2 On the Road: Future of Flight and Boeing Tour

The Future of Flight exhibit center in Mukilteo, WA is the staging area for the Boeing factory tours. We were not allowed to take any photos during the tour so this posting is mostly on the exhibits with a few interesting photos at the end.

This Boeing plant makes 747's, 777's and the 787 aka the Dreamliner.

Different versions of each model has been made through the years.

Sorry this is blurry but please click to enlarge so you can read this interesting display. The 787 is made in four or five different places. Each place makes a different section and final assembly occurs at this plant.

During our tour we got to see the first ever Boeing 787-9 being made.

Three different engines were on display.

I had no idea that the blades were so curved.

Nolan next to the front landing gear so you can see how big it is.

We had to go up some stairs on the far side of the exhibit area to get this photo of a tail fin. This particular fin was on a 747 during its 30 years of flying before the plane was mothballed in long-term storage at Pinal Air Park by Marana, AZ. I didn't get all the info from the video display but it weights 4200 lbs and stands 33' tall. The tail was taken off the plane and transported by truck and rail to be in this exhibit. You can see the three engines that are displayed in the hall.

Part of the fuselage was on display so we could see how it was made with carbon fiber.

The machine that applies the carbon fiber.

The windows in the 787 are 60% larger than those in the 747.

This was a section of the fuselage shown with seats. Notice the interesting shaped windows.

They have a Passenger Experience seminar (that we didn't get to attend) where people can tell the airline what they would like to see.

This photo shows the tour bus we took to the factory and the Boeing jet assembly plant in the background. I believe they said it encloses 97 acres. It can hold 75 football fields or all of Disneyland plus 12 acres of parking. In one bay there were three 777's lined up all in a row.

Another shot of the building from the road. It is the largest building, by volume, in the world. When it was first built, they didn't have any ventilation system. Clouds would form up by the ceiling and it would rain in the building. Needless to say, they fixed that with huge ventilation fans up by the ceiling. There are 1 million light fixtures.

Test pilots take the planes up for testing until they are satisfied then the purchasers test pilot checks everything to their satisfaction.

The small doors are 81' tall and 300' wide. The large doors are 81' tall and 350' wide.

After the planes are assembled, they are moved across this overpass to the other side to the paint buildings.

The paint building is on the right. The green plane out front is not yet painted.

We were really lucky because we saw one take off while we were on the bus (without a camera) but we went to the Stratodeck after the tour and saw this one landing. As you can see, it hasn't been painted yet.