Paine Field training center's new lab: a 12-ton Boeing 767 fuselage

EDMONDS — Its arrival was two years in the making, and the weather was perfect — rain or winds stronger than 15 mph would have been too dangerous. Spectators snapped photos as a crane hoisted the 12-ton fuselage into a custom-built concrete cradle.

Larry Cluphf, executive director of the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center at Paine Field, had spent the morning pacing the designated 200-foot radius observation zone in a dark business suit and safety goggles. His silver airplane lapel pin glistened in the sunlight.

Cluphf had eagerly awaited the Boeing 767 tanker fuselage — think Air Force cargo plane — as a way to provide realistic, hands-on training for aerospace manufacturing students, as part of the Washington Aerospace Training & Research Center at Edmonds College.

“This is going to be a game changer in how we offer our training,” Cluphf said.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/paine-field-training-centers-new-lab-a-12-ton-boeing-767-fuselage/