My second day in Everett started with a fantastic tour of the Boeing Assembly Plant in Everett courtesy of Boeing’s Communications department. The tour was led by one of their more seasoned guides who provided a lot of fantastic information and insights into Boeing’s manufacturing process. I enjoyed an hour-long golf cart ride throughout the assembly plant, a structure so large that Vatican City could fit comfortably within its confines.
I had the opportunity to get close up to several 747-8Fs under construction as well as a a handful of 777s and I was able to get a sneak preview at the 787-9, airframe #1 and 2. Boeing was gracious to grant me a photo permit, but unfortunately the photos are for personal use only and I agreed to not publish them in case you are wondering why I am not posting any photos of the factory.
After the tour, I returned to the Future Of Flight Center Aviation Center and took in about 7 hours of plane spotting. As I said in my previous post, plane spotting at Paine is more about the quality of what you see versus the quantity, and the quality on day 2 did not disappoint. Weather and sunlight cooperated and provided an environment for some great shots. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story (click here to see part I):
An unmarked 747-8 Freighter is brought out of the Assembly Plant to a parking spot on the ramp. The Green that you see is actually a vinyl cover used to protect the fuselage during assembly.
Air India’s 787-8, VT-ANN taxis off the runway after completely a high speed taxi test.
Cathay’s Latest 777 arrives in PAE after a test flight
Cathay Pacific’s newest 747-8F returns after one of it’s final test flights and prepares to taxi towards a water canon christening…..
A closer look…..
Enjoying a water cannon christening, she would be delivered to CX a few days later.
At first, I thought this was a Drone….I would be proven wrong.
This is a Nanchang China CJ-6 – not exactly something I was expecting to see that day!
TAM’s new 777 arrives after a 3 hour test flight
Another look at TAM’s 777
This is one of the last 767s that will be built by Boeing. This example belongs to UPS.
It’s not everyday that you get to see an unmarked plane in flight.
