Launch Date Approaches for Airpark

A bid to preserve the Antelope Valley’s rich aviation history is taking flight near the Palmdale Airport as work begins on an attraction local officials hope will eventually draw thousands of tourists a year.

The Plant 42 Heritage Airpark--celebrating the accomplishments of the Air Force’s storied Plant 42--is expected to open in early October.

With only two airplanes currently at the Avenue P site, it will be a modest debut. But organizers working on a 20-year plan say the park will eventually display examples of most, if not all, of the nearly 40 different aircraft that have been flown, built or modified at the Air Force facility since it opened in the early 1950s.

“If it all comes to pass, we will have an awesome display of all the airplanes that have come from Plant 42,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, a former aerospace worker and one of the air park’s main boosters.

“This is going to be quite an attraction. It will give us an opportunity to tell what the Antelope Valley is all about,” Ledford said. “Every community wants to celebrate its history, and we have a good story to tell.”

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Beginning in 1952 with the F-94C--designed to counter enemy bombers--and continuing to the present with the B-2 Stealth bomber and the latest space shuttle prototype, just about every American military aircraft designed in the second half of the 20th century has made its way through Plant 42.

Working with representatives from aerospace companies--Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing North American--and a team of dedicated volunteers, Palmdale officials have begun exploring ways to get their hands on as many examples of those aircraft as possible. The current tenants of the site are two jet fighters, an F-100 Super Sabre and an F-104 Starfighter, lent by the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority and the Air Force, respectively.

Carol Seidl, an assistant to the Palmdale city manager, said that when actual aircraft are unavailable--as in the case of the space shuttle--the air park will try to obtain models or mock-ups.

Written displays will give information about the design specifications of the various aircraft, as well as descriptions of their roles in the nation’s defense, Seidl said.

“We want people to come to Palmdale on their first stop of what we call the ‘aerospace trail,’ ” Seidl said. “Lancaster has the Walk of Honor [for test pilots], and Edwards Air Force Base has a museum. We think there will be a lot of interest in visiting a park where people can see the actual airplanes.”

Critical to the park’s success will be volunteers like Bob Murphy, 68, a former Lockheed operations director who is part of a crew of retired aerospace workers putting their hearts, and considerable knowledge, into the work of acquiring and restoring vintage aircraft.

“We’ve got a bunch of real dedicated aircraft people, and our goal is to get as many airplanes on board as we can,” Murphy said. “Then we can put together teams, and people can work on their favorite airplanes.”

Working for Lockheed at Plant 42 in the 1960s, Murphy helped build the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane used by the Air Force during the Cold War. It was capable of flying at Mach 3.2, or 2,200 mph, and 85,000 feet--so far as is known, the fastest and highest-flying airplane ever built.

“There were a lot of aircraft built in Palmdale, and there is a real sense of accomplishment among the people who worked on them,” Murphy said. “I think this park is going to be a big draw.”

Palmdale is betting on it. This year, the city has budgeted $150,000 to pave the 26-acre rectangular parcel on the north side of Avenue P between 20th and 25th streets east. The money will also pay for a fence and other improvements.

Blackbird Airpark, an annex of the Edwards Air Force Base museum that includes two restored SR-71s, is next door on the corner of Avenue P and 25th Street and is a popular stop for tourists.

Ledford said he will push for continued city funding as the project moves forward, to build “a first-class exhibit” including landscaping, picnic grounds, a visitor center and a retail store.

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Although Palmdale will have to pay for transportation, restoration and upkeep of the airplanes, costs will remain relatively low because the city will not have to purchase the aircraft, most of which will be on permanent loan, Seidl said. And the city is working out final details with the Air Force to lease the property at virtually no cost.

“We are just starting our efforts now to get the aircraft,” said Seidl, who estimated the park would have five airplanes by the end of the year, well ahead of initial expectations.

“We have several leads on several different aircraft,” Seidl said, “and I’m optimistic that it’s going to happen.”