A Dreamliner comes true: Boeing's 787 debuts today

Des Evans has seen nearly all of the rollouts and deliveries of Boeing's commercial airplanes over the past five decades -- the sheer size of the 747, the light show that announced the 777 -- so he has been not-so-patiently waiting for the day the 787 Dreamliner would make its first, elaborate entrance.

That day (July 8, 2007, as in 7-8-7) has finally arrived, and Evans will join thousands of Boeing employees, retirees, airplane executives and worldwide media this afternoon as Boeing unveils its first commercial plane since 1994.

Television journalist Tom Brokaw will emcee the event at Boeing's Everett plant for a crowd of about 15,000 people. About 22,000 more are expected at a live simulcast at Qwest Field, with Gov. Christine Gregoire scheduled as one of the speakers.

The company is broadcasting the rollout in nine languages to an expected worldwide audience of 100 million in what it says will be one of the largest corporate television broadcasts in history.

The Dreamliner has been elevated to a worldwide stage because it uses parts produced around the world and shipped to Everett for assembly. It's also the first Boeing plane built extensively with composite plastic parts.

And while today is devoted to a celebration, the plane's real test will come in August or September when it's scheduled to make its maiden flight.

"There's a lot of feeling about this company in the [Puget Sound] region," said Bob Watt, Boeing's vice president of state- and local-government relations and global corporate citizenship. "You can't go very far in a crowd without finding someone who works here or knows someone who does."

For Evans, 77, the spectacle holds special significance because of his long history with the company and his continuing passion long past his official retirement in 1995.

Evans has no trouble recalling each of the planes he saw emerge from the company's hangars, starting with the commercial delivery of the 707 to Pan American Airways in 1958, up to the dazzling light show put on for the 777 about 13 years ago.

The 787 is the first new Boeing commercial plane Evans hasn't had a hand in, and that makes him want to see the finished product even more. He received a coveted ticket to the Everett event because of his volunteer work with the Boeing Tour Center.

"The 787 event might even upstage the 747," he said.

Evans has steadfastly clipped every local and national newspaper and magazine article he has found about the new airplane and filed them in a thick plastic binder.

His information is so current that he knows on a daily basis how many orders have been placed for the 787 -- the count late last week was 642.

(On the eve of the rollout, Boeing announced two more orders, one for 10 Dreamliners from Kuwaiti leasing company ALAFCO and another for 25 from Germany's Air Berlin.)

Over the years, Evans has amassed a stack of binders full of handwritten statistics on all Boeing planes, detailing everything from the number of commercial jets in service to each aircraft's dimensions.

He does it because Boeing gave him a job as an airplane painter when he walked in with no experience in 1957 after serving in the military, and then took care of him during rough times when thousands of other people lost their jobs.

And at the root of his lifelong commitment to the company is this simple fact: Des Evans loves airplanes.

When he talks about them, his voice becomes hushed as if he's telling you a great secret.

"Maybe it's uncanny," said Evans. "But I have a lot of fond memories."

The beginning of an era

It's the 747 he thinks of most, that aluminum giant that became a symbol of the age of flight when it emerged in 1968.

Evans cut his teeth on that plane -- it was the first one he worked on from start to finish.

He became part of the 15,000 Boeing employees known as "The Incredibles" because once they started working on the airplane, they just wouldn't stop.

"A lot of those folks were working overtime and extra hours and would just go out and sleep in their cars and come in and do some more work," said Michael Lombardi, Boeing's corporate historian.

Evans was no exception. He was working 12 hours a day as a planning supervisor after being promoted.

The anticipation for the launch of the airplane was intense, especially because Boeing was building its new 780-acre Everett facility even as employees worked on the plane. That facility has grown to 1,000 acres, with a 98-acre manufacturing center that's bigger than Disneyland.

Everything was moving forward, fast.

"It was a real challenge, and these people were excited to be making history," Lombardi said.

On the day of the rollout, Evans joined thousands of others awaiting the plane's debut. And when it came, the sheer size of it was overwhelming, he said.

"It was the biggest fanfare I've ever been involved in around an aircraft," he said. "There was a gathering of people outside that just wouldn't quiet down."

The celebrating didn't last long.

On Jan. 24, 1970, three days after Pan Am took the 747 on its first commercial flight, Evans was called into a management meeting.

A top Boeing executive, whose name Evans doesn't remember, laid out the harsh truth.

"He said, 'If a third of you are left working for Boeing a month from now, consider yourself lucky,' " Evans said. "He said, 'We are in big trouble. We're in an economic downturn. The airlines, they can't buy any more aircraft at this time.' "

The company already had started shedding workers. By the end of 1971, it had cut 63,000 employees in the Puget Sound region over three years, reducing its work force to 38,000 in what later was called the "Boeing Bust."

Evans was lucky -- he kept his job, but he was demoted and sent back to the paint shop. It would be six years before he was a supervisor again.

Boeing eventually was able to recover when the country emerged from the recession and the demand for commercial-airline service increased.

Hollywood glitter

Evans wonders how the 787 rollout will compare with the others. After the excitement surrounding the 747, the rollouts of the 757 and the 767 in the early 1980s just couldn't compare.

The only one that came close was the introduction of the 777 in 1994 -- Boeing's first plane entirely computer-designed, eliminating the need for a full-scale mock-up. For the rollout of that twin-engine jet, about 100,000 people packed the hangar at the Everett plant for a Hollywood-style show.

"It was wonderful -- they had the lights and the lasers going on the plane," Evans said.

Lombardi, Boeing's corporate historian, can't think of any other industry that goes to such lengths to celebrate the launch of a product.

Over the years, the rollouts have become bigger and more elaborate. The company would not disclose how much it's spending on the events for the 787.

The new plane's introduction has gained worldwide attention, with journalists from Poland to China planning on attending the events.

"We're sharing this with our customers and our suppliers and our employees and their significant others," said Boeing's Watt, who is one of the speakers at the Qwest Field event. "It's a big deal."

"His passion"

Pieces of Boeing are scattered throughout Evans' South Everett house -- a plastic replica of the 747, a wall of framed pictures of airplanes and executives, a hat from the 787 program he got as a volunteer tour guide.

At one point, he had dozens of model airplanes hanging everywhere, but the collection grew so big that his wife, Cora, suggested he put some of them in the attic.

Evans' commitment to Boeing long after retirement is reflective of many former Boeing employees from his generation, said Melodie Hawkinson, now a tour guide who worked at Boeing for 23 years before retiring in 1999.

Boeing employs more than 70,000 people in the greater Puget Sound region and estimates there are about 42,000 retirees.

"We have a lot of retirees that volunteer here, and they're all very proud to be Boeing retirees," Hawkinson said. "Des, however, was just extremely knowledgeable about building airplanes."

Maybe it's the culture of the company or maybe it's the magnitude of what workers are creating -- a massive, flying vehicle that will carry people to places across the globe.

As excited as Evans is about today's rollout, he knows it will be bittersweet. He will not have had a hand in bringing the pieces of this plane together.

On a recent morning, he picks up a newspaper with a large, front-page photo showing the first full-scale Dreamliner in Everett. Evans hasn't had time to cut it out and file it away.

But he examines the photo as if it were the actual airplane sitting in front of him.

He knows exactly how hard Boeing employees will be working to put the finishing touches on the plane.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" he says. "I'd love to be there."

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 425-745-7807 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com