<p>Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be shortly landing in Seattle, which interestingly is also the home of Boeing. No visit to this Space Needle city is complete, till the Boeing Factory is visited…” I vividly remember this announcement from our captain, not long back on a United Airlines flight from Chicago, simply because it heightened my exhilaration. After all, visiting the very same factory in Everett — not far from Seattle’s downtown stood on the zenith of my exploration plan here.</p>.<p>Just a day after my warm-up with the city at the historic Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square, I arrived at the Boeing’s world, stepping in from the Future of Flight Aviation Centre — from where visitors in a large group are led towards the factory — housed in the largest building of the world by volume (472 million cubic feet). Having reached quite early from my tour’s time, which I had booked (costing USD 27), I leisurely combed through the many enthralling galleries that pumped my mind with many amazing facts and stories about aviation.</p>.<p>As time was also flying, suddenly the air sang with our tour’s announcement. We marched towards the theatre — the meeting point, where nearly 25 of us — young and old were first shown a short documentary on the company’s history. Post the show, within minutes we were sitting in a bus that took us straight to where all the action was but we wished that we were also allowed to carry our cameras along. As the bus moved, suddenly, our eyes caught the sight of many planes and we felt like we were at some airport.</p>.<p>On arrival after our ride of a few minutes, our excited guide packed us in a grand lift which brought us to the view floors that hang right above the planes in various stages of assembly, ordered by airlines from across the globe, be it Boeing’s 777s, 747s and 787s. I admired taking note of cranes being used to pull grand parts of planes, the final painting jobs and the many engineers engrossed around the big birds, with their laptops hanging next to them with steel chains.</p>.<p>We also adored the light music playing in the background amid the many affairs, a clear sign of a convivial work culture like our guide’s continuous arresting commentary who carried the tour, little longer than an hour.</p>.<p>With a heavy heart, we boarded the bus back and couldn’t hold unfolding with each other our joyful experience.</p>.<p>Even as the bus began heading back, many of us kept our gaze fixed towards the unending building, where tours have been on since 1968, just a year after it was first built.</p>.<p>Before that, Boeing operated in smaller production houses in Seattle and around, as back then sizes of planes were also smaller. Two of those old production sites, also known as birthplaces of Boeing are still kept preserved, and I was fortunate to explore one of them.</p>.<p>A wooden structure known as the ‘Red Barn’, it is part of the Museum of Flight, also not far from the city that transports one to its old days with historic exhibits, vintage posters, rare pictures, old airline advertisements and more.</p>.<p>Not to forget, this museum too like the factory tour, balloons the excitement with not only endless exhibition halls but also several historic planes, including the world’s first ever made 747; an old British Airways Concorde; the 787 also known as the ‘Dreamliner’, which was used for world tour for its promotion in 2011 and even a retired Air Force One — the flying office of US President in which several former US Presidents have travelled across the world. And like every visitor, I also cherished them from inside, joyfully spending many hours.</p>.<p>Interestingly, the same museum is located right along the Boeing field — where planes are continuously tested with infinite landings and take offs, before their final deliveries.</p>.<p>It was spectacular watching those scenes from the museum’s air control tower.</p>.<p>During the air journey back home to India, I never forgot sharing my aviation memories and moments I had picked in Seattle, with every cabin crew member that came my way.</p>.<p>‘Lucky you,’ I was told each time, and I just couldn’t agree more.</p>.<p>This is why I still hold the very same museum’s ticket and my tour’s little pass as a souvenir which loudly states on its back, ‘I took the Boeing tour.’</p>
<p>Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be shortly landing in Seattle, which interestingly is also the home of Boeing. No visit to this Space Needle city is complete, till the Boeing Factory is visited…” I vividly remember this announcement from our captain, not long back on a United Airlines flight from Chicago, simply because it heightened my exhilaration. After all, visiting the very same factory in Everett — not far from Seattle’s downtown stood on the zenith of my exploration plan here.</p>.<p>Just a day after my warm-up with the city at the historic Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square, I arrived at the Boeing’s world, stepping in from the Future of Flight Aviation Centre — from where visitors in a large group are led towards the factory — housed in the largest building of the world by volume (472 million cubic feet). Having reached quite early from my tour’s time, which I had booked (costing USD 27), I leisurely combed through the many enthralling galleries that pumped my mind with many amazing facts and stories about aviation.</p>.<p>As time was also flying, suddenly the air sang with our tour’s announcement. We marched towards the theatre — the meeting point, where nearly 25 of us — young and old were first shown a short documentary on the company’s history. Post the show, within minutes we were sitting in a bus that took us straight to where all the action was but we wished that we were also allowed to carry our cameras along. As the bus moved, suddenly, our eyes caught the sight of many planes and we felt like we were at some airport.</p>.<p>On arrival after our ride of a few minutes, our excited guide packed us in a grand lift which brought us to the view floors that hang right above the planes in various stages of assembly, ordered by airlines from across the globe, be it Boeing’s 777s, 747s and 787s. I admired taking note of cranes being used to pull grand parts of planes, the final painting jobs and the many engineers engrossed around the big birds, with their laptops hanging next to them with steel chains.</p>.<p>We also adored the light music playing in the background amid the many affairs, a clear sign of a convivial work culture like our guide’s continuous arresting commentary who carried the tour, little longer than an hour.</p>.<p>With a heavy heart, we boarded the bus back and couldn’t hold unfolding with each other our joyful experience.</p>.<p>Even as the bus began heading back, many of us kept our gaze fixed towards the unending building, where tours have been on since 1968, just a year after it was first built.</p>.<p>Before that, Boeing operated in smaller production houses in Seattle and around, as back then sizes of planes were also smaller. Two of those old production sites, also known as birthplaces of Boeing are still kept preserved, and I was fortunate to explore one of them.</p>.<p>A wooden structure known as the ‘Red Barn’, it is part of the Museum of Flight, also not far from the city that transports one to its old days with historic exhibits, vintage posters, rare pictures, old airline advertisements and more.</p>.<p>Not to forget, this museum too like the factory tour, balloons the excitement with not only endless exhibition halls but also several historic planes, including the world’s first ever made 747; an old British Airways Concorde; the 787 also known as the ‘Dreamliner’, which was used for world tour for its promotion in 2011 and even a retired Air Force One — the flying office of US President in which several former US Presidents have travelled across the world. And like every visitor, I also cherished them from inside, joyfully spending many hours.</p>.<p>Interestingly, the same museum is located right along the Boeing field — where planes are continuously tested with infinite landings and take offs, before their final deliveries.</p>.<p>It was spectacular watching those scenes from the museum’s air control tower.</p>.<p>During the air journey back home to India, I never forgot sharing my aviation memories and moments I had picked in Seattle, with every cabin crew member that came my way.</p>.<p>‘Lucky you,’ I was told each time, and I just couldn’t agree more.</p>.<p>This is why I still hold the very same museum’s ticket and my tour’s little pass as a souvenir which loudly states on its back, ‘I took the Boeing tour.’</p>
