Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
California - Central Los Angeles Area
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/3/08.
Brand Field (revised 10/17/04) - Central Airport (revised 10/24/03)
EMSCO Field / Vultee Field / Downey Field (revised 12/23/05) - Grand Central Air Terminal (revised 12/26/07)
Griffith Park Aerodrome (revised 12/26/07) - Montebello Airport / East Los Angeles Airport (revised 5/3/08) - Vail Field (revised 5/3/08)
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EMSCO Field / Vultee Field / Downey Field, Downey, CA
33.92 North / 118.13 West (North of Long Beach, CA)
A 1933 photo of what was originally the Security Aircraft building on Lakewood Boulevard
(which still stands as part of Building 1, as of 2005).
This former industrial facility & airfield is a site which is steeped in American aviation & space history.
In 1929, the Downey property was a ranch owned & operated by James Hughan.
E. M. Smith, a local industrialist & founder of the EMSCO company, purchased a 73-acre parcel from Hughan.
Smith’s EMSCO company had a division called Albatross, which manufactured small aircraft.
In addition to manufacturing aircraft, Smith saw the former farm land in Downey as a perfect landing field.
The oldest buildings on the Downey Site were built in 1929 to support the aircraft manufacturing effort.
In 1932, with the Great Depression looming, causing poor sales,
EMSCO leased the site to Champion Aircraft Corporation who manufactured small, inexpensive 2-seaters.
Seven months later, Champion also left the site due to poor sales,
and the site was leased to Security National Aircraft Corporation.
Security was owned by Walter “Bert” Kinner, who designed & built 2 planes for Amelia Earhart.
The field was still labeled “EMSCO Airfield” on the 1934 San Diego Sectional Chart (courtesy of Scott O'Donnell).
Strangely, the 1936 USGS topo map didn't depict any airfield at this site.
Ownership continued to change hands, and in 1936, Aviation Manufacturing Corporation
moved their Vultee Aircraft Division from Glendale into the Downey Site at the suggestion of Gerard “Jerry” Vultee,
who once worked for EMSCO as their chief design engineer.
The airfield was renamed Vultee Field.
Vultee primarily manufactured large military aircraft
and sold planes to the governments of China, the Soviet Union, Turkey and Brazil.
Vultee was working on a contract with the United States government
and was flying back from Washington DC when he & his wife were killed in a plane crash in 1938.
The company forged on without him.
By 1938, the Vultee Aviation Manufacturing Company has 1,500 employees
and was producing planes for several countries.
The site was labeled “Vultee Feld” on a 1940 LA street map (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
What was at the time "The world's fastest production line", at Vultee in Downey.
In the 1940’s the Army Air Corps awarded Vultee Aircraft a contract to make a basic training plane, the Vultee Valiant.
The contract was the largest order ever placed by the Army Air Corps.
In need of additional space, LA Architect Gordon Kaufman designed space which would double Downey’s size.
with two runways visible in the background.
Note how undeveloped the surrounding area was.
Then came World War II and security at the plant was increased.
In addition to the anti-aircraft gun which was mounted on the roof,
the entire plant was camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding farmland.
By 1941, the plant’s output represented 15% of all the military aircraft produced in the U.S.
and boasted the first powered assembly line in the aircraft industry.
Just after Pearl Harbor, Vultee bought 34% of Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego.
The Vultee Vengeance assembly line.
A Vultee BT-15, 1943. USAAF photo.
A Vultee Model 48, the P-66 Vanguard. USAF photo.
Vultee's Downey facility produced Valiant basic trainers,
the Vanguard P-66 pursuit plane, and the Vengeance A-31 dive bomber.
Vultee became famous for its ability to produce planes in large numbers quickly.
It did this by constant retooling.
To support this unprecedented production at Downey,
the Army Air Corps & Vultee greatly expanded the plant in the early 1940s.
Vultee Field was described by the 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.
Inexplicably, the Vultee airfield was not depicted at all on the March 1945 San Diego Sectional Chart
or earlier WW2-era aeronautical charts (according to Chris Kennedy).
Due to the value of the Vultee industrial facility to the war effort, was this a case of intentional concealment?
The Vultee plant assembled more than 11,000 military planes during World War II.
"(Aux)" Vultee" was depicted as a civil airfield
on the August 1945 San Diego Sectional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
An undated photo (circa 1940s?) looking northeast at the Vultee plant, with the airfield behind it.
As the war wound down, so did the Downey facility.
The Vultee Field Division of Convair
won a Navy contract for LARK surface-to-air missiles in 1945.
Turning to the missile industry, the Vultee field division of Convair
was awarded a $1.2 million contract to study long-range missile weapons systems,
and focused on the ballistic missile concept, using the German V-2 as a model.
The government canceled this contract in 1946 for economic reasons,
With wartime contracts dried up,
Vultee turned to peacetime products including pre-fabricated homes using plastic & aluminum.
All Vultee use of the facility ceased by 1948.
In 1947, North American Aviation, which had a number of jet military contracts to fill,
leased a portion of the Vultee assembly line in Downey.
North American used Downey to produce its AJ-1 Navy bomber & T-28 post-war trainer.
Vultee Field was depicted on the September 1948 San Diego Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
as having two hard surface runways, with the longest being 4,000'.
North American Aviation needed more research space,
and in 1950 purchased the Convair portion of the Downey plant.
The Downey facility developed the Navaho intercontinental cruise missile in 1953-54,
whose technology would give birth to our first space vehicles.
Vultee Field was evidently closed at some point between 1948-51,
as the Aerodromes table on the March 1951 San Diego USAF Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described “Vultee Field” as "Closed",
even though the field was still depicted on the chart.
