42: View from above

Frontiers April 2014 Issue

42: VIEW FROM ABOVE Photos by Bob Ferguson To meet demand, Boeing is producing its best-selling 737 jetliner at rates that once might have seemed unthinkable. Last month, employees at the 737 factory in Renton, Wash., rolled out the first airplane produced at a rate of 42 per month. While the focus now is on sustaining that rate, Boeing Commercial Airplanes has scheduled another increase to 47 a month in 2017 and is studying rates beyond that, should the market demand it. Since 2010, production of the PHOTO: Final assembly of the 737 begins when a fuselage, bottom right, is lifted into a tool where insulation blankets, electrical and hydraulic systems, and plumbing are installed. The fuselage then is moved to the start of the line, top right, to receive wings and landing gear. 16 Frontiers April 2014


Frontiers April 2014 Issue
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