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08/01/2007: "A Fond Look Back"
SoCal isn't famous for acknowledging it's past. Normally, we're too busy bulldozing history to take the time to celebrate it.
One key element of SoCal history that is quickly disappearing is the proud tradition as a center of excellence for the aerospace industry. Going back to the days before World War II, many of the leading technical advances in aviation and aerospace were developed in the Los Angeles Basin. In fact, as I write this, I'm sitting in the Brick Pile, a building that was once the headquarters of North American Aviation. Today, it's just another nondescript building occupied by Boeing, but it was here that the P-51 Mustang fighter was designed.
With the consolidation that has hit the military industrial complex in the last few decades, many once-proud names have gone by the wayside - names like TRW, Hughes, McDonnell-Douglas, Rockwell, Vought and many more have been lost as they were absorbed Borg-like by the remaining players in the game. Sometimes, you wish someone would stop long enough to take a look back.
Fortunately, someone is. This Friday and Saturday, USC and the Huntington Library will be cosponsoring Rocket Science and the Region: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of the Aerospace Industry in Southern California. This conference will look back at the impact of aerospace on the growth of the SoCal economy and culture, as well as ways to preserve its history. There's a large list of participants - among the notable are Thomas Jones, former CEO of Northrop during the glory days; William Graham, former NASA Administrator, and Major General Curtis Bedke, commanding officer of the Air Force Flight Test Center Commander at Edwards Air Force Base, where most of the wonderous developments were first tested.
Sounds like a good time will be had by all!
