Etan Does LA 222: LAX's Hangar One | Los Angeles aviation history
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- National Register visit 222: Hangar One📍5701 W. Imperial Highway, Los Angeles
Here we have the first building constructed for the LA Municipal Airport (now LAX), in 1929, and the only one still standing from the airport’s earliest days. As commercial flight came to LAX mid-century, Hangar One became outmoded. It was built for biplanes, after all! But the city worked out a deal with a private developer to restore and reinforce it, so if you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of this gleaming Spanish colonial beauty as you taxi past LAX’s southeastern tip. Otherwise, you’re limited to seeing this vital node of aviation history from a DHL parking lot like a chump (::ahem:: like me).
I'm visiting all 600+ LA landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. Read more about this one and many more at EtanDoesLA.com: etandoesla.com...
Photo credits:
📷1: Mott Studios: Hangar One, 1931 (CA State Library)
📷2: Aerial view, 1930 (Security Pacific National Bank Collection / LA Public Library)
📷3: LA Municipal Airport on Army Day, circa 1931 (Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection)
📷4: The runway at Mines Field (Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
📷5: National Air Races, 1928 (LA Public Library Photo Collection)
📷6 & 7: Lindbergh leads demonstration of combat flying, 1928 / Airport dedication, 1930 (Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection / LA Public Library)
📷8: Goodyear Blimp at Mines Field, February 7, 1930 (PD, via USC Libraries & CA Historical Society)
📷9: Dick Whittington Studios: Sheep graze at the LA Municipal Airport, 1930 (Huntington Digital Library)
📷10 & 11: Flying service building, Mines Field / Buildings at Mines Field (Security Pacific National Bank Collection / LA Public Library)
📷12: Graf Zeppelin with crowd, August 26, 1929 (Ernest Marquez Collection / Huntington Digital Library)
📷13: Graf Zeppelin at Mines Field, 1929 (PD, via University of Southern California Libraries & California Historical Society)
📷14: Charles Lindbergh (PD)
📷15: Jimmy Doolittle (PD)
📷16: Jimmy Stewart portrait (PD)
📷17: Admin building at Mines Field (Security Pacific National Bank Collection / LA Public Library)
📷18: Wiki user Bobak Ha'Eri (via Creative Commons license)
#lax #airports #losangeleshistory #lahistory #hangar #aviation #zeppelin #flying
Very nice background story. Thanks Etan!
A couple of comments - during WW2, North American Aviation used Hanger One as part of the flight line for the factory that was on the the airport and the other side of Imperial Highway, where they build mostly B25's and early P-51 Mustangs . The planes were staged up and down the runway area while they were being tested and readied for delivery. North American and also Douglas Aircraft used the area around the hanger for staging of aircraft deliveries up to at least the 50's and 60's - my father used to come out to LAX to pick up Navy aircraft from the Douglas factory and fly them back east. there are several places where the flight line can be seen in archival photos from the period.
Rockwell International used Hanger One as the operations base for a helicopter fleet that ran in the late 70's and through the 80's that they used to get people around without having to deal with the traffic jams, mostly senior staff and sometimes engineering if there were specific document delivery transfer needs. I worked for Rockwell from 1981 until we were sold to Boeing, and used to ride in the helos from Seal Beach to the San Fernando Valley on a semi regular basis in the early and mid 80's. We would land on the roof of the headquarters building across Imperial Highway (I think Direct TV is in there now) and sometimes land near the hanger to refuel. Rockwell stopped using the hanger when they shut down the factory in the area and moved the headquarters to Seal Beach, however they did put a chunk of money into the Hanger One renovation project before leaving the area in 1993.
The factory on the airport side is where the cargo buildings on the east end of the airport are now The factory building complex on the other side of Imperial Highway was at one time rather large. There was a Mach 3 wind tunnel and a bunch of manufacturing buildings on the site. Once the B-1 program was completed the old WW2 era buildings were abandoned. I think the X-31 may have been the last aircraft manufactured there. Northrop Grumman is currently using the old Douglas facility.
I helped publish a letter imploring action in about 1990, in the old "Air Classics" newspaper. Looked like Kalitta was using it then.
@@danielmacpherson1630 Thanks for your help in keeping Hangar One around! This hangar has a lot of supporters.
Are you gonna do something on muso and Frank grill?
@@mistervacation23 I love that place, but it’s not on the National Register of Historic Places (yet) so I don’t plan on covering it.
@@etandoesla OK, but I gotta say they have the best steak in town. Napoleon said the best history is an agreed upon lie.
I volunteer at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Your t-shirt is a hoot. Is there a story behind it?
I've gotten so many questions about that shirt! My family visited the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park last December, and I bought the shirt at the visitor center. They've gotta still have some left, right?
@@etandoesla I'll ask at the park store there. Thanks!