Airplanes and More Airplanes

We went to the Boeing Factory and Future of Flight Museum in Everett, Washington. The factory tour was very cool, with views of the 747, 777, and 787 lines. The speculation is that the 747 line is nearing shutdown; we may have seen some of the last ones. The 787s looked like shiny plastic tubes. And we saw a KC-46 parked outside, along with lots of 787s. The factory is huge, with incredibly long tunnels below the assembly floor. No pictures allowed. The museum was kind of lame, but I liked the observation deck. We saw a Dreamlifter parked near the museum.

Dreamlifter

 The only photos I could take during this visit were at the museum. Here's a shot of the factory from the museum.

Boeing Everett Factory

 Highway 526 runs right through the Boeing Facility. When airplanes come out of the factory above, they are towed across the road (over a bridge) to southern part of the campus, near Paine Field. There they are painted in one of the buildings shown below. On the morning of our visit, there was an unpainted 777, a KC-46 tanker, a pair of 787s, and I think that's a 767 on the right.

Paint Sheds and Airplanes at the Boeing Factory

 Looking farther to the right, the parking lot was full of 787s, with a few 777s and 747s visible.

Airplanes at the Factory

Later in the day we went to the Museum of Flight near Seattle at Boeing Field. It too was cool, and I especially liked the walk through of the Concorde, a 787, and a retired Air Force One. The 707-based Air Force One looked really archaic, surprisingly so. Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon all used this particular airframe before a pair of newer aircraft replaced it. The president's stateroom and conference table were cramped and uncomfortable-looking. I imagined Nixon using that plane and I think he wasn't much better off than modern 1st class. I had always heard that the Concorde cabin was cramped. It was. I took no pictures at this museum because everything was so packed together and full of people.