Boeing Day

During Mom and Jim's recent visit (which you'll know ended in me flying home with Mom for a bit if you read this post) one of our main goals was to spend a day visiting all of the different Boeing attractions around Seattle. The main motivation - other than the sheer coolness in Seattle for a short time in the 1940's. This was something completely unknown to me until Kevin and I announced we were planning to move to the area, at which point Grandpa very animately announced he had lived in Seattle once, too, and worked at Boeing building airplanes until being drafted into World War II. From the way he told it, being drafted was the only reason he left and he had at least somewhat thought of coming back but never did for one reason or another. He talked about really loving his time in Seattle and about getting a kick out of watching the cars slide down the downtown hills from wintertime ice.

Early Boeing Company Sign at the Museum of Flight 

So, we set out early on a Saturday morning to spent the day doing all things Boeing. We started in Everett with the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour. Now, Grandpa most certainly never worked here since the Everett factory was opened in 1967. However, we still wanted to visit the factory since we figured Grandpa would like hearing about what current aircraft production was like there. As I alluded, the Everett plant is the largest building in the world by volume (472,370,319 cu ft), which is pretty astounding. This is where they build the 747s, 777s, and the brand new 787s. It was super cool to see not just one but several full sized airplanes at different build stages inside such a massive building. Apparently it's so huge that when they first opened the plant it created it's own indoor weather, and clouds formed up near the ceiling until they installed a new ventilation system. My favorite part was the 777 room, where they build the planes assembly line style on a very slow moving production line. We weren't allowed to take any photos in this area, so check out the links I've impeded throughout the post if you'd like to take a peek.

The Future of Flight center was pretty cool, too. Since I'm a kid at heart I loved the interactive displays, especially the one where you got to test the weight and flexibility of different plane-building materials and see which parts of the airplane are made out of what. Carbon fiber is where it's at ya'll. We also got to take a seat inside of a retired cockpit and play with all the bobbins and switches to our hearts content. I got a big kick out of seeing that there really is a fasten seatbelt switch in the cockpit. I had always suspected that when the flight attendants say "the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign" they were really just flipping the switch themselves to make all the annoying passengers sit down and just saying it was the "captain" to make it sound official.

From Everett, we made a quick dash down to the Museum of Flight in Sodo, and started our visit off there with a guided Boeing Field tour. This turned out to be the highlight of the day thanks to our awesome guides. They were both WWII vets who clearly had a passion for aviation and really knew their stuff. As we drove around Boeing Field - which is currently a working commercial airport as well as being one of the places Boeing does it's test flights - they told us about the history of the area. Here we encountered something unexpected. Mom remembered Grandpa telling her that in addition to working at Boeing, he also took flying lessons in the hopes of getting his pilots license. So, during the tour our guide pointed out Galvin Flying Services, a flight company that has been doing flying lessons on Boeing Field since 1930. More than likely, this was were Grandpa took his lessons. How cool is that!?! He wasn't able to get his hours in before being drafted, and although he did fly in planes during the war, he was part of the cargo plain crew and not a pilot.

At the end of the tour, we stayed behind to chat with our guide and ask him about where someone might have worked and what they would have built around 1942. He said without hesitation that it would have been at Plant 2, which was built in 1940.

Our guide showing us a photo of Plant 2 from the outside

Another photo of Plant 2 inside the Museum of Flight 

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see that facility in person as it was demolished in 2011 (a lesson to not build things on wetlands folks). But, we were able to see lots of pictures of both the outside and production floor of Plant 2 in the Museum of Flight exhibits. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was looking for Grandpa's face in each of the factory floor pictures. One interesting thing we learned is that during WWII Plant 2 was covered with a giant facade engineered to look like a regular old city block from the air and thus camouflage the production facility. Speaking of production, our guide also told us that during that time, the plant was mostly producing B-17 Bombers, so we could take a guess and say that that was probably the kind of airplane Grandpa helped build.

Photo from Museum of Flight showing B-17s making their way out of the factory

Photo of B-17s in production in Plant 2 from the Museum of Flight

Museum of Flight photo of the fake facade drapped over Plant 2 during WWII to hide it from the sky

We had so much fun exploring the Boeing facilities and learning about the company's history. It was just so cool to feel in touch with that part of my Grandpa's past through that part of Seattle's past. To think of him living and working in my adopted city when he was just 18 years old!

Not my Grandpa...but still a cool example of what his employee ID badge might have looked like 

I so wish we could have talked to him about our Boeing Day, and asked him even more about what his job was like. But, in a sad and cruel bit of unfortunate timing, we got an unexpected call from family in Wisconsin just two days later, telling us that my 89 year old Grandpa has been rushed to the hospital after being found unconscious. He never regained consciousness, showed very significant brain damage according to a brain scan, and passed away on that Friday, October 25th. Mom and I both were able to make it back to Wisconsin to say goodbye, and to be with the rest of the family - which was such a blessing - but I'm also disappointed we didn't get to share our Boeing adventure with him. Still, it was a excellent day and I feel more connected to Grandpa regardless, especially because Mom and I now have the memory of visiting Boeing together in honor and in memory of him.