At some point between 1951-54 the field may have been reopened as a private airfield, now named "Downey",
as that is how it was depicted on the September 1954 USAF LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It was described as having a 3,900' hard surface runway & its own control tower.
The last depiction of this site as an active airfield which has been located
was on the 1955 San Diego Sectional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
The chart's Aerodromes table described "Downey" as a private airfield,
having a single 3,928' asphalt runway.
According to Chris Kennedy, the site of Vultee Field
was labeled "North American Aviation Inc. Downey Plant" on a 1957 street map.
In the late 1950s the plant became the location for developing the Hound Dog air-to-ground missile,
which was the prototype for cruise missile technology.
The Downey facility went on to become a major contributor
in developing the technology that was central to the Space Race.
The company won the contract to make the “Little Joe Launch Vehicle” to test the Mercury capsules.
In the 1950s & 60s the site was officially known as AFP16 (Air Force Plant 16).
In 1960, the company was working on the development of the X-15 aircraft, truly a pioneer in aviation history.
The X-15 aircraft was the first winged craft to reach 4, 5 and 6 times the speed of sound,
and fly at altitudes greater than 100,000 feet.
In 1961 the company was awarded 2 contracts from NASA:
the Saturn SII launch vehicle & the Project Apollo Spacecraft Development program.
With that, Downey became the hub of America’s lunar mission.
Vultee Field (the airfield) was apparently closed at some point between 1955-63,
as it was labeled "Abandoned airport" on the 1963 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bob Cannon).
but the southern half of the runway still remaining intact.
In 1964, the AFP16 facility was transferred to NASA, thence being known as NASA Industrial Plant, Downey.
North American merged with Rockwell in 1967,
becoming North American Rockwell Corporation.
In July 1972, at the end of the Apollo program,
Downey was given the job of assembly & component manufacture of the Space Shuttle Orbiters.
North American Rockwell changed its name to Rockwell International in 1973.
Over the course of the next 12 years, 4 Space Shuttle Orbiters
(Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis) were constructed at Downey.
The Endeavor, which replaced the Challenger, was also manufactured at Downey.
At some point before 1994 the southeast corner of the former airfield property was reused
as the site of a Kaiser Permanente medical complex, with several multi-story buildings.
This area was previously the location of Vultee Building 288.
During the 1990s, the North American Rockwell workforce at Downey was decreased.
According to Rockwell employee Ryan Pierson, “Boeing purchased the aerospace & defense divisions of Rockwell in 1996.
Technically, it was a merger using a Reverse Morris Trust.
Hence, the merger-sounding name of Boeing North American was given to those divisions, resurrecting the North American name.”
Boeing began consolidating its space operations shortly after the purchase.
On the 1998 USGS topo map, the Downey facility was still labeled "NASA Industrial Site".
Boeing announced that it would close the Downey plant permanently by the end of 1999.
A 1,400' long piece of remaining runway pavement was still very evident in the above circa 2002 aerial photo,
east of the factory building, running north-northeast/south-southwest,
along with at least three other smaller intersecting portions of runways or taxiways.
In the March 2004 USGS aerial view, the former Vultee complex was still basically unchanged from the circa 2000 aerial view,
although the outlines of the former runways were not quite as recognizable.
At some point between 1999-2005, most of the former Vultee / North American complex was reused as “Downey Studios”,
the largest independent film facility in Los Angeles.
Downey Studios is managed by Industrial Realty Group,
which is among the country’s largest private owners of commercial & industrial properties.
The Downey Studios have extensive production facilities,
including the biggest undeveloped back lot (20 acres of open space – the former airfield area),
over a million square feet of production space (inside the former factory buildings),
and a 5 million gallon indoor water tank (the largest in North America).
The “back lot” includes a recently-constructed “suburban street”, with facades of 17 houses.
Major movies which have been shot at Downey Studios
include Spider-Man 2, Catch Me If You Can, Van Helsing, and The Italian Job.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking east at the front of Building 290
(presumably the former North American factory building) at the southwest end of the Downey complex.
It has been repainted “Downey Studios”, with a huge mural of the moon along the front face of the building.
Paul Freeman visited the Vultee site in February 2005.
The entire front face of Building 290 (presumably the former North American factory building) at the southwest end of the complex
has been repainted with a huge “Downey Studios” mural.
This building has a total of 122,000 square feet.
Further north along the west side of the property sits what evidently was the Consolidated Vultee headquarters building.
This building has a total of 300,000 square feet.
Behind the headquarters building sits the massive former Vultee factory (Building 1).
This building has a total of 627,000 square feet.
All former Vultee buildings to the north of Building 1 (still visible in the above 2004 aerial photo)
were evidently torn down at some point between 2004-05,
reportedly to make way for a retail development.
The middle portion of the former airfield area has been reused as the site of a movie set,
with a number of facades of houses being constructed.
A number of small hangars (WW2-era?) still remain on the western side of the property.
The southern end of the former runway has been excavated, with several pits having been cut across the former airfield.
A Kaiser Permanente medical complex occupies the southeast end of the former airfield.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking east at the main entrance of what was presumably the Consolidated Vultee headquarters building.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman of the “Consolidated Vultee” logo
which sits in the center of what was presumably the lobby of the company's headquarters.
According to former Rockwell employee Ryan Pierson, “The Consolidated Vultee logo on the floor of the lobby of the Building 1 Annex
was part of the linoleum or ceramic tile floor.
That logo was covered by carpet for years.
I believe the plan is to move that logo to the museum that is being built on the site by the Aerospace Legacy Foundation.”
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman, looking northwest at one of the number of smaller hangars
which remained on the eastern side of the former airfield area.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman, looking west across the former airfield area.
