There is no way this Snowden guy is on the level.

[longship]

63. Oh dear. You've never had to get a clearance, have you?

One doesn't inherit it.

In 1980, it took months and the FBI was involved. They even interviewed the neighbors from when I was in high school some 12 years previously.

But the whole company was military, although the big plant made large components of commercial jetliners to be shipped by rail to Washington for the commercial branch. The 747 Air Force One was assembled at the Wichita plant while I worked there. Now that was a big time hush hush project. It was on the flight line for a while but you didn't dare approach it. We all knew better.

One of the best things was the Space Shuttle Enterprise (the first one -- a mock-up) landed right across the street from my building on the back of its 747 transport (also modified in Wichita). We all knocked off work and stood beside it with hundreds of other Boeing employees and Air Forces people, basking in its awesomeness, no doubt dreaming of Star Trek. That was prior to the first shuttle launch but after the first Star Trek movie.

Lots of great stories of working there.