NOTE:
Currently WiFi is down to 2G speed, that’s about as fast as the original dial up modem speed of 200 years ago! Assuming this text gets posted, I’ll inset some pictures at a later date
Another damp start to the day, remind me to stay clear of coastal regions close to mountains in the future! After breakfast we headed about 25 miles north to the city of Everett, Washington. This is the home of the Boeing aircraft factory. We found out sometime back that the company provides tours of the factory, and this is something we both wanted to do, it’s also the reason we are staying where we are. From a logistics viewpoint it was the best place to stay.
We arrived at the plant in good time for the 11:00 tour, the company runs these 90 minute tours every 30 minutes from 9AM to 5PM 7 days a week, and although it is not peak season there were plenty of takers. Unfortunately, Boeing are very strictly with respect to photography, in fact nothing can be carried on the tour, cameras, cell phones, wallets purses……. nothing. At least they provide free storage lockers at the start of the tour.
The factory makes the Boeing 747, 767, 777, 787 in an immense facility. The B747 takes 4 months to build, it is built from scratch at the plant. The newest, the B787 takes 3 days to assemble. Parts for it are manufactured around the world, and shipped to Everett to be put together, bit like a big Airfix kit!
The facility operates 24/7 Monday – Fridays, with the weekends used for catch up if the schedule slips; 44000 people are employed on three shifts.
The building is the largest in the world enclosing 13,385,378 m3 (472,370,319 cu ft) and covering 399,480 m2 (98.3 acres).
It is like a small city, requiring its own fire department, security force, fully equipped medical clinic, electrical substations and water treatment plant. The building is so large that when the factory was first built, clouds actually formed near the ceiling. The weather cleared when an air-circulation system was installed. There is no heating nor air conditioning in the building, the heat of 1 million light bulbs, plus machinery and human heat warm the place up in the winter. In the summer they open up the huge hangar doors to let the wind blow through to cool it. It costs $65,000 per day in electricity to light those 1 million bulbs! Employees use 1,300 tricycles to get around the building more efficiently than walking! There are also 2.33 miles or 3.7 kilometers of pedestrian tunnels running below the factory. The tunnels are also used for operating the utilities and comes in handy during winter when getting around in the cold and snow can be a challenge. As a final bit of trivia, the mural on the six factory doors is the largest digital graphics in the world.
At the end of the tour we headed back to the tour centre to pick up our cameras so we could take some shots from the viewing deck on the roof.
One of the aircraft we were lucky to see (there are only 4 in the world) was the Dreamlifter, a specially modified Boeing 747 used for carrying fuselage parts, wings and other structures from around the world.
There was a whole “parking lot” full of aircraft waiting for test flights.
The three aircraft below had just been completed, and were being fueled up for the first time prior to an engine run.
The aircraft below is an interesting one for us, it is a Boeing 787 of Hainan (Chinese) Airlines, the same aircraft type and company that we will be flying to China with later this year, who knows, it could even be on that aircraft.
We also went around a small museum area where I got the chance to “fly” a Boeing 727
On our way back to the car we spotted an MGB-GT (1970’s British sports car) in the parking lot. It was registered in Victoria, NOT B.C. but Australia, and was being driven on a round the world tour!
After lunch we headed slowly back to the dump campground, stopping off at Hobby Lobby (a large crafts and hobby store) as well as finding the obligatory geo-cache.
Back at the trailer I did some prep work for an early (06:30) departure tomorrow. The truck is hooked up and ready to go with no sign of leaking brake fluid this time!