In the center of the photo are visible some of the facades of the front of “houses”
which have been constructed on the site (presumably for movie filming work).
One of the WW2-era small hangars is on the right.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman, looking southwest at a few of the number of smaller hangars
which remained on the eastern side of the former airfield area.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman, looking west at the rear
of the former Vultee factory (Building 1) in the middle of the west end of the site.
The former runway pavement in the foreground still remained intact.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman, looking northwest across the former airfield area,
toward the rear of the former Vultee factory (Building 1).
The former runway area in the foreground was excavated at some point between 2004-05.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking northwest at the rear
of Building 290 (presumably the former North American factory building) at the southwest end of the Downey complex.
What appears to be a “mirror wall” was constructed at the southeast end of the building (presumably for movie filming work).
The former runway area in the foreground was evidently excavated at some point between 2004-05.
A circa 2005 aerial photo looking north at a former helipad as well as several vintage hangars on the east side of the Downey facility.
The site of Downey Field is located northeast of the intersection of Imperial Highway & Lakewood Boulevard.
See also:
http://www.aerospacelegacyfoundation.org/
http://www.b25.net/bt13/bt13.html
http://thepaperink.com/1994/94tt0909.htm
http://thepaperink.com/1993/93tt1126.htm
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Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, CA
34.16 North / 118.29 West (North of Downtown Los Angeles, CA)
A February 1929 aerial view looking southeast at Grand Central Air Terminal, taken just before its dedication.
Note the Slate Aircraft Corporation dirigible hangar at the top-right.
During the first couple of years of the 1920's, a group of airplane owners made an appeal
to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce to assist them in securing a landing field
where private hangars could be erected,
as well as servicing facilities and manufacture of aircraft.
A Chamber committee consisting of approached John D. Radcliffe,
a property owner who had a 33 acre site south of the Southern Pacific right-of-way
and at the southern end of Grandview Avenue (now where the Golden State Freeway and Ventura Freeway meet),
about purchasing his property.
The site was purchased in 1922 for $66,000.
The city immediately began clearing the land and built a paved runway
(which was very elaborate for an airport of that time).
However, their ownership of the property was short lived due to a threatened lawsuit.
The sponsors of the threatened lawsuit put together a syndicate & took control of the airport,
paying the city in full for all funds already paid out.
Shortly thereafter, private hangers began appearing, among them the Kinner Motor Company.
The management of the airport was placed under the direction of Maj. C. C. Moseley,
one of the founders of Western Air Lines
and also the commander of the Air National Guard unit at Griffith Park Aerodrome (across the LA river from Grand Central).
For airport expansion, new capital was needed, so the remaining 20 acres were sold to Edward Spicer,
who started a new development on the property.
He purchased additional acreage until there was about 175 acres,
on which he erected permanent buildings and increased the airport's industrial use.
Then, in 1929, the facility was sold to Curtiss-Wright for about $2,000,000.
On Washington's birthday in 1929, the Grand Central Air Terminal was dedicated.
The first airline service from Southern California to New York was from the airport, piloted by Charles A. Lindbergh.
A 1933 airport directory depicted Grand Central
as having a single 2,744' concrete runway, oriented northwest/southeast,
along with grass runways measuring 3,700' & 3,000'.
The airport manager was listed as C. C. Moseley.
The operators were listed as Air Associates Inc., Airplane Development Corporation,
American Airways Inc., Max Cornwell, Curtiss-Wright Approved Repair Station, Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute,
G & G Air Lines, Pacific Seaboard Air Lines, Palm Springs Air Lines, and Transcontinental & Western Air.
The sole prototype of the new Douglas DC-1,
which dropped in unannounced to the Grand Central Air Terminal on August 16, 1933 (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
In 1934, Maj. Moseley leased the field and facilities from Curtiss-Wright, and later purchased the property.
He immediately changed the name of the technical school operated at the airport
from Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute to Cal-Aero Technical Institute.
According to Dan MacPherson, Moseley ran 3 other flight schools from his home base at Grand Central:
the Cal Aero Flight Academy at Ontario (now Chino Airport),
the Mira Loma Flight Academy at Oxnard (now Oxnard Municipal Airport),
and the Polaris Flight Academy at War Eagle Field, Lancaster (now Mira Loma Prison).
A circa 1934-36 photo of Roscoe Turner's Weddell Williams Racer in front of the Grand Central Air Terminal (courtesy of Dan Rhinehart).
An undated photo of the 1st production example of the Aeronca LA (which first flew in 1935)
pictured in front of the tower of the Grand Central Air Terminal.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Holcomb.
A 1935 photo of Howard Hughes landing the beautiful Hughes Special Model A at Grand Central Air Terminal.
A 1936 aerial photo looking south at the hangars at the southern end of the Grand Central Air Terminal.
The photo is courtesy of Ross Diehl (former 115th F-86 pilot, whose father flew out of Griffith Park Aerodrome),
via Dan MacPherson.
The two southern most hangars (upper two hangars in this photo) still exist today,
while the big hangar (the Maddux hangar) no longer exists.
An aerial view looking north at the Grand Central Air Terminal
from The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo),
showing the paved north/south runway (with several large hangars along its east side),
as well as the unpaved east/west runway.
The directory described Grand Central as having two runways,
with the longest being a 3,700' northwest/southeast runway, of which 2,744' was paved.
A vintage advertisement from The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
A circa 1937-39 photo of the buildings of the Cal-Aero Technical Institute (in the foreground)
and the hangars of the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute (across the runway in the background).
The photo is courtesy of the Southern CA Aero Club, via Don Ayres.
The logos of the Cal-Aero schools, from an original poster, courtesy of Dan MacPherson.
It made its maiden flight on 2/10/38 from the Grand Central Air Terminal.
