In April 2004 I went to SEattle Washington with my wife to have a nice vacation. To all of you that have heard something about Seattle let me tell you that is an incredible city. Extremely clean, orginized, and very very friendly people
maybe as opposite as you can get from New Yorkers or from Parisian people 
. After a couple of days knowing downtown and the fish market as well as some falls it was time for the BIG surprise for me, I went to the Boeing aircraft factory in Everett Washington. Everett is a kind of small city very close to Seattle, about 60 kilometers away, and we got there in less than 40 minute drive even though there was some moderate traffic. The factory is incredibly ENORMOUS, I mean VERY BIG!!!. We were passing through a small road that leads to the factory and we saw 3 airplanes(brand new) just to be delivered. We saw a AF 777-200, an Air China Cargo 747-400 and a CargoLux 747-400 that was in fact delivered the day we were there. I also saw an Alitalia 777-300 ( I believe it was a 300) that was getting last makeover. Well, first thing when you arrive at the tour facility is that they tell you that EVERYTHING is prohibited inside the tour: no cellphones, cameras, pagers, etc. Second, they take you to a small auditorium were they show you a 15 minute movie about Boeing and it shows ALL ( I mean all military and civilian) aircraft Boeing has manufactured, even the 717 that was a McDonald Douglas design. The movie is GREAT by the way. After the movie they take you to bus that takes a 2 minute drive to the front entrance of the factory. By the way, Boeing has 3 factories, 1 in Everett Wa were they make the BIG airplanes like the 747,777,767. Then they have one in Renton Wa were they make the 757 and the 737. YThe last one is in long Beach California were they make the 717. By the way the biggest "closed" factory in the world is the factory in Everett Wa, you can really get lost in there!!!!. Just you can have an idea ALL Walt Disney World can fit INSIDE the factory and then you have about 12,000 square meters to spare! The tour last about 1 hours witch is way to short for me 
but I had a nice time. Now, outside they have a gift shop were they sell every kind of gadget you can possibly think. So you can have an idea I spent nearly $600 dollars in that shop 8O . And now some facts:A new 747-400 costs aproximately 220 million dollars
A new 777-300 235 million dollars
A new 767-300 140 million.
A turbine for the 777 costs 18 million while the turbine for the 747-400 costs about 14 million.
To make a new 747-400 they take 7 months from start to finish.
To of all you interested in buying one, they do not take credit cards and the aircraft is delivered without any fuel since filling up a 747 400 costs 100,000 dollars! hope you enjoy my report. I will be flyinfg to Frankfurt this thursday in a Delta 777 and then in Lufthansa to Dusseldorf in a A 321. Hello Europe!!!!!!! Eduardo
