Long Beach Boeing C-17 Tour

I have a good friend who's a Manufacturing Operations Analyst at Boeing's Long Beach C-17 production facility. He's been with Boeing for years, and he's also a longtime reader of American Power. He invited me for a tour of the plant, and I took him up on the offer yesterday.

I had a great time and learned a lot. Mostly, though, I feel privileged to have had the opportunity. The production crew modeled extreme professionalism, and the plant itself was even more impressive than I'd imagined. Thinking about it, it's almost impossible to consider the end of this place. Here is the apex of American manufacturing capabilities, but history's moving toward a new era, which may not include Southern California combat aerospace. My host indicated that there may be a longer life for the plant than indicated by the more ominous press reports (recall, "The End is Near for Southern California's Conventional Aircraft Manufacturing"), but the Pentagon side of things is definitely winding down.

Here I am at the start of the tour, standing in front of a scale-model layout of the entire facility. Notice that I'm wearing a visitor's identification badge. It was almost like being at a military installation, and the security procedures were first class:

And here's the huge promotional poster next to the entrance there:

Here's some information from the company's homepage:

C-17 Globemaster III -- The C-17 is the world's premier heavy-airlift aircraft and has proven itself as a versatile strategic and theater airlifter in every recent worldwide operation, from Operation Iraqi Freedom to humanitarian relief missions. Worldwide, there are currently a total of 209 C-17s in service. Boeing is under contract with the U.S. Air Force to design, build and deliver 213 C-17s through July 2011. Boeing has delivered 202 aircraft to the Air Force as of September 2010.

My host took me through each production area for every phase of the manufacturing process. It takes about six months for the construction of each finished aircraft. Each unit contains well over a million individual components, including everything from wiring and insulation, from cargo fasteners to jet engines, to the aviation cockpit equipment. It's pretty awesome.

There's a delivery condominium at the south end of the plant. This is where customers will come to take ownership of the aircraft. This suite featured a meeting room setup, with a television monitor here, and along the walls pictures of previous delivery ceremonies:

Then back outside we were able to tour a brand new C-17, on the tarmac and ready for delivery to Charleston. No pictures allowed inside the plane, but on the way back we took this lovely shot:

Again, it was quite a privilege to be afforded this tour, and I thank my host for his friendship and hospitality.

More information a Boeing's Globemaster page here.