Photo courtesy of Dan Shumaker.
Grand Central Air Terminal, as depicted on the 1939 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Jon Karkow).
During WW2, TWA had its western terminus at Grand Central.
Angelo Rivera recalled, “Curtiss Wright Technical Institute where many of us trained back in the early days of WW2.
Shortly after my induction into service, I was sent to that school where we spent the next 6 months
with instructors learning the whys & wherefores of what made airplanes tick.
It certainly was one great experience for a 19 year old who had never been away from home.
I arrived there in early April 1943, and for the next 6 months it was a lot of schoolwork & not much of anything else.”
A watercolor by Collin Campbell of P-38 Lightning fighters at Grand Central Air Terminal.
A P-38 squadron was based at Grand Central Air Terminal during the Second World War to augment the air defense of the LA area.
The 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer).
described Grand Central as having a 5,000' hard-surfaced runway,
and indicated that Army operations were conducted from the field.
Other contract flying schools operated at Grand Central during WW2,
including the Grand Central Flying School (which trained cadets for the RAF).
An October 1941 photo (courtesy of Sidney Linton) of Eugene Crane & others
in front of a unidentified trainer in front of Grand Central Air Terminal,
which was marked as the “Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute.”
The 1942 USGS topo map depicted the open area of the Grand Central Airport,
but did not label it at all (most likely due to wartime security concerns).
An advertisement for Grand Central Airport from the Haire Publishing Company's 1945 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
A circa 1940s Thomas Brothers map (courtesy of Rex Ricks) depicted Grand Central Airport
but did not depict any runways or hangars.
The 1948 USGS topo map depicted Grand Central Airport,
as well as the “National Guard Airport” to the south.
A fabulous 1949 picture by Don Ayres of the Moseley's Aircraft Overhaul & Repair Station hangars at Grand Central,
with an amazing assemblage of P-51s, B-25s, and a C-47.
A circa 1949 aerial view looking east at the Grand Central Aircraft company hangar (courtesy of Pete Mason),
with a large number of surplus aircraft on the ramp.
Pete took a photo in 2007 of the “photo hanging on the wall of Bruce Anspaugh's hangar at Santa Paula Airport.
Bruce bought the hangar from Bill Bowers who worked as an instructor at Cal-Aero.
The photo used to hang on the walls of Cal-Fed Savings & Loan where Ken (K.D.) Johnson worked as a pilot.
When the building was going through re-model the pictures where being tossed out so K.D. saved them & gave them to Bowers.”
Grand Central Airport, as depicted on a 1949 street map.
A remarkable undated photo (courtesy of Richard Eger) of a German Me-262 WW2 jet fighter (sans engines) at Grand Central.
Richard believes the Me-262 was used “in the late 1940's & early 1950's by Cal-Aero Technical Institute for mechanic training.”
Note that the hangar in the background is the exact same hangar
as pictured in the 1938 photo [several paragraphs above] of the Timm T-840 at Grand Central.
According to Richard, “The plane subsequently got its engines back, was purchased by Edward Maloney,
and migrated with Maloney to 4 different museums that he set up, the last being The Air Museum - Planes of Fame, at Chino Airport.
It was taken over by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame about November 2000,
with the intent to once again fly it, complete with original German Jumo 004 engines.”
Grand Central was still depicted on the 1953 Flight Chart (courtesy of Scott O'Donnell),
and was described as having a 3,800' hard-surfaced runway.
Grand Central was still depicted on the September 1954 USAF LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It was depicted as having a 3,800' hard surface runway & a control tower.
Bob Cannon recalled, "I remember flying my Aeronca into Glendale Grand Central in 1955."
The runway of Grand Central Airport was used on November 13, 1955
as the site of the Sports Car Club of America's “1st National Grand Central Sport Car Races”.
The cover of the race program listed the venue as the “Grand Central Airport”,
but it was described as the “Grand Central Industrial Center” in the body of the program.
The layout of the 11/13/55 sports car race held at Grand Central (courtesy of Frank Sheffield).
A 1956 photo by Ed Coates of the unique Atlas H-10 in front of Grand Central's tower.
The Atlas H-10 was originally designed by Max Harlow,
and at one point flew with twin-tandem Continental GO-300 engines driving contra-rotating propellers.
By the time of this photo it had been refitted with a conventional single Lycoming IO-720 engine.
According to Ed Coates, "The airport may have already been officially 'closed'
and the airplanes I photographed were just sitting there.
I don't remember any actual aircraft movements on that day to be sure,
but there were a lot of aircraft there, and somehow they got them all off. At least I presume they did!"
According to Bill Barker (former Ford Aerospace employee),
the Ford Motor Company established the first headquarters of their Aeronutronic Division
at the Grand Central Terminal Building in 1956.
Grand Central was still depicted as an active airfield
on the 1957 Los Angeles Local Aeronautical Chart (according to Gene Myers).
A 1958 photo by Gene Myers of his Jan Meyers & their 1946 Taylorcraft (BC-12-D, N43410)
in front of the Grand Central terminal building.
Gene recalled, “I got my license in the Tylorcraft in 1958. We kept it at Grand Central until late 1958.”
Gene Myers recalled, “The runway had been lengthened to the north during the war & then shortened following the war.
Grand Central Aircraft was still in business & serviced civilian aircraft at that time.
The flight school was run by a Mr. Ryan (not related to Claud Ryan).
The airport had been camouflaged during the war
and there were areas of colored paint remaining on the runway when I flew out of there.
From altitude it could still give the impression of streets and houses, even in 1958.
There was an effort in 1958 to get the County to purchase the airport, but that failed.
I personally attended some meetings at the County during that effort.”
