On May 17th 2012, the Seattle Chapter SAWE visited the Paine Field Control Tower in Everett Washington. Ten of us got a close-up and personal view of what goes on to get airplane into the air. Paine Field was originally constructed in 1936 and it was envisioned that the Airport would create jobs and economic growth in the region by becoming one of the ten new “super airports” around the country. But soon the airport was taken over by the U.S. Army prior to entry into WWII as a patrol and training base. In 1947 it was transfer- red to the U.S. Air Force which continued that operational plan until the early 1960′s. At about that time Paine Field was under consideration by the U.S. Army Air Defense Command as one of several sites for the SENTINEL Anti Ballistic Missile System due to its central location to several military bases and defense industries in the Puget Sound Region. That program was eventually dropped.
On July 25, 1966, Boeing announced that it would build the Boeing 747, a jet airliner capable of carrying nearly twice as many passengers as previous models. Paine Field is now home to the Boeing Everett Factory, the world’s largest building by volume, and the primary assembly location for Boeing’s wide-body 747, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft.
Paine Field has three runways: 16R-34L, 16L-34R and 11-29. 16R-34L, at 9,010 feet (2,750 m) in length, is suited for the majority of aircraft, and sees occasionally heavy traffic. Runway 16L-34R is 3,000 feet (910 m) in length, and suitable only for small aircraft. Runway 11-29 is currently closed except for taxiing, and Boeing is leasing some of the runway to park partially completed 787and 747-8 aircraft.
The control Tower is 13 stories tall and has a commanding view of the Paine Field airport as well as the Cascade and Olympic mountains. The tower is manned 14 hours per day by 3 air traffic controllers.