Summary
Renton Municipal Airport is one of a trio of airfields used by Boeing for production, testing and fitting out of its brand new airliners in the Seattle area.
Renton is situated around 12 miles south of downtown Seattle, and only a short drive from Boeing Field, which is another production site.
If you’re in the Seattle area on a spotting trip, you’ll want to make sure you visit Renton to catch up on the brand new aircraft being produced and readied for delivery.
What Aircraft Are Built at Renton?
Photo (c) Boeing
Renton is currently the production site for the Boeing 737 MAX airliner. Given the vast numbers of orders, plus the delays in deliveries experienced recently, there can often be many of these aircraft crammed into every corner of the airport.
Aircraft are produced in the two large production halls situated in the north eastern corner of the airfield.
Boeing 737 fuselages are often delivered to the airfield by rail, and once assembly has taken place the completed airframes are rolled out and worked on or stored in various locations, including between the production halls and Lake Washington, and various aprons on the south east and south west sides of the runway.
Once completed and painted, aircraft leave Renton and fly to Boeing Field and do not usually return.
What Else Can You See at Renton?
Seaplane at Renton. Photo (c) Andrew W. Sieber
As well as being dominated by the production of Boeing 737s, Renton is also a busy general aviation airfield. You can see various light aircraft and twins flying in and out on any visit, with a row of parking aprons and hangars along the north western perimeter.
There is also a general aviation parking area and some hangars in the south east corner of the airfield.
Renton also has a small seaplane base located in the northwest corner, alongside the threshold of runway 16 and the adjacent Lake Washington from which they fly.
Spotting at Renton
Plane spotting is understood at Renton, and there are a good selection of locations to use. However, it’s often hard to see aircraft around the production halls in the north east corner.
It’s also useful to have a car, otherwise you’ll need to walk long distances around the perimeter to find the best spots.
Completed fuselages are often delivered to the airfield by rail and stored outside. Start your tour on Logan Ave on the eastern side (1), where you can often see these fuselages through the fence.
Next, head south until you reach N 6th Street and turn right. Follow to the end, where the Cedar River Trail Park starts. Pause to note any aircraft parked outside on your left.
The road leading into Cedar Park (2) runs alongside the runway, with a car park at the end. Follow the trail in either direction to get a view through the trees of aircraft movements and aircraft parked up. At the northern end you can see some of the freshly built 737s at the factory. Photography of the factory is not permitted, however.
Biz jet at Renton Municipal. Photo (c) Andrew W. Sieber
Head back to N 6th Street and take a right on Logan Ave. Just after the bridge over the Cedar River, take a sharp right towards some general aviation hangars, then a left along Perimeter Road.
Drive slowly along here to log light aircraft through the fence on your right. A little further along is Pathfinder Park (3), which as parking spaces and views across the runway threshold and southern part of the airfield.
Continue along Perimeter Road, passing various parking areas right up to the seaplane base (4), logging what you can through the fence along the way.
At the end of the road you’ll reach Rainier Ave. Turn left onto it and head south. After a mile you’ll see a parking lot on your left (5) which you can park up in for great views across the airfield.
You can see many of the Boeing 737s on the eastern side that you may have missed previously.
Spotters are often parked here, but be aware that it is a car park for the business’s use.
Title image: Matthew Groh, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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2 comments
I have just returned from Seattle. I visited Renton on 2nd & 3rd October. On 2nd there were 36 x B737 parked around the airfield & factory, some in airline livery and most with just rudder painted. Their line numbers visible on the nose of the nose wheel doors. On my visit on the 3rd I had a 3 hour seaplane flight from Renton seabase by the excellent team at Northwest Seaplanes [ nwseaplanes.com ].
Prior to this I visited Everett on 30th September. My booked Factory Tour cancelled due to the Union’s strike, the Boeing Future of Flight Centre was open [ normally as a base for factory tours ] & its observation deck was useful for checking whats visible on the several ramps; 36 x B777 parked out, many of these were 779’s which will be parked up for another 15 months as Boeing delay launch of the 777X. Line numbers often visible if no registration, plus a Boeing demo 777, 10 x KC46, 9 x B787 all in airline livery with registrations , 2 Fedex 767F & 1 extra 767F. In addition Alaska & Southwest have a small maintenance base here & Alaska services includes E175’s as well as B737. The BOAC Comet still visible parked at rear of the Museum of Flight restoration centre here. The Flying Heritage Museum was closed as it was a weekday.
If spotting at SEATAC the only area I could find at the airport per se was on the top of the parking garage opposite Concourse D you can see those gates [ mostly Alaska Airlines ] & aircraft landing / taxiing to the runway nearby. I spent around 90 minutes here & noone enquired or asked me to move along. Further around the parking garage views are blocked to any other gate area’s or the airfield itself.
All in all a very fruitful visit to the Seattle area & of course Seattle itself is a great place tourist wise. I can recommend the Irish jazz bar near Pioneer Square the Owl & Thistle !
On 1st October I drove the very long scenic drive to Moses Lake where there were 32 x 737’s parked mostly all Chinese Airlines max jets which I understood they had refused to accept. Plus a fine vintage B23 on the ramp & 2 USAF C-17’s undertaking touch & goes, the firedump here has an old Convair.
Boeing Field on 2nd October had 2 x 779 demo a/c, plus a demo 787, 27 x 737’s including ones for Ryanair, Gol, Xiamen etc and 4 x KC46’s plus there is an active UPS cargo hub here. Plus active with biz jets and smaller cargo flights, Kenmore Air have cargo aircraft based here. Plus there is of course the Boeing Museum.
At Kenmore Air’s Seaplane maintenance base in Kenmore I logged 36 seaplanes, a mix of Kenmore’s and ones they service. Finally I popped to Seattle’s downtown seaplane base and in just 30 minutes logged 5 seaplane arrivals.
apologies my message a bit mixed up bet you get the idea !