Historic Boeing plant shuts down

Boeing Auction Marks End of Southern California's Jet Age
Boeing winds down production of military transport in region once known for aircraft manufacturing
Boeing said when it announced plans to end the C-17 that it expected to eliminate 3,000 positions connected with the program, including about 2,200 in California. A spokeswoman said Boeing has moved some of those people to other sites, and that retirements also have helped mitigate layoffs.
The view from underneath the Broetje Robotic Flexible Assembly Cell.

Boeing is closing an assembly plant in Long Beach, Calif., which for more than 20 years has produced the C-17 Globemaster III, a military transport jet. Now, Boeing is auctioning off the massive machines used to assemble the jet.

A control panel and monitors at the Long Beach plant. Production is ending because a lack of international orders after the U.S. Air Force stopped buying the C-17 cargo plane.

Among the items Boeing is selling is the Broetje Robotic Flexible Assembly Cell, which rivets together sections of the fuselage that are about as wide as a two-lane highway.

Boxes of fasteners on the Electro Impact Spar Drill/Riveter. Boeing's Long Beach facility, which sits just south of Los Angeles, dates to 1941 when it was opened by the Douglas Aircraft Co.

The plant, whose production area covers approximately 25 acres, has built planes including the B-17 bomber and MD-80 jetliner in addition to the C-17. Above, Gemcor Drivmatics machines.
The view down the final assembly facility from atop the NC505 Electro Impact Spar Drill/Riveter.
The Long Beach plant has nine C-17s in various stages of final assembly, with the last to be completed this year.