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Name: Downey's Aerospace History 1947-1999
Brand: Gerald Blackburn
SKU: 9780738569536
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

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Downey's Aerospace History 1947-1999

Grand Central Air Terminal

San Diego Italian Food

Maria Desiderata Montana

$21.99

Hanford

Robin Michael Roberts

$24.99

Railroads of Nevada County

Andrew J. Grove

$7.99

Railroads of Placer County

The Military in San Diego

Scott McGaugh

$26.99

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Gerald Blackburn

Downey's Aerospace History 1947-1999

9780738569536

$24.99

The city of Downey has been host to one of aerospace history's most sacred sites. For more than six decades, men and women have gathered in this Los Angeles County town to make the dreams of tomorrow a reality—inventing the future and starting America's journey to the stars. A wealthy Los Angeles industrialist, E. M. Smith, began this history with the purchase of a portion of the Huynan Ranch in August 1929. His company, EMSCO Aircraft, was the first of what would become a memorable list of pioneers in aviation and space. The story of the site's aerospace history extends from North American Aviation's tenancy in 1947 to the site closure in 1999 when engineers and scientists designed and developed the aerospace technology that took man to the moon and established a permanent presence in space.

Charles Lobb

Torrance Airport

9780738546629

$24.99

Californians were panicked by the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, and civilian flights within 200 miles of the coast were immediately terminated. Airfields were commandeered and new ones hastily built. One of these was the Lomita Flight Strip, known today as Zamperini Field, the Torrance Municipal Airport, or TOA. This 490-acre parcel sent four squadrons of P-38 fighter pilots off to war with one commanded by the judge of the Charles Manson trial, an ex-Flying Tiger. Six other pilots became generals, two became commandants of cadets at the Air Force Academy, and one became the only fighter pilot with combat victories in both World War II and the Vietnam War. Japanese Americans returning from World War II internment camps found temporary housing at the field, and the world's largest manufacturer of civilian helicopters settled there in 1973. The first runway takeoff of a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft was pioneered at TOA, and aerobatic champ