A trip to Seattle is not complete with a trip to Boeing. The plant is about 25 miles north of town. It is in a pastoral setting. The building does not look like much from the outside - but it is the biggest building in the world by volume.
Inside the building is as impressive as the Grand Canyon. The ceiling is over 100 feet high and has over 1/2 mile of open length and width. They said you could fit 911 basketball courts on the floor - and each of the 6 large doors was the size of a football field.
Unfortunately - they were super strict about not allowing cameras or cellphones in the factory. They said it was because a tourist dropped a camera once and put a $225,000 dent in a plane - but I suspect it has more to do with security and the paranoia over terrorists.
The workers were building Boeing 777's - they plan to start building the new 787's in June. The two pictures show the size of the body of the 787 and also the new interior of the 787. It will be made of composites making it lighter - more fuel efficient - and quieter. It will also be more spacious inside with larger windows. The neatest and most easily idenitified feature is that not only are the wings swept back - like a normal jet - but they also curve upward like a bird's.
The few pictures I got were taken in the museum area. The museum and tour were equipped to handle lots of people - but yesterday there were only 24 folks on our tour. Temperature outside was 45 and it was dark - breezy - and drizzling.
Still the largest and most expensive airliner is the Boeing 747. It used to cost $25 million when first build in 1970 - but now has a price tag over $200 million.
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