Professional Pilot, January 2016

AIRPORT ANTHOLOGIES BFI Boeing Field Jewel of the Pacific Northwest N estled into a lowland area south of the city of Seattle the approach to Boeing Field on a clear day makes for spectacular views of the northwest for pilots Landing to the south on 13R aircraft fly over Elliot Bay and pass by the Space Needle before seemingly lining up with Mt Rainier looming large in the distance Among the busiest business and general aviation GA airports on the west coast Boeing Field also is home to a rich aviation history unequaled by many airports in the US And while many of the original airplanes buildings and infrastructure that makes Boeing Field so quickly recognizable have long since passed historical vestiges remain for visiting pilots willing to explore Dedicated July 26 1928 Boeing Field is situated on what was once not only a swampy meadow but the 46 PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2016 then meandering Duwamish River To be sure much of the airports 21 MSL is accounted for from the fill dirt dredged from the Duwamish when it was rerouted to create the area for the airport amongst the small farms and ramshackle houses that once adorned the relatively flat area south of Seattle At the time Boeing Field was derided by local pilots as the swamp as the newly relocated Duwamish at high tide would leech into the fill dirt producing sizeable puddles among the original 444 acres that then encompassed the airports property By 1929 an art deco main terminal building was built And within a few short years 4 permanent hangars on the airports east side flanked the new building symmetrically on each side to the north and south Like the terminal the original hangars were built of brick but incorporated steel girders wooden roofs and simple hand operated hangar doors It was from these hangars that a great many Boeing designs would emerge perhaps most famously the Boeing Model 299 or B17 Flying Fortress A year later on October 31 1930 in the depths of the great depression Boeing Field would see its first fixed base operator FBO Galvin Flying Services FBOs owe their peculiar moniker and attendant acronym to pioneers like Jim Galvin Prior to the establishment of airfields aviators would land in nearby farmers fields giving rides barnstorming and performing feats of derring do for a general public enraptured by the then rickety flying machines In the During WWII thousands of B17s and other wartime aircraft were built by Boeing Now BFI is a GA airport with Clay Lacy and Landmark as mainstay FBOs By Douglas Wilson President FBO Partners Pro Pilot West Coast Contributor Boeing Plant 1 also known as Boeing Oxbow Plant was the 2nd Boeing airplane facility which was home to the Boeing Corp between 1917 and 1965 in Seattle WA Boeing Plant 1 was responsible for assembly and production of all aspects of the early Boeing airplane models produced until completion of Boeing Plant 2 in 1936 William Boeing and Pilot Eddie Hubbard flew the first international mail flight to the US on March 3 1919 from Vancouver BC to Seattle William Boeing was originally a lumber tycoon He first witnessed aircraft flight in 1910 Boeing then diverted much of his personal fortune into investing in aviation engineering and reconfigured a boat building structure into his first aircraft factory Plant 1 Historical photos courtesy Boeing