Eclipse and Leo

The factory has its own rail spur where BNSF Railway trains can deliver parts to the factory. This practice started in the 1960s during the construction of the 707, but has become most prominent during the construction of the 737, with the entire fuselage being delivered to the factory by rail.[3]

The Renton plant would also be used as a shipbuilding facility from 1974 to 1985, building the Pegasus-class hydrofoil for the Navy, and commercial Boeing 929 jetfoils alongside the aircraft production lines.[1]

After the end of World War II, the Superfortress production line was no longer necessary, and the plant closed in July 1946. The building was used for other purposes, including as a temporary home for a circus.[1] Boeing reopened the Renton plant in 1949 to build the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter and it has been in use since.

At the start of World War II, the property was transferred from the state to the federal government. Due to its location on a large body of water, the Navy Department worked to establish a flying boat aircraft factory on the land for production of the Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger. This order was cancelled, however, to free the factory for production of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the factory being transferred to the Army in exchange for use of the North American Aviation's Kansas City factory for production of the land-based B-25 Mitchell for the Marine Corps.[2]

The Boeing Renton Factory is built on land reclaimed by the lowering of the level of Lake Washington in 1916. At that time, it was purchased by industrialist Charles H. Burnett who intended to use it for coal storage and shipment. Those plans never came to be, and the semi-swampland was used as a hay farm. In 1936, Burnett's daughter Amy Louise Burnett Bond, transferred the land back to the state of Washington. Coincidentally, Burnett Bond was a close friend of Bertha Potter (wife of William E. Boeing), being both her godmother, and living with her family while she attended finishing school.

The Boeing Renton Factory is the Boeing Company's manufacturing facility for narrow-body commercial airliners, and their military derivatives. Production includes the Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner and the Boeing P-8 Poseidon military patrol aircraft. The factory covers 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of floor space.[1] The factory lies adjacent to Renton Municipal Airport.

Eclipse and Leo

Infos sur le créateur

Introduction

Prologue