The Wilexa Archives

Help a WWII Historian!

Calling all retirees and graybeards! Dane Donato, an author, is working on a book about the 391st, a WWII medium bombardment group. Late in the war, they transitioned from the older Martin B-26 Marauder to the Douglas A-26 Invader.

Mr. Donato has been researching this book for two years and is working with "the WWII veterans who flew and serviced the planes, family members, museums, universities, archives, and historians in England, Germany, and the United States." The full text with background can be found in the Hangar Talk Forums. Please take a look.

If any Wilexa.com readers have photos of the A-26s being built, or know any Douglas workers who helped build them, Mr. Donato would be grateful to speak to you.

Editor's comments: This website is about remembering the fine past of the Douglas Aircraft workers, planes, and plant. In that spirit, I urge all readers to help out Dane if they can. If you have registered for the forums, it's easy. Just post a reply to his forum entry if you want it to be public or click on the "email" or "PM" buttons at the bottom of his post if you want privacy. Otherwise, just send an email to lbfeedback@wilexa.com and it will be forwarded to him. Thanks for your help!

Mail Bag

Wilexa readers occasionally write in to ask a question or pass on a memory. Of course, the Hangar Talk forums are open 24/7, but email can be more personal at times and is always appreciated! Today's entry in the "Demolition Diary" includes two emails (used with permission).

Reader Jon Jamieson writes:

I came across your site today and have a question regarding some of the substations that have been dismantled at the former MDD Long Beach Plant. Do you know what those specific substations served?
 
The reason I ask is Southern California Edison has the creative knack of naming some of there substations. With over 600 in their system its kinnda neat to have that "fun", there is: Brew Substation (Miller Brewing Company), Galaxy Substation (TRW El Segundo) and Vapor (BOC Gas plant) amongst many others. Just wondering what Turbo and Stress served. I know MDD Long Beach had 4 dedicated industrial subs; Turbo, Boost, Stress and Astro. I know Astro is used for the C-17 program and I believe Boost is still used as well. Just wondered if they named Turbo on a play for words with Turbojet?? Or if Stress feed some "stress" related testing equipment.
 
Any help would be appreciated in this quest for industrial archaeology.

If any readers can answer his query, a quick email or forum reply would be great. Any takers?

Reader Bob Brent shares this memory:

I was only fishing for information on the DAC plant in Long Beach when I came across your website.
 
I worked at the General Dynamics Convair division up until its closure in early 1996. It had a similar fate of the DAC plant. I had a chance to visit the DAC plant in the early 90's. I was amazed at the similarities in the design of the two facilities. The one difference in building construction was that the DAC plant had insulation the thickness of the walls. It surely kept the building warm but what I really noticed was the quiet within the building, even while riveting was being done.
 
Convair's buildings had no insulation, consequently whether in the assembly area with riveting being done or in the machine shops, it was very noisy.

Thanks for writing, Bob. It's hard to imagine a factory being louder than the Douglas Long Beach buildings with riveting going full blast!

Rose Floats 2004

The 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade offered the traditional floral extravaganzas on New Years Day. The theme of this year's parade was "Music, Music, Music". Both Boeing and the City of Long Beach entered floats in the annual Pasadena event.

The Boeing float, Music of the Spheres, "portrays Greek philosopher Pythagoras holding a gyroscope of mathematical ratios found in musical scales and celestial charts. The elements at the rear of the float represent the abstract art of music and planetary exploration."

The Long Beach float was a spectacular award-winning entry featuring the best of Long Beach all done up in flowers. In addition to huge whales, it had a myriad of details, such as Grand Prix cars, the Queen Mary, sunken teasure and more. Underwater Melody captured the Lathrop K. Leishman trophy for "Most beautiful entry from a non-commercial sponsor".

Images snapped at the post-parade viewing are showcased in the Outside the Fences gallery. Just click on a thumbnail picture to visit the Rose Parade gallery.

[Editors note: This entry may seem a bit off-topic for this web site, but it does relate to Boeing and Long Beach!]

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings! Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year! Thank you for visiting wilexa.com and special thanks for your kind messages. 2003 has been a very interesting year, but 2004 promises to hold new surprises for everyone in the Boeing Long Beach family.

Grab Bag

A grab bag of images is the offering today. For those readers who cannot see the goings-on around Lakewood Boulevard on a day-to-day basis, we present a few photos of the street itself, along with a sample of Skylinks images. Banners and trees line Lakewood these days. Skylinks Golf Course is closed, as reported here last week. Skylinks news will be moved to a separate page in the near future. We are previewing a possible new slide show format. Please send in an email and let us know your opinions. The new format should be more dial-up friendly.

Take a look at our Outside the Fences pages for views of the Skylinks Golf Course and Lakewood Blvd.

View the new format slide show, the old format slide show. Here's a few samples:

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

[Edited 2003-10-26]

Skylinks is Closed

Skylinks Golf Course closed on Tuesday for a year-long renovation. This municipal course is just to the south of the Boeing plant along the east side of Lakewood Blvd.

According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram,

Skylinks Golf Course will close Tuesday for a one-year, $6 million renovation that includes new hole configurations, expanded landscaping and an upgraded clubhouse.

When the course reopens in October 2004, it will play 475 yards longer and feature new grass, enlarged tees and bigger greens. Landscaping additions include more slope, four lakes and fountains, 700 trees, 1,000 shrubs and course fencing.

The Municipal Golf Commission has also recommended that the course reopen with a new name, Long Beach Legends Golf Course, to coincide with the relocation of the city's Golf Hall of Fame.

Note to readers: Visit our Skylinks photo album in the Outside the Fences pages.

[Updated 2003-10-26]

L-1011 Update

L-1011 Update: Dave Houle (DAC Flight Test, 1970-1998) wrote in regarding the popular L-1011 photos. According to Dave, "There is a big airplane metal salvage effort underway at the former AF base at Victorville. I was there a few months ago and some L1011's were being munched. That machine does look familar. Incidentally, there is a Boeing contingent at that airport, many of them from the old DAC FT shop department."

Thanks for the info, Dave!

Reader comments are always welcome. If anyone has more info, please send it in.

DC-2 On Display

The DC-2 display on "717 Day" at the Long Beach plant was fun to tour. Here are a few pictures, along with the requisite demolition update. We apologize for the long break since the last update, but everyone needs a vacation now and then! View the slide show or examine individual pictures below:

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

L-1011 Death

This L-1011 is suffering the same ignominious fate as Bldg 5! The PDF file (1.7 MB) shows the salvaging of a Lockheed L-1011 using the same type of "godzilla" machines that are currently chewing up the Douglas plant. Other than that, it really has nothing to do with the demolition or history of Douglas Long Beach. If anyone knows the author of the file, or any other details, please drop us a line so that he or she can be properly credited.

[04-Sep-2003 Update] Dave Houle (DAC Flight Test, 1970-1998) wrote in regarding the popular L-1011 photos. According to Dave, "There is a big airplane metal salvage effort underway at the former AF base at Victorville. I was there a few months ago and some L1011's were being munched. That machine does look familar. Incidentally, there is a Boeing contingent at that airport, many of them from the old DAC FT shop department."

Thanks for the info, Dave!

Click on the picture:

You can get Adobe Reader here.

Mapquest Aerial View

Editors note: Sadly, the MapQuest aerial view links no longer work. :(