UNDER DEVELOPMENT

Below, a billboard style advertisement for a U.K. investment firm displayed in the new Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport.

The Romance of the Lockheed Vega (source: Kalina)

Below, from site visitor Tim Kalina, a photograph of the Lockheed manufacturing plant. There are ten Vegas visible in this photograph, and what appears, farthest right, to be a single biplane. Mr. Kalina says about this photo, "I obtained this scan from Lockheed/Martin years ago. The Lockheed lettering on the roofs does appear to have been retouched but the actual lettering was there on the building roofs. I guess in the original photo this lettering may have not had enough ‘punch’ so was sharpened up."

Lockheed Manufacturing Plant, Ca. 1929 (source: Kalina)

He continues, "The conical kiln stacks above the hangers are from the old Empire China company which used to be located at the field but which, I believe, was vacated soon after Lockheed purchased the land. Note the round white circle at the right center. This was located in the center of the landing strip.

"To the left of this white circle you’ll see three planes. In the center of the three planes you can barely make out the concrete ‘run-up’ pad, which can be seen in many photos taken of planes at the plant. In the lower left hand corner you see the old San Fernando Road (now Victory Place) intersecting with the dark Empire Avenue.

"Today this whole area is a large shopping center called the Empire Center. I reckon they named it after Empire Avenue which was itself most likely named after the china company....The shopping center buildings are located where the old landing strip used to be. And you can still see that the railroad tracks intersecting at the top of the view, just like in the old photo."

Below, a Google Earth (34° 11' 07.11" N; 118° 19' 41.13" W) view of the approximate location of the old Lockheed plant. Note that north is to the left.

Lockheed Manufacturing Plant Location, 2009 (Source: Google Earth)

The railroad is in approximately the same position, with its junction at top right in both images. Empire Avenue, in yellow, still bisects the image through the center, top to bottom. Interstate 5 now parallels the railroad tracks in the NW - SE direction. The roofing and parking lots of the Empire Center are clearly visible on top of the old landing strip and concrete runup pad. The groves norteast of the curve in Empire Avenue/N. San Fernando Blvd. are long gone, replaced now by what appears to be a recreational complex with tennis courts, swimming pool, baseball diamonds and a basketball court at the corner of Andover Dr. and N. Glenoaks Blvd. Tempus fugit!

Further to the old Lockheed plant image above, Mr. Kalina states, "I would guess the old plant photo is around 1929. Lockheed moved to this site in 1928 from their original, small plant at Sycamore and Romaine in Hollywood. You’ll note that all the Vegas in the photo are early models. They all have the ‘bullet’ nose (no cowling) and the small rounded fin/rudder. And they all carry the early style factory paint schemes.

"Lockheed initially shared the buildings you see at the bottom (beneath the Empire China building) with the Mission Glass Company, who were the original tenants of the building. Lockheed soon took over all of the building."

He offers the annotated photograph below to clarify the use of the property. Please compare it with the one above.

Lockheed Plant, Ca. 1929 (source: Kalina)

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