Free Republic

PALMDALE - Boasting greater capabilities than its already heralded predecessor, the next-generation Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was unveiled to the public Friday. Amid flashing lights and stirring music, the large bulbous vehicle was revealed before an appreciative crowd of Northrop Grumman Corp. employees, Air Force personnel and dignitaries at the company's Palmdale Manufacturing Center at Air Force Plant 42. The center is home to the final assembly of all the Global Hawks. The event marked a celebration of "both a major milestone and a new beginning," said John Brooks, Flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet and for periods...

PALMDALE - Command of Air Force Plant 42 passed to a new leader Wednesday, as Lt. Col. Ronald Ortiz ended his three-year tenure and Lt. Col. Ronald Hirtle took over. The morning ceremony took place outside a hangar, against a backdrop of aircraft that claim Air Force Plant 42 as their birthplace: F-117 stealth fighter, B-2 stealth bomber, U-2 and the experimental X-37 spacecraft demonstrator. "If you look around at these airplanes, they speak for themselves. This is where the cutting edge of the Air Force is born," said Col. James A. Godsey , deputy director of the Engineering Directorate,...

PALMDALE - A crowd of men, women and children spent Saturday afternoon admiring what might soon be the fastest racing car on Earth. The glossy red "North American Eagle" used to be an F-104 jet fighter that was flown at Edwards Air Force Base by test pilots Pete Knight, Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield and Joe Engle. "It looks like a real jet," 8-year-old Michael Mayes said. He was admiring the sleek beauty with his grandfather, Everett Mayes, who volunteers at the Plant 42 Heritage Airpark where the Eagle was on display Saturday. This week the North American Eagle team will...

PALMDALE - Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon on Friday toured the Palmdale Plant 42 Heritage Airpark, a collection of aircraft that were designed, produced, tested, flown or modified at the U.S. Air Force's Plant 42. The nine aircraft and a model of a B-2 Spirit were donated by various military branches and aerospace companies, and pieced together and refurbished by volunteers. "I'm impressed with their wealth of talent and dedication," Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford told McKeon, speaking about the volunteers. "Everything here has been done by their own hands. They have such extensive knowledge of aerospace, there is nothing they...

PALMDALE - It took more than six years and thousands of volunteer hours to transform a dusty corner into the Palmdale Plant 42 Heritage Airpark, a showcase for the many noteworthy aircraft conceived, designed, tested and built at the nearby facilities. Lovingly restored aircraft were silhouetted against the setting sun Friday night as guests gathered beneath an elegant tent to celebrate and officially dedicate the airpark and recognize the tremendous efforts of volunteers and donors to make it a reality. "There aren't many monuments dedicated to what (aerospace workers) have done," Mayor Jim Ledford said. "This is the beginning. This...

Lola Tipton of Lancaster remembers meeting a very handsome Ronald Reagan in 1937, a man who introduced himself as "Dutch." GOP politico Frank Visco, an invited guest at Reagan's White House, is mourning the man he calls "a father figure." And Jeremy Giampietro, a 24-year-old Highland High School graduate, will help carry his casket at today's burial in Simi Valley. Antelope Valley residents are dwelling on memories this week of Ronald Wilson Reagan, especially those who met the 40th president on one of his several trips to the Valley. Reagan visited the Valley in the 1960s, for a tour of...

PALMDALE - Many students spend spring break partying at the beach or on the slopes. However, a handful of Antelope Valley College airframe and powerplant students spent two days of their spring break restoring airplanes for display at Palmdale Plant 42 Heritage Airpark on Avenue P between 20th and 25th streets west. Jerry Shatzer, 46, and Betsy Luahiwa, 45, kept busy manufacturing a panel to cover an access panel near the tail end of a 1960s-era Navy A-4 Skyhawk, while Stephen Lopez, 39, Tim Gaines and James Dillard, 21, worked on the top of plane. "We're covering access panels no...