Saturday, April 11, 2009

Come fly with me......



Ok, maybe I personally won't be flying in them, but I wanted to share some beautiful planes. (Though I did get to fly a 777 coming home from Germany 2 years ago. It was pretty satisfying knowing that I had been a part in it's creation). :)

I have worked at Boeing for over 26 years, survived 2 layoffs and have built parts and sections of, as well as inspected, military as well as commercial airplanes. My newest job that I just accepted in Dec. is a Customer Documents inspector.

I basically follow the airplane from the very beginning where they are in pieces until the completed airplane is delivered to their customer. I track thousands of parts and serial numbers to make sure the customer has all their required documentation of each of those parts and it is correct.

I also write up flight squawks where during the test flights if the pilots or customers find things that aren't working properly or visually are not acceptable. I write them up, and then follow up with the fixes. These go to Boeing, the customer and FAA.

Let me tell you, I have no trouble flying Boeing airplanes. I know they are the best they can be!

Here is a couple of pics of me with my first 777 Delta airplane. I'm standing in a couple of them with the person that has been responsible for my training, Larry. I will be working the new 787 when it is ready.





Here are a couple of planes across the tarmac, a 777 Emirates and a 747 Cathay Pacific.



The rest of these pics of from my recently (this last Friday) delivered airplane. It was a big one, and I was lucky to be the person involved with it. It was the 777th Boeing 777. Bought by Air France. There was a big ceremony held at the Future of Flight museum which is right up the road from where I work.

Here is a great pic of "my baby" leaving on a test flight taken by a fellow that takes pics of all the planes test flying and delivering, named Matt Cawby.

16 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

It must be such a rush seeing your babies flying for the first time!!!

Having had worked and flown for Piedmont, US Airways, Henson, and Mesa Airlines for over 20 years I am in great appreciation of airplanes and the miracles of flight. So much goes into each and every plane, flight, airline, airport and in daily operations.

This was a terrifici post my friend. I loved seeing a pic of you, too. You're such a beauty standing there in front of that HUGE engine.

Kudos to you for making our skies fun, and adventure...and most of all..safe.

Happy Easter to you,
Lisa

Amy said...

Wow, really neat! Thanks for sharing. I'm very impressed.

Anonymous said...

Amazing!!! Thanks for sharing :)

Michelle said...

Fun to see your work; my job is MUCH more mundane!

Susan said...

Tammy, those are great pictures of the airplanes all shiny and new and you with your happy and proud face! I will never feel hesitant to fly on a Boeing again. What an intricate job you perform on such an awesome machine. Those babies are monstrously big! Congratulations for a job well done!

Grammy said...

That is so wonderful. Happy Easter.

Jenny Holden said...

Keep up the good work! It's good peace of mind knowing that there are folk like you making sure that we're as safe as can be in the sky! I'm flying to Norway next week, not sure what type of plane though!

I need orange said...

How cool! I never thought that there must be a person keeping track of every piece that goes into an aircraft, and making sure all is proper and ship-shape.

Congratulations on a successful "launch"!

Thank you for sharing this with us, and for helping us all be safe when we fly!!!! :-)

Karen said...

I am absolutely stunned. Thanks for this amazing and interesting post. Sounds like a fascinating career. Could you share you education background with us now?

Lodahl Art Works said...

Cool shots. Now how did you do that and not get your camera confiscated!! I took a camera in and about got arrested..

Maybe it is because you are an inspector, huh. I love the photos and you are still just as pretty as ever!!

shadow mountain jacobs farm said...

I really miss working with the planes in Everett, BAB was my favorite . Working in Auburn is not nearly as interesting but 60 miles closer to home :-)

I have Constance eating from my hand now. She does it every night and is so sweet, I just love her.
HAPPY EASTER MY FRIEND..

Ruth said...

Wow, Tammy! I didn't know this about you. I am super impressed, and I know nothing about airplanes, so I am glad for you and others like you who worry about them for me.

I realized on our flights to NY last weekend that I am not afraid of flying any more. Not sure what happened, because there was a period of a few years when I got very nervous. But now, I'm back to how I felt as a girl flying - exhilerated!

You look very nice there in these photos, thank you so much for sharing.

country girl said...

What an exciting job. I learned a lot about airplanes and how they are built. Thank you for that education.

Jennifer said...

Wow, what a neat job! Great post and I loved the pictures!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's so cool!

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

you go girl! I like seeing women running things. :-)