Boeing, il Museo del Volo e il Patrimonio Aeronautico di Seattle
Boeing (The Boeing Company — the largest aerospace and defense company in the world by revenue in most years, founded on July 15, 1916 by William Edward Boeing (1881-1956) in a red barn on the southern shore of Lake Union in Seattle — the company that has dominated commercial aircraft manufacturing for 80 years and that is more responsible than any other single company for the shape of modern air travel): Seattle's relationship with Boeing (the company that employed more than 100,000 people in the Seattle area at its peak, that was the largest private employer in Washington State for most of the 20th century, and that continues to build the 737, 747, 767, and 777 aircraft at its manufacturing facilities in Renton and Everett) is more defining than any other company-city relationship in American industrial history.
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Museum of Flight — The Aviation Collection Next to Boeing
The Museum of Flight (9404 E Marginal Way S, Boeing Field, south of Seattle, $25 adults, daily 10am–5pm) is the largest private air and space museum in the world — the Great Gallery (82 full-size aircraft suspended and displayed in a glass-and-steel building, including a Concorde, a SR-71 Blackbird, and a B-17 Flying Fortress) and the Space Gallery (full-size shuttle trainer, the original Mercury mission equipment) are the primary exhibits; the Personal Courage Wing (24 WWI and WWII combat aircraft, the most complete collection of flyable WWII fighters in the US) is the aviation enthusiast's essential stop.
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Boeing Everett Factory — The World's Largest Building by Volume
The Boeing Everett Factory (3003 West Casino Road, Everett, 40km north of Seattle, tour from Museum of Flight, $50+, advance reservation required) is the world's largest building by volume (472 million cubic feet) — the building was constructed in 1967 to assemble the Boeing 747 (the aircraft that democratized air travel by carrying 400+ passengers at once); the current assembly lines (787 Dreamliner, 777X) are running simultaneously with the 777X test program; the factory tour (2 hours, walking, includes viewing the actual aircraft assembly from overhead platforms) is the most industrial tourism experience in the US.
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Boeing's Seattle Origin — The Red Barn and Bill Boeing
The Red Barn (the original Boeing airplane factory, 1909, Boeing Field, now part of the Museum of Flight campus, $25 adults) is where William Boeing and Commander George Westervelt built the Boeing Model 1 seaplane in 1916 — the building (a former shipyard building that Boeing purchased for $75 and converted) is the origin point of the world's largest aerospace company; the Model 1 (a wood-and-linen biplane seaplane that Boeing flew himself across Lake Union on June 15, 1916) is in the Museum of Flight's collection; the Boeing 40B-4 (the airmail carrier that built Boeing's commercial airline business) is adjacent.
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Snohomish County Aviation Heritage — Arlington Fly-In
The Arlington Fly-In (Arlington Municipal Airport, Snohomish County, 65km north of Seattle, August, 4 days) is the Pacific Northwest's premier general aviation event — 500+ aircraft from single-engine homebuilts to warbirds arrive for the weekend; aerobatic performances, biplane rides ($30, 15 minutes), and warbird flying demonstrations are the spectator events; the homebuilt aircraft competition (EAA Chapter tradition) showcases the Pacific Northwest's active amateur aircraft construction community (Washington State has the highest per-capita ratio of registered aircraft in the US).
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Future of Flight Aviation Center — Boeing Tour Alternative
Future of Flight Aviation Center (8415 Paine Field Blvd, Mukilteo, adjacent to the Everett factory, $26 adults, gallery free) offers the official Boeing factory tour alternative — the aviation gallery (interactive exhibits on aircraft design, materials science, and aerodynamics) and the rooftop observation deck (free, views of Paine Field runway where Boeing flight tests take place) complement the factory tour; the observation deck is the best place in the Seattle area to watch the daily takeoff and landing operations of Boeing's test fleet and commercial aircraft.
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Rocketdyne and Space Heritage — Blue Origin in Kent
Blue Origin (21218 76th Ave S, Kent, the company founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, headquartered in the former manufacturing district south of Seattle) is reshaping the Seattle area's aerospace identity — the New Shepard rocket (the suborbital tourism vehicle), the New Glenn (the orbital rocket), and the BE-4 engine (the engine selected by United Launch Alliance for the Vulcan Centaur) are all designed and manufactured near Seattle; the Kent-Auburn industrial corridor (south of Seattle) is experiencing the same aerospace cluster phenomenon that made Everett the 747 centre; Blue Origin's operations are not publicly accessible.