One of the last planes to leave the Grand Central Airport – a Cessna 310 – departs on July 15, 1959.
According to Dan Rhinehart, the very last aircraft to fly out of Grand Central was a Twin Bonanza.
It unexpectedly blew an engine & was grounded at Grand Central.
It was in one of the big hangars at the time the airport closed,
and it wasn't ready to fly until about 2-3 weeks after the airport closed.
There were strict orders that there were to be no more flights in or out after the closure deadline,
and any remaining airplanes were to be disassembled & trucked out.
There were security guards on the property from early morning until nightfall.
So the Twin Bonanza pilot came in before sunrise, rolled the airplane out of the hangar,
started the engines, quickly taxied to the end of the runway,
and without a run-up took off to the north just before sunrise, and landed a few minutes later at Burbank.
Apparently nobody noticed what had happened!
A sad sight – a bulldozer removing the runway pavement at Grand Central Airport in 1959,
with the control tower visible in the background.
The Ford Aeronutronic Division relocated from Grand Central to Newport Beach in 1960.
A 1980 aerial view showed that all 3 of the large hangars
(including the largest of the 3, the Maddux hangar, just southeast of the terminal building) still remained standing.
Tom Kramer recalled, “Back in the 1980s I was looking for the site of this legendary airport.
When I saw the building which had what looked like a control tower on it, I knew I hit paydirt.
At the time, a law office was in the main terminal building
and I went in to confirm my suspicions that it was the old control tower & terminal.
They had a copy of a book which I purchased about Grand Central Air Terminal called “Madcaps, Millionaires and Mose”
which was a history of the airfield with dozens of photos.
At that time, the terminal building was in excellent shape & I found the two surviving hangars as well.”
On the 1994 USGS topo map, the former runway had been reused as a street, labeled "Grand Central Avenue",
but the row of former hangars were still depicted.
A 1998 photo by Dan Rhinehart of one of the remaining hangars at Grand Central.
A 1998 photo by Dan Rhinehart of one of the remaining hangars,
on which the paint is peeling but the logo of the Curtiss Wright company can still be discerned.
A February 2002 photo by Gabriel Shadid looking northwest at the front of the Grand Central Air Terminal.
A February 2002 photo by Gabriel Shadid looking east at the former control tower of the Grand Central Air Terminal.
A February 2002 photo by Gabriel Shadid of the intricate detailing which surrounds the former control tower at Grand Central Air Terminal.
A February 2002 photo by Gabriel Shadid looking north at the former air-side of the Grand Central Air Terminal.
However, the original airport control tower building and two of the original three hangars still exist
(the largest of the three original hangars, the Maddux hangar, was destroyed).
The terminal building is a National Historic Landmark.
It is now owned by the Walt Disney Company,
which plans to restore it as part of their Grand Central Creative Campus project.
It is located at 1310 Air Way, Glendale.
Danny Wilson reported in 2003, "I've been told that Air Way may have been where a taxiway once was.
I have it on good authority from a graybeard who lives nearby that that is the case.
Additionally, Grand Central Avenue was not listed in the Glendale city registry as a street
until after the airfield was decommissioned in 1955.
That street is EXTREMELY wide, wide enough to have several lanes in each direction
though there is no traffic in that industrial area.
My best guess would be that this was once where the runway stood, though I have no confirmation.
There simply is no other reason why a road would need to be that wide unless it was once used for that purpose.
Additionally, there are very old (and non-functioning) red lights on top of some of the nearby buildings in the area.
That gives visitors a clue that there was once an airport in the area."
On the March 2004 USGS aerial photo,
it may be seen that the site is now in an extensively developed commercial area,
and it is hard to discern any remaining trace of the former runways.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking south at the Grand Central Air Terminal building.
Paul Freeman visited the site of Grand Central Air Terminal in 2005.
I found the terminal building & two of the former hangars still standing.
Although the terminal building remained intact, it appeared to be abandoned,
and somewhat deteriorated.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking southeast at the front of the Grand Central Air Terminal building.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking north at the air-side of the former Grand Central Air Terminal.
A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman looking north at Grand Central Air Terminal's former control tower.
A February 2005 view by Paul Freeman looking northwest into the interior of the Grand Central Air Terminal building, now gutted.
A February 2005 view by Paul Freeman looking south at the front
of the northern-most of the two former Grand Central Air Terminal hangars which remain standing.
Both of the former hangars appeared to be reused for commercial purposes.
A February 2005 view by Paul Freeman looking northwest at the back
of the southern-most of the two former Grand Central Air Terminal hangars which remain standing.
A February 2005 view by Paul Freeman looking along what is now Grand Central Avenue,
the former location of Grand Central's runway.
A circa 2005 aerial photo looking north at the former Grand Central terminal building.
As an aside, the Peterson Aviation terminal at Van Nuys Airport
was constructed in the likeness of the Grand Central Air Terminal, according to Jim McNamara.
See also:
http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/about/historic/grand_central.html
http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/grandair.htm
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Griffith Park Aerodrome, Griffith Park, CA
34.15 North / 118.28 West (North of Downtown Los Angeles, CA)
A classic illustration of circa-1925 LA-area airfields,
from Ross Diehl's Air National Guard yearbook (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
Griffith Park Aerodrome was located south of the LA River from Grand Central Air Terminal.
According to K.O. Eckland, in 1912 Van Griffith donated 100 acres of land alongside what is now Griffith Park Drive
with the request it be used to "do something to further aviation."
Once hangars were built, aviation pioneers like Glenn Martin & Silas Cristoffersen
seized the opportunity to operate from such an ideal location.
Martin's first fight school opened its doors that year & the name was unofficially changed.
