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Lockheed Skunk Works

I worked there in the 1980's, complete with all of the security clearances. I was absolutely fascinated being taken around on a tour of the old B-1 plant (that was the plant name, not the aircraft type) by one of the senior engineers. It had been the home of the F-104 line, and some of the dark corners were almost untouched from the '50's. Many cool old machines were still in operation. The remains of the original wind tunnel that the Skunk Works started out with was still there.

I never got to see the inside of the legendary Building 310-311, where the SR-71 and F-117 production lines were, unfortunately. The project I was on was in another building, and everything was VERY compartmentalized. You didn't just go wandering around on lunch hour...

It's all gone now. All of the Lockheed plant buildings in Burbank have been bulldozed and replaced with airport terminals and shopping centers. I'm glad that I got to see some of it for a few years, and that there are some good books and historical records.
 
You can see old (1928) and recent photos of the B1 plant property here if you have high speed connection.

http://www.aeromuseumservices.com

Lockheed acquired the property in early 1928 with the help of a Mr. Keeler, a local real estate "tycoon", and who briefly served as LAC president. There is a Keeler street nearby, plainly related to when the Verdugo Hills were yet to be covered with homes and suburban sprawl.

The property was originally the Empire China works, and the little used kiln shops coexisted for years with the building of aircraft. Many Lockheed photos from the early days show the funny conical stacks of the kilns.

The long stretch beside the Coast Line tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad was for years the dusty runway. Later, this would be employee parking in the P38 Lightning days of the forties.

This property is a little ways east of the "big" airport at Hollywood Way, where B17s were built during the war in the forties.

John Oder
 
Neat find, thanks. If anyone wants to download the document in PDF form, you can get user info from BugMeNot instead of actually signing up.
 
I believe that the only former Lockheed building still standing is Building 90, which was the super-secure engineering center for the Skunk Works. It's a four story building made like Ft. Knox, located about a half mile east of the airport. A company joke was that if Burbank were ever hit with a nuclear weapon, Building 90 would be the only thing left standing. About 10 years ago, they stripped it down to the bare structure (which was immense!) and recladded it as an office building.

The former site of the Glendale airport, which is where the P-38's were assembled, is less than a mile from my shop. It's now an industrial park mostly occupied by Disney Imagineering and Glenair, which is a big supplier of aerospace connectors and harnesses. The original airport terminal building is owned by Disney and is being nicely restored. It's completely surrounded by modern industrial buildings, though. The Disney building which has the electronics lab, where I work part time, is right on the old airport runway. One other Disney building is WWII vintage, and was originally a Pratt & Whitney mechanic's training center.

It was sad seeing the old Lockheed buildings being torn down, but the truth is that most of them were in terrible condition. They were put up fast & cheap in the '40's with minimal materials. Time moves on.
 








 
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