Boeing's Everett Factory

Today I took my first tour of the Everett Factory.  I was prepared to feel the same sense of awe that I feel whenever the bus tour at Kennedy passes near the VAB.  The VAB is 525 feet tall, covers 8 acres, and encloses a total volume of 129,428,000 cubic feet.  It has been demonstrated that it can contain it's own weather system, including clouds and rain forming INSIDE the building.

I was not at all prepared for Everett.  From the outside, it looks like a fairly innocent large hangar structure.  Even as the bus was passing only a hundred feet away, I was not awe struck by it's size.  No... that didn't happen until I descended into the maintenance tunnels underneath the floor for the beginning of our tour.

After descending 23 steps from ground level, I found myself in a tunnel large enough to fit most bulldozers, and yet it felt small and cramped.  This is because this tunnel stretched unbroken and uninterrupted a full 1/3 of a mile to the other end of the plant.  The far end, which was open to sunlight, was quite literally just a small pinprick in the distance.  And then I realized... this is the SHORTEST width of the building.

We ascended up a freight elevator that can carry the 40-ton 777 engines, and fit our busload of people with elbow room to spare.  Up past 9 feet of concrete that had just been our "ceiling", past the shop floor, past the second floor offices, past the third floor assembly gantry's, past the 4th floor, past the tops of the aircraft being assembled... We went all the way up to the 6th floor, to an observation gantry between the 777 and 787 production lines.

If I were still scared of heights, I would have been terrified at that point.  The factory is enormous... We're talking about a building that covers more area than Disneyland AND it's parking lots combined... A single building that could hold something like 70 American football fields, including the end zones.  It's roof is 9 stories up, and while that doesn't sound very tall, it emphasizes the volume of this structure... it has 3 times more volume than the VAB.

The observation gantry is well above the height of any of the aircraft or their parts, the only thing above is the crane system and the ventilation that prevents it's own indoor weather from being a problem.  Oh, and the completely native pigeons, who live out their whole lives within the factory (but I didn't see any while I was there).  From this height, you can almost see for miles.  There is very little inside the factory to obstruct your vision, and we could see front to back 1/3 of a mile, and right to left 1/2 of a mile.  And everywhere it was 70 ft down.  Officially, the largest enclosed space on the planet.

Aside from the sheer awe of the building, I got to see the 787 (still tailess, but looking nearly whole despite it), the Dreamlifter, and about 6 777's in assembly, as well as tons of 767's, 747's, and 777's on the flightline.

The museum itself wasn't terrible, I picked up a few cool and inexpensive gifts.  I was very disappointed that I do not get an employee discount there.... that was quite a slap to the face, and has in fact lessened my loyalty to the company, which is a shame.

All in all.... an experience worth repeating, especially once the 787 is closer to completed, or more are rolling out.  Oh, that was one interesting thing... In the past, it would take 3-5 months to complete assembly of each airliner, and there would be roughly a month between rollouts.  With the 787, they expect to be able to complete assembly in 3-5 DAYS, with a new aircraft rolling out every 3 days.  Even at that rate of production, if you were to order one now, you would have to wait until 2013 at the earliest for delivery, since they have already sold over 600 of the type.