The Griffith Park property was eventually handed over to State
for use by the National Guard Air Service's 40th Air Corps Division (115th Observation Squadron),
who established a base & laid two runways: 3,600' northwest/southeast & 2,975' oil & gravel north/south strips.
The 115th Observation Squadron was initially equipped with the Curtiss JN-4H Jenny.
The 115th was commanded by Maj. C.C. Moseley,
who was also one of the founders of Western Air Lines
and the Cal-Aero Technical Institute flying schools.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Sebby.
Griffith Park Aerodrome, as depicted on the 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of CA With Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Two unidentified biplanes in front the of the CA National Guard hangars at Griffith Park, 1932.
Photo is courtesy of Ross Diehl, via Dan MacPherson.
A 1936 aerial photo, looking south, showing the proximity of Griffith Park Aerodrome (upper right)
to the Grand Central Air Terminal (foreground, across the LA River).
The photo is courtesy of Ross Diehl (former 115th F-86 pilot, whose father flew out of Griffith Park Aerodrome),
via Dan MacPherson.
A closeup of Griffith Park Aerodrome from the above photo.
The photo is courtesy of Ross Diehl, via Dan MacPherson.
A 1936 Commerce Department listing of airports & landing fields described Griffith Park
as being a military airfield with a single north/south oiled runway (1,965' x 192'),
and a single hangar with "40th Division Air Corps" on the roof.
As can be seen in the above 1936 aerial photo, the runway at Griffith Park had an unusual shape,
with the north end being about twice as wide as the south end.
The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)
described Griffith Park as having a single 1,965' oiled runway.
The hangar had "40th Division Air Corps" painted on the roof.
Training missions were flown from Griffith Park until 1939,
at which time the city Planning Commission charged that a military airport violated conditions of the original land deed.
Griffith Park was still depicted as a military airfield on the 1941 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The 1942 USGS topo map depicted the open area of the Grand Central Airport,
but did not label it at all (most likely due to wartime security concerns).
By 1942, the National Guard squadron had relocated from Griffith Park to the new Van Nuys AAF,
and the Griffith Park Aerodrome was evidently closed.
The Griffith Park Aerodrome was not depicted at all on the 1944 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
A circa 1940s Thomas Brothers map (courtesy of Rex Ricks) depicted the “California National Guard Aviation Field”
as having 4 rectangular buildings along the west side, and an unusually-shaped building along the east side.
The 1948 USGS topo map still depicted the “National Guard Airport”,
even though it had evidently been closed for several years by that point.
A 1949 street map depicted the site of Griffith Park as occupied by “Rodger Young Village”,
which was a temporary Quonset hut village for returning GI's & their families.
As seen in the March 2004 USGS aerial photo,
the site of Griffith Park Aerodrome has been covered by the Griffith Park Zoo,
and not a trace remains of the former airfield.
The site of Griffith Park Aerodrome is located at the present day intersection of Interstate 5 & Route 134.
Thanks to Dan MacPherson for pointing out Griffith Park Aerodrome.
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34.18 North / 118.28 West (North of Downtown Los Angeles, CA)
A 1921 photo of a fly-in at Brand Field,
with several DH-4Bs from March Field, Neta Snook's white Curtiss Jenny, and several Pacific Standards.
Photo by Delmar Watson, from "Madcaps, Millionaires and Mose" by John Underwood (via Dan MacPherson).
An undated photo of millionaire L.C. Brand mowing the grass in front of his hangar.
Photo by Margaret Beacon, from "Madcaps, Millionaires and Mose" by John Underwood (via Dan MacPherson).
Millionaire Leslie Brand built a mansion, named El Miradero, in 1904.
Brand established a grassy, well-manicured airfield in front of the mansion.
The airfield consisted of a 1,200' rolled dirt runway,
with a white hangar at one end & a putting green on the other.
The hangar matched the architectural style of the mansion -
with turrets atop each of the four corners.
The date of construction of the airfield is unknown,
but it was listed in a 1923 LA Chamber of Commerce table of LA-area airports (courtesy of K.O. Eckland).
Only three aircraft are known to have been actually based at Brand Field,
but Brand apparently bought many war surplus Jennies,
some to tinker with and fly as a sport, although most languished in storage buildings.
According to Dan MacPherson, Brand Field was described
in the book "Madcaps, Millionaires and Mose" by John Underwood.
Leslie Brand died in the house in 1925.
The 1942 USGS topo map did not depict the airfield at all.
The Brand airfield may have remained in use as late as around 1930,
but its exact date of closure is unknown.
The airfield was not depicted at all on a 1941 street map (according to Chris Kennedy)
or on the 1941 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
A recent photo of the Brand Castle.
After his death, Brand bequeathed the property to the city,
and by 1956 the mansion had been converted into the Brand Library, in which capacity it still serves as of 2003.
The area formerly occupied by the airfield was redeveloped with dense housing at an unknown date.
A 2002 photo by Danny Wilson of a former airport beacon light tower
which remains standing at the site of Brand Field.
Danny Wilson reported in 2003, "As for Brand Airport, until recently I had no idea there was ever an airport there.
But over the years I did notice an unusual structure sitting up in the hills.
It is a corrugated-steel cylinder with some sort of rotating housing on top.
There are circular canisters atop the cylinder which looked to have once house lights.
I did some research & found that this used to be one of a pair of rotating beacons that guided pilots to the airfield.
There was another beacon northwest of this one that has been lost to the elements and/or vandals.
This one still exists and is in fairly decent condition, given the circumstances.
[The above photo of the tower] was taken in 2002,
and the structure was still standing as of 2003."
As seen in the March 2004 USGS aerial photo,
the Brand Mansion still stands (at the top-right corner of photo),
and some of the area of the former airfield remains open (with a baseball diamond),
but much of the area of the former airfield has been covered by dense housing.
