Oct 2, 2009 3
10 Myths / Facts about Boeing Factory Tour (Everett, WA)
I was privileged to go on the Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, WA and witness the production of 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner; I even saw a 747 DreamLifter on the runway. Boeing Factory lies about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle and it was very impressive. Before I went on the tour, some of the people I met gave me “facts” about the Boeing factory and I discovered that the information was false after the tour. So maybe you can call your friends out when they boast about the knowing everything 
| Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, WA 90 minutes tour. There will be a short movie clip about Boeing before the tour. Cost $15 per adult / $8 per child (6-15 yrs old) and there is a min height requirement of 4ft. Go early in Summer as tickets can be sold out early. Wear something comfortable as there will be lots of walking and moving around. Keep your phones, camera, purses, pda, etc in your car or in the coin lockers as they do not permit it. Contact: 1-360-756-0086 |
Here are 10 myths / facts about the Boeing Factory.
Largest Building on Earth?
TRUE. Guinness World Records list the Boeing Everett factory as the largest building in the world by volume at 472 million cubic feed (13.3 million cubic meters).
Boeing City?
True. The Everett factory is like a small city, requiring its own fire department, security force, fully equipped medical clinic, electrical substations and water treatment plant.
Boeing Factory employees 100,000 people?
False. There are about 30,000 people working at the Everett facility, and they work in three shifts around the clock.
The Boeing Factory is so big it that is rains in the factory?
False. Although the factory is the world’s largest building, it does not rain nor does it create any cloud / rain inside the factory building. However, 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 air conditioning (a/c) on the production floor?
True. Due to the weather in Seattle which seldom peak over 90′, the production floor does not have any a/c. The temperature is regulated by two things, the weather outside and the light bulbs. If the factory is too warm, they would open the factory door and run fans to blow air into to the factory. And if it gets too cold, they rely on the light bulbs above the production floor. The factory uses over 1 million light bulbs!
Conventional cranes are used to move planes around during assembly?
False. There are twenty six overhead cranes that run a network of 39-miles of ceiling tracks throughout the factory. These ceiling cranes are used to lift and move airplane components and sections during the production process.
Is there a maze of walk way running below the factory?
True. There are 2.33 miles or 3.7 kilometers of pedestrian tunnels running below the factory. The tunnels are also utilized for operating the utilities and comes in handy during winter when getting around in the cold and snow can be a challenge.
There are 1,000 bicycles in the factory to help employees get around?
False. There are 1,300 bicycles and tricycles in the factory that is used by employees to get around.
The have the largest mural in the world?
True. According to the Guinness World Records, the mural on the six factory doors is the largest digital graphics in the world.
Rail running to the factory?
True. Boeing not only have a rail running to the factory but the rail spur running uphill to the factory from Great Northern Railway’s track is the steepest active standard-gauge railroad in the United States.
****Correction****
Per mentioned by one of the visitors, Matt Cawby which runs paineairport.com, he mention that the Great Northern Railway’s is managed by BNSF. Upon doing further research, Matt is correct and my apologies.
One of Seattle’s best kept secrets, the garden offers color, fragrance, and open spaces to awaken your senses all year long. These lovely grounds are a masterpiece of horticultural splendor, combining the elegant lines and vistas of the romantic English landscape style with the original character of more than 570 species and 1,500 varieties from around the world.
The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks is an engineering marvel that is working flawlessly after almost a hundred years. The locks sits in the middle of Salmon
The lock system consist of two locks. One lock is big enough to have commercial ships travel through it, while next to it, there is a smaller lock designed for leisure or smaller boats. The purpose for that it to conserve resources as it takes a lot of water to fill and drain the system and if there is no need to utilize the large lock, then the secondary lock will be used. In the larger system, larger vessels are anchored to the side of the locks and they would tie smaller boats on the of the larger vessel to maintain stability for those vessels in the lock while filling or draining the locks. On the far right, you can see some of the workers instructing the boat owners to secure their vessels to the side of the locks. They works have a cabling safety system that prevents them from accidentally falling into the water or on the vessels.
If you are in Seattle, you cannot afford to ignore the integral relationship between the Pacific Salmon and Seattle. In every restaurant in Seattle, there is always salmon on the menu and one of the best place to see a snapshot of a salmon’s life at a ripe age before spawning.
One should start the visit off at Pike Place Fish Market where it is entertaining and fun. You will find their employees singing and giving customers a good scare with the dead Monk fish that is tied to a rope. You can’t miss that stall as you will see everybody wearing their bright orange rubber work suits. You are able to purchase fresh seafood from lobsters (and I mean really big lobsters), crabs, etc…all the way down to a monk fish. They will pack your purchase with dry ice so that you are able to bring it back to where you are going, or it can be shipped to your final destination. If you are looking for fresh seafood, there are numerous vendors selling seafood, so shop around. 
Strolling down, you will see a flurry of flowers in vivid colors. Not only does it light up the area with the color contrast, it smells good after the fist stall. I was surprised to see that the flowers there were absurdly cheap. For example, you are able to find 3 stocks of 6 inch blooming sunflowers plus a variety of flowers in a bouquet for $5. When was the last time I bought flowers for $5? Never!!! On our way back to our car, we saw a few people loading a minivan with flowers. I assume that they were either a party planner, or preparing to save a lot of money for their son’s wedding by buying the flowers themselves and doing the flower arrangement. 
We passed on the flowers as it did not make any sense to get live flowers while traveling. There were lots of vendors selling vegetables too. They were definitely fresh but the prices were not as compelling at the flowers. We also saw abundant of people selling fresh nuts, arts and craft to everything in between. Checkout the picture we took of a vendor selling fresh peppers. Vibrant colors!
If you get hungry, there are a few food stalls in the market or you can hop across the street and try one of those little shops for some local food. If you are a coffee buff, then you should know that the first Starbucks is located there. Yup, the first Starbucks store. There are numerous coffee establishments around the vicinity and I am sure that you will get the caffeine jolt by the time you leave. 
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