Boeing Renton Factory
The Boeing Renton Factory is the Boeing Company's manufacturing facility for narrow-body commercial airliners, and their military derivatives. Current production includes the Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner and the Boeing P-8 Poseidon military patrol aircraft. The factory covers of floor space. The factory lies adjacent to Renton Municipal Airport. Background The Boeing Renton Factory is built on land reclaimed by the lowering of the level of Lake Washington in 1916. At that time, it was purchased by industrialist Charles H. Burnett who intended to use it for coal storage and shipment. Those plans never came to be, and the semi-swampland was used as a hay farm. In 1936, Burnett's daughter Amy Louise Burnett Bond, transferred the land back to the state of Washington. Coincidentally, Burnett Bond was a close friend of Bertha Potter (wife of William E. Boeing), being both her godmother, and living with her family while she attended finishing school. At the start of World War II, the property was transferred from the state to the federal government. Due to its location on a large body of water, the Navy Department worked to establish a flying boat aircraft factory on the land for production of the Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger. This order was cancelled, however, to free the factory for production of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the factory being transferred to the Army in exchange for use of the North American Aviation's Kansas City factory for production of the land-based B-25 Mitchell for the Marine Corps. After the end of World War II, the Superfortress production line was no longer necessary, and the plant closed in July 1946. The building was used for other purposes, including as a temporary home for a circus. Boeing reopened the Renton plant in 1949 to build the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter and it has been in use since. The Renton plant would also be used as a shipbuilding facility from 1974 to 1985, building the Pegasus-class hydrofoil for the Navy, and commercial Boeing 929 jetfoils alongside the aircraft production lines. The factory has its own rail spur where BNSF Railway trains can deliver parts to the factory. This practice started in the 1960s during the construction of the 707, but has become most prominent during the construction of the 737, with the entire fuselage being delivered to the factory by rail. Aircraft production history Boeing B-29 Superfortress At the start of World War II, the factory was used for production of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. A total of 1,119 B-29s were built in the Renton plant. Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter The plant was briefly closed at the end of World War II, but by 1949 it was re-opened to build the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter for the United States Air Force. In all, 943 C-97s were built in the Renton plant. Boeing 707/KC-135 Stratotanker In 1952, Boeing began developing the Boeing 367-80, to demonstrate the advantages of jet propulsion for commercial aviation. Nicknamed the "Dash 80," the prototype rolled out of the Renton factory in