The site of Brand Field is located southwest of the intersection of Grandview Avenue & West Mountain Street.
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Vail Field / Vail Airport, Montebello, CA
34 North / 118.14 West (Southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, CA)
The caption for this photograph from the Los Angeles Examiner reads:
Western Air Lines in 1926 began operations from Vail Field.
Vail Field (along with a dense grouping of other vintage airfields),
as depicted on the 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of CA With Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
An undated photo of a Fokker F-10 in front of the Western Air Express hangars at Vail Field (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
Vail Field was historically important as one of the first airmail contractors,
Western Air Express, had its origins there.
Western Air Express was incorporated during 1926 by Los Angeles entrepreneurs
for the purpose of bidding on airmail contracts to be awarded under the 1925 Kelly Air Mail Act
which provided for the transfer of airmail routes from the Post Office's Aerial Mail Service to private carriers.
WAE initially purchased six Santa Monica-built Douglas M-2 mail planes.
They also purchased land to build the airport from some well-known cattle ranchers, the Vail brothers.
The property was by Ferguson Drive on the north, Telegraph Road on the south,
Yates Avenue on the east, and Tusbway Avenue on the west.
The enormous field had two unpaved runways, one of which ran directly along Yates Avenue.
The length of the runways is unknown,
but the total length of the property along Yates Avenue was approximately 6,000'.
A converted movie studio became the main hangar.
According to Dan MacPherson, in addition to the original hangar, Vail eventually had a large 4 building hangar complex.
Years later, these hangars were moved to Alameda Street, and occupied by the Belyea Trucking company.
They may still exist, could not be located.
The first CAM-4 contract airmail service to Las Vegas & Salt Lake City by WAE began in 1926,
with the first flight being piloted by Maury Graham.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed The Spirit of St. Louis at the Vail Field
while on a nationwide tour following his transatlantic flight.
The Bryant, a racing aircraft, was built at Vail Field in 1927.
The Lone Eagle CM-1 was built at Vail Field in 1928 by the Ryan Mechanics Monoplane Company.
The 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of CA With Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described "Air Mail Airport (Vail Field)" as being operated by Western Air Express,
and measuring 4,767' x 3,176'.
Ken Meade recalled of Vail Field, “My Father learned to fly automobile-towed gliders there in 1929 or 1930
that belonged to a club sponsored by Union Oil Company.
They had two gliders there.”
The original Vail Field ceased being an airport when Western Air Express moved to Alhambra Airport in 1930.
The field sat idle until 1940.
A Mobil map, most likely dated 1939-40, courtesy of Dan MacPherson,
which details the location of Vail Airport, as well as three other nearby fields:
Telegraph Atlantic Airport to the northwest, Los Angeles Eastside Airport to the South,
and Whittier Airport to the east (penciled in).
According to Dan, the map is not entirely correct.
The property shown as "Vail Airport" is actually the scope of the original Vail Field
Vail Airport was eventually built within a northern subset of the original Vail Field property.
Montebello airport has not been built yet.
The history of this field gets confusing at this point, as Vail Airport (as opposed to the original Vail Field) was built in 1940.
Vail Airport occupied a subset of the original Vail Field property, roughly the northern half.
It was located adjacent to a Chevron oil tank farm (which remains there today).
The airfield consisted of a single 3,200' oiled runway,
a taxiway, a large ramp, and at least two hangars.
Vail Airport (along with nearby Telegraph-Atlantic & Montebello Airports),
as depicted on the 1941 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
"Vail" was described by the 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
as having a 3,000' surface runway.
The remarks said, "Civil operation subject to 4th Fighter Command Requirements."
A circa 1940s aerial view (courtesy of Dan MacPherson) of Vail Airport (top of picture),
along with Montebello Airport (bottom of picture, across Yates Avenue to the south).
A Lockheed RB-34 Ventura patrol bomber, NC 63134, AF 41-38071, parked at Vail in 1946.
In the background is the Chevron tank farm (surrounded by eucalyptus trees), which is still present at the site.
The photo is courtesy of William Larkins (aviation historian & photographer for over 50 years), via Dan MacPherson.
This photo appeared with the caption "W.H. Coffin Air Service, Vail Field Airport, Los Angeles, CA",
In the 1947 book "Airport Operation & Management", by Charles Zweng, courtesy of Steve Cruse.
A 1947 photo of Vail by Don Downie, courtesy of Dan MacPherson.
The original caption reads, "Twenty-one A&E mechanics service the 220 planes based on this busiest airport is LA County.
Seven miles east of the city, the port has a single 3,200' oiled runway no tower - and an air traffic problem.
Tie-down is $15 monthly. Nearest transportation is 1/2 mile."
John Shelton reported in 2004 that he believes the hangar pictured in the above 1947 photo
still exists in 2004, after having been relocated to Whiteman Airport.
Another 1947 photo of Vail by Don Downie (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
Note the large number of surplus former military aircraft - a collection which would be worth millions of dollars today!
The last photo which has been located of Vail Field was a 1948 aerial photo.
It depicted the field as having 2 paved runways,
along with what appears to be an abandoned paved runway on the east side, along with its own parallel taxiway.
A closeup from the 1948 aerial photo,
showing an amazing number & variety of aircraft based at Vail Field, including 2 DC-3s.
In 1950, pilots from the 11th Coast Guard Auxiliary District were described as operating out of Vail Field,
flying search & rescue patrols over the mountains & deserts of southern California.
Vail was still depicted as an active airfield on the 1950 LAX Chart, according to Bob Cannon.
He recalled, "I rode my bike to Vail one day, all the way from Alhambra.
