Airplanes let us witness the majesty of the world above the clouds, but the places where these vessels are born and serviced have a beauty all their own—efficient, complex, and remarkably clean.
A Rainbow Ladder, for cleaning purposes, stands above a Boeing 737-800 at the Boeing Wichita plant in Wichita, Kansas, August 18, 2004.
(Photo by Larry W. Smith/Getty Images)
Inside of a Boeing 777 cockpit at the Boeing Wichita plant in Wichita, Kansas.
(Photo by Larry W. Smith/Getty Images)
Workers assemble an aircraft jet engine at the Rolls-Royce aircraft engine factory in Berlin, Germany, which produces engines for Airbus and Boeing, among others, August 23, 2006.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes shape in the assembly in Everett, Washington, May 21, 2007.
(Photo by John Froschauer/AP)
Planes are lined up for the finishing touches at the Cessna manufacturing plant in Bend, Oregon, May 14, 2008.
(Photo by Don Ryan/AP)
Engines of an Airbus A380 aircraft, under construction at the Jean-Luc Lagardere assembly factory in Toulouse, France, September 19, 2008.
(Photo by Pascal Parrot/Getty Images)
Airbus plane of the type A319 under construction at the Airbus factory on February 6, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany.
(Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Boeing 747 jets are built in the company’s factory at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, February 8, 2009.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Cables hang from the ceiling of an unfinished 747-8 Intercontinental airplane cockpit, Boeing’s newest passenger at the Boeing factory, February 12, 2011
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Boeing employees work on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on one of the assembly lines at the company’s factory in Everett, Washington, February 14, 2011.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Boeing 777 passenger planes in various stages of completion, February 14, 2011.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Boeing 737 engines in Renton, Washington, January 10, 2012.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/AP)
A Boeing employee drives a lift near a GE engine for a Boeing 777 airliner, June 13, 2012.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
In the nose of a Boeing 747-8 Freighter.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Working on the Boeing 767 assembly line.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
An employee works on the wing of a Boeing 777.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Technicians work on the wing of an Airbus A320 during construction at the Airbus SAS factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom.
(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)