Boeing

A few years ago an important plant closed.

This history is passed along by Peter Bysura who worked on Boeing 737 then and still does. The presumption is worked on the plane in this Boeing plant but he does not say that. He might be flight attendant. No! I'm kidding. Peter relates in 2010 people gathered at Boeing's Plant II to observe the last of three historic planes moved that were in a state of museum repair in the assembly bays. The buildings are cleared.

It is 3:00 in the morning as people gathered. It had been a long run, they are thinking, it had been seventy-five years and thousands of airplanes.


As the last three airplanes rolled out representing all the planes that rolled out of the historic building, the ritual of rolling a plane out of the hangar, the light reflecting off the wet floors, the giant doors opening, tow bars hooked up, tugs attached, the planes moving onto the ramp, the realization then these are the very last planes to roll out, to ever roll out of there, the history of the place, the weight of the understanding the depth of the history of the place suddenly washed over the assembled reverent crowd all at once and made everyone cry.

An era closed. As if closing a book. Did you notice that?

April, 1944, sixteen flying fortresses rolled out of the plant every single day.

B-52. This is my favorite photograph. One of my favorite planes, on account of Barksdale AFB. Nana couldn't take it but the roar of the engines and incredibly long takeoffs were as soothing nocturnes, comforting familiar lullabies.  

B-29, the last of the last of the last terminal final omega zed fini end of the line done Mohican B-29. (Take heart, you see the new stuff they're doing.)

Boeing B-47, a radical design at the time, six-jet bomber prototype. Peter writes this plane is the direct lineal matriarch of all Boeing jet planes produced since. I did not know that.

The entire plant camouflaged as residential.

1966 First prototype Boeing twin jet 737, Paul writes, the first one from this building, through these doors, onto this ramp.

First Boeing XC-97, also C-97 transport, KC-97 tanker, and B-377 for commercial Stratocruiser.

That was serious and somewhat emotional. But I am not so saddened by unhappy eras ending as I am saddened by unhappy eras starting.

I cannot stay that way for long. My mind tends to wander, and I allow it.

Because I always did wonder and still do wonder why does the Air Force put their lowest ranks on airplanes? It's like saying we're proud of these little dummkopfs. 

Two stripes is airman first class. You would think it would be one stripe. One of those planes is two stripes, I noticed, another plane one stripe, as if the planes have ranks and the ranks are lowest of all. Maybe it is a bomber v transport thing. I do not know.

Do you know what it takes to be a two-stripe airman?

* must comply with A.F. standards (high) and be a role model for subordinates (one stripers)
* expected to show effort in mastering necessary skills in new career field.  (try)
* ... oh, that's it.

To be a wearer of one-stripe chevron with a silver star pay grade E-2

* expected to understand and conform to military standards.

That is the symbol the Air Force puts on airplanes. Or perhaps it is a variant symbol with variant meanings. These chevron rank patches differ from regular straight horizontal parallel bars.

The symbols must remind you of winged solar disc. That is the original idea.

[winged solar disc] tons of those in stone
[winged solar disc tattoo] tons of those too.

The tattoos are all too small. Timid. Uncertain.

They don't get it at all.

They need me.

All of them do. They all need me there in the tattoo parlor with them to help them make the right tattoo-related decisions.  Every single one of them is too small. Too hesitant. The whole point is to go BLAM don't TOUCH this. It is protected. The design is more than a stamp of protection, it is complete enwrapping, enveloping, protection of wings, as a fierce bird of prey, or most birds actually, protect their offspring, their treasure, in the nest by spreading its feathers and concealing the whole lot, so the tattoo must protect the whole body by wrapping it. Completely around the shoulders around the arms, feather tips all the way to the front.

Or the other way around with feather tips reaching to the back including arms. Each feather tediously drawn. A real project. Not a little decal on the body.

Stud, if it must be that small and that stylized then raise it up where it belongs (over the door) at the clavicle. And put columns of meaningful hieroglyphics under it. It is a full frontal project. The hieroglyphics a definitive statement. The winged disc design accompanies and protects declaratives and imperatives. Not a hesitant little patch of uncertainty.

The spread wings protect the whole body. As etched on the outsides and insides of coffins and sarcopha Gusses. 

Come on. This is the idea, not the final product. The final design is 100 x more tedious.

But if you sleep on your back then you will want your protection symbol on front to warn off demons and lower-level spirit pervs, vibratory-wise, messing with your unprotected body while you're out of it and off having your out-of-body experiences, lucid dreams and the like. They do that. Ugly incomplete spirit pervs do. They roam around looking for trouble, taking advantage of unprotected live bodies. They're curious. So just for protection, for your own reassurance, this symbol will glow like a neon light and keep at a distance those scavenging creatures.

Here, lemme draw it on you.

Know what, Hotshot? Come to think of it...