Boeing Plant 2

After the start of World War II, burlap houses and chicken-wire lawns camouflaged the rooftops of Boeing Plant 2 in Seattle
so that, from the air, the bomber manufacturing center looked like a quiet suburb.  -  From Boeing Archives

In the 1930s, it became apparent that Boeing Plant 1, located right down the river, was obsolete for aircraft production as it focused on stitching, gluing, and nailing biplanes together. Plant 2 was built as a modern assembly line where metal would be stamped and placed onto the planes in the same facility. In 1936, the plant was finished with a goal to build early prototypes of the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Boeing 307s. At this time the floor was 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2). 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) was added to the plant in May 1940 to support Boeing production of 380 Douglas DB-7 light bombers.[2] By the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the plant had been expanded to 1,776,000 square feet (165,000 m2). In total, 6,981 B-17s were produced in Plant 2.

In response for the Army’s request for a large, multiengine bomber, the B-17 (Model 299) prototype, financed entirely by Boeing, went from design to flight test in less than 12 months. The B-17 Flying Fortress was a low-wing monoplane that combined aerodynamic features of the XB-15 giant bomber, and the Model 247 transport. The B-17 was the first Boeing military aircraft with a flight deck instead of an open cockpit and was armed with bombs and five .30-caliber machine guns mounted in clear blisters. Each version of the B-17 was more heavily armed. Described by General H. H. Hap Arnold, as the backbone of our worldwide aerial offensive, the B-17 Flying Fortress served in every World War II combat zone. Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed Vega produced 12,731 B-17s, and the four-engine bombers became legendary for their ability to stay in the air after taking brutal poundings.

The 5,000th B-17 built after Pearl Harbor carried the signatures of all the people who built her.
She rolled out with great ceremony at Boeing Plant 2 in Seattle, Wash., surrounded by her builders. riveters and designers.