737 ptq

As part of a thread in the off-topic section of the Grand Banks Owners forum I found this video on YouTube and I thought some of the aviation-types on this forum might like to see it, too. It's one I produced back in the mid-2000s when the 737 was switched from a traditional slant-position line to a moving line.

We call these videos PTQs, for Put Together Quickly. The first one ever done at Boeing was back in the early 80s for the 767. When the 737 was switched to a moving line I was given the assignment to produce a new 737 PTQ showing the new assembly process.

So this is how we are able to produce 42 737s a month today. We shot all the footage ourselves including the opening scene--- BNSF "gave" me a brand new locomotive and a second one to use as the camera platform. The fully assembled fuselage shells come from Wichita to Renton, WA by train.

Interesting sidenote--- an employee from eastern Washington figured out how to load the seats into the plane using a modified hay bale loader. Prior to this the seats had to be taken up to the mezzanine level by elevator and then carried into the plane as individual units. The hay loader sped things up considerably.

We have made a lot of customized versions of this video for 737 operators all over the world who wanted their plane shown at the end. Southwest has had us do a number of versions with the assembly scenes shortened and more time given to the application of their special paint jobs, like their "Florida One" plane. Most recently I re-edited the video to show the installation of the new "Sky Interior," the 787-style interior we now put in the 737.

But this is the original video that we made for a Paris Airshow exhibit shortly after the moving line was fully implemented.

The time lapse and real time videography was done by Tom Wallace and Ed Turner, I produced the project and did the edit, and the music was composed, arranged, and recorded by Steve Allen (AM Music) using a number of local musicians.

Building a 737 - YouTube

Fascinating.

Now we need the PTE video on the 787.

(Put Together Eventually)

We have actually already done a 787 PTQ. But it was done for a specific airline at their request and expense so we cannot use it generically. The "official" PTQ is slated to be produced either later this year or early next year. Whether we do it here or in Charleston has yet to be determined. From a photographic standpoint, Charleston's facility is much brighter and better looking.

We need to get some sustained rates under our belts first.

You can make anything look sustained in editing.

Most of our PTQ videos are shot using several airplanes since until they're painted they all look the same other than the rudders (and winglets in the case of the 737). And while the original 737 PTQ shows Virgin Blue winglets and rudders, I made a generic version a week or so later which, using a video effects program, replaced the Virgin livery on the rudder with "composite gray" and eliminated the "Virgin" on the winglet. This is the version we use for airlines who request a customized PTQ for their own plane. All we have to shoot is the painting, paint hangar rollout, and takeoff.

Never believe anything you see on a screen these days. Even if the 787 rate was one plane a month, we can make it look like we're turning out 30 a month.

Marin said:

Never believe anything you see on a screen these days. Even if the 787 rate was one plane a month, we can make it look like we're turning out 30 a month.

Click to expand...

I'd be happy to make rate of 3.5 right now.

Well, we can make it happen in video. Don't know about real life, though.........