friend on a tour of the Boeing factory, the world's largest building (by volume!), where 747s and several other types of commercial aircraft are built by the hundreds. 38,000 people work there. The building is Ginormous! - and was probably the most impressive part of the day.  This picture shows about 1/12th of the factory floor. In the gallery, I could stand next to the vertical part of the tail section of a 747, which was over 30 feet tall, and see the engines and wheels up close, giving me a better idea of how big these jets really are.

Can it really be true that the paint for these planes comes in one gallon cans? That's what the guide said...

Photo by David Brown

Used by permission

airlinereporter.com