Tag Archives: Airports Aircraft Airlines
The fuselage of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose en route to Long Beach Harbor, June 11, 1946
This sure must have been a sight to see: the transportation of the fuselage of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose—oops, sorry Howard: the H-4 Hercules to Long Beach Harbor on June 11th, 1946. It can’t have been a fast moving convoy … Continue reading
WWII recruits gather to hear Air Marshall Bishop speak at Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, California, 1942
Completed in 1930 and combining Spanish Colonial Revival with Art Deco, the Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale became Los Angeles’ first commercial airport when American Airlines established services there. It was also used by legendary figures in aviation like … Continue reading
Chaplin Airfield hosting an air show, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1920
When I saw this photo, the song from Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines immediately started playing in my mind. This circa 1920 photo gives us a glimpse of an air show held at the Chaplin Airfield at the … Continue reading
A publicity shot of the newly completed LAX Theme restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport, 1963
The iconic LAX Theme restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport was completed in August of 1961 (at a cost of $2.2 million) and heralded in the jet-set age of air travel. This is a publicity picture taken with an airline … Continue reading
Goodyear blimp hovers above Evening Herald building to pick up newspapers for a special delivery to Los Angeles City Hall, November 5, 1931
Who knew that the Goodyear blimp made special delivery runs? This shot was taken on November 5, 1931, which was the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Evening Herald. On that day, a Goodyear blimp named “The Volunteer” hovered over … Continue reading
The Spruce Goose on the move to Long Beach, California, mid June, 1946
I wish I’d been in LA in 1946 to witness this one-in-a-lifetime event. By June of that year, Howard Hughes’s $20 million giant Spruce Goose was ready to be transported in pieces from Hughes Airport in Playa Vista down to … Continue reading
Burbank Airport in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, 1931
Burbank Airport in the San Fernando Valley isn’t a huge facility, but I have never there when it hasn’t been bustling with passengers and traffic. So it came as a shock to see this photo taken in 1931, a year … Continue reading
The Graf Zeppelin tethered at Mines Field, Los Angeles, August 1929
In 1929, newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, sent the Graf Zeppelin dirigible on a 20-day flight that circumnavigated the world—quite a feat in 1929. On August 8th, it landed at Los Angeles at Mines Field, which later became the site … Continue reading
The Goodyear Blimp landing at De Mille Airfield, corner of Wilshire and Fairfax, Los Angeles, 1920
It’s hard to believe that the northwest corner of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave was ever an airfield, let alone one that belonged to a movie director. Cecil B. DeMille was an airplane enthusiast who started his own airline, the … Continue reading