The Boeing company offers tours of its Everett factory to the general public. Our friend Albert suggested it half jokingly to us before our trip, and I jumped at the chance when Theresa proposed it as an activity we could do. The factory is about 25 miles north of downtown Seattle.
Jets engine on display
Collectors Edition die cast scale model of a 747 with ANA Snoopy livery
They have a small museum/exhibit space where you can wander before or after your tour called “The Future of Flight”, with showcases advances in aviation (jet engines, seating, etc). Of course there is the obligatory gift shop selling you Boeing related souvenirs. What was interesting was there is actually 2 stores attached to the museum : a privately run gift store selling general aviation and Seattle related stuff and the official Boeing Company Store, which sells all sorts of Boeing branded merchandise.
Picture I wish I could have taken if I were allowed to bring in a camera
(Credit: David Parker Brown, airlinereporter.com)
The tour lasts about 1.5 hours and you are taken by bus from the museum to a couple of the factory buildings with a tour guide that tells you about the facility. Boeing does not allow you to take anything on the tour with you, including cell phones, cameras, purses, etc, which is a bummer because it would have been great to snap a few pics of all those airliners up close on the factory line or the line of 787s parked along the taxiway waiting to be delivered to customers. Boeing produces 747, 777, and 787 Dreamliners here and lays claim to the largest building in the world by volume. You could fit all of Disneyland into the building with a few acres to space. In fact tourists are warned they have to walk more than a 1/3 of a mile during one part of the tour to reach the observation deck that overlooked the factory floor. During our tour we actually caught a glimpse of the first 787-9, which we were told is almost completely built out and will serve as a test plane.
View from the obervation deck, Boeing Future of Flight Museum
Payne Field, Everett, Washington
One of the most interesting things (for aviation geeks at least), is the observation deck on top of the museum. It overlooks the northern end of runway 16R/34L. From here you can watch all the planes take off and land. Most of Payne Field’s traffic is general aviation, but if you catch it at the right times, you can spot Boeing conducting flight tests on its jets. The control tower communications are piped to a set of speakers in the observation area, so observers know what aircraft is barreling down the runway or coming in for a landing. When we got there, we saw a 777 decked out in Thai Airways livery turning onto a taxiway, which means we must have just missed it landing. If you are into photographing aircraft, this would be a prime place to do so, especially if you are hoping to get a pic of the new 787 Dreamliner. Bring your telephoto lens if you want an up close shot though.