I stood on my toes to talk to a lady at a trailer-like office to see about getting flying lessons.
I'll never forget the name of the FBO: Coffin Flying Service!"
Vail Field was evidently closed at some point between 1950-54,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the September 1954 USAF LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The reason for its closure was that Garfield Avenue was extended through the property.
According to Dan MacPherson, it was "long gone by 1955",
The former Western Air Express hangars from Vail Field were later reused
by the Belyea Trucking Company on Alameda Boulevard, as seen in a 1964 photo (courtesy of Dan MacPherson).
A 1974 aerial photo showed that the site of Vail Field had been covered with buildings.
Dan MacPherson reported in 2003, "The address for Belyea Trucking was 21732 South Santa Fe.
I did not find any hangars on that site.
I cruised Alameda looking for them. Lots of possibilities but I could not locate them."
However, other sources indicate that when Vail was closed its two hangars were moved to Whiteman Airport,
where they were plastered up & still exist today.
In the March 2004 USGS aerial photo of the site of Vail Field,
not a trace of the airfield appears to remain.
A 2007 photo by Dan MacPherson of one of 2 hangars at Whiteman Airport
which were relocated from Vail Airport to Whiteman (the same hangars are visible in the 1947 photo).
Marc Herman owns this hangar, but “the sad part is that he has several months to demolish the historic hangar.
Mark commented that he should have had the hangar declared a historic monument.
Hank Coffin did business in this hangar while at Whiteman, as did Probert-Devine aviation.
Marc thinks the 'Spirit of St. Louis' was kept in it at one time at Vail.”
Several other airfields were located in close proximity to Vail.
Montebello was located directly across Yates Avenue,
Eastside Airport was to the south, and Telegraph Airport was to the west.
See also:
http://www.commercemarketplace.com/home/CollectAir/Prints.html
http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0010/here.html
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Montebello Airport / East Los Angeles Airport, Montebello, CA
33.99 North / 118.13 West (Southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, CA)
Montebello Airport (along with nearby Telegraph-Atlantic & Vail Airports),
as depicted on the 1941 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This field sat directly across Yates Avenue from Vail Airport.
The property was by Yates Avenue on the west, and Vail Avenue on the east,
Washington Boulevard on the north, and Telegraph Road on the south.
The airport was opened by Don Reese in 1940.
A circa 1940s aerial view (courtesy of Dan MacPherson) of Montebello Airport (bottom of picture),
along with Vail Airport (top of picture, across Yates Avenue to the north).
A 1947 photo of Montebello by Don Downie, courtesy of Dan MacPherson.
Note the Lockheed Ventura on the left.
By 1947, the airport had changed hands, and was owned by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.
In a 1947 Flying Magazine article on LA airports,
Montebello was described as having a 3,400' oiled runway, with tie-down space for 80 aircraft.
As can be seen in the above 1947 photo,
Montebello had at least one hangar, as well as several smaller buildings.
By the time of a 1948 aerial photo, Montebello Airport had been renamed East Los Angeles Airport,
as a 1948 aerial view showed the hangar painted with “East Los Angeles”.
A closeup from the 1948 aerial view showed the hangar, the painted legends saying “Land Only” & “Taxi Only”,
and a large number of aircraft.
Montebello / East Los Angeles Airport was reportedly still open in 1952.
The airport evidently closed at some point between 1952-54,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the September 1954 USAF LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
According to Dan MacPherson, "Vail & Montebello airports were both long gone by 1955.
Montebello, I believe was the first to go."
A 1974 aerial photo showed that the site of Montebello Airport had been covered with buildings.
As seen in the March 2004 USGS aerial photo,
not a trace of the former Montebello Airport appears to remain at the site.
According to Dan MacPherson, "You can still stand on Vail Avenue
and look at the huge flat pad that was cut into the hilly terrain to build the airport."
Otherwise, not a trace of the airfield appears to remain at the site today -
the site is very heavily developed.
Thanks to Dan MacPherson for pointing out this field.
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33.91 North / 118.25 West (North of Compton Airport, CA)
Central Airport, as depicted on the 1941 LA Sectional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Central Airport is yet another of the vanished former airports
which once were spread all throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
It was located only one mile north of Compton Airport.
There must be a certain amount of confusion about this airport,
given the similarly-named "Grand Central" Airport in nearby Glendale.
The date of construction of Central Airport is unknown.
According to K.O. Eckland, in 1939 Central Airport consisted of a 2,000' x 1,800' landing area.
The earliest depiction of Central Airport which has been located
was on the 1941 LA Sectional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Central Airport, as depicted on the August 1945 Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
A 1947 aerial view of Central Airport by Don Downie, courtesy of Dan MacPherson.
The Compton creek (wash) lines the airport perimeter in the background of the photo,
with eucalyptus trees lining the wash.
Note the two DC-3s at lower left.
According to a 1947 Flying Magazine article on LA Airports,
Central Airport had a 3,250' oiled runway & four hangars, with 160 resident aircraft.
Central Airport was still depicted as an active airfield on the 1950 LAX Chart, according to Bob Cannon.
The street adjacent to the airport (what eventually became the present-day 134th or 135th Street)
was still depicted as "Airport Way" on a 1954 street map.
Central Airport was evidently closed (for reasons unknown) at some point between 1950-54,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the September 1954 USAF LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
By the time of a 1974 aerial photo, dense housing covered the site of Central Airport.
According to Dan MacPherson,
apparently the only remaining trace which remains of Central Airport
is a large sheetmetal hangar type building on Water Avenue.
As seen in the March 2004 USGS aerial photo,
the site of the former airport is located in what has become a densely developed area.
The site of Central Airport is located at the intersection of North Central Avenue & 135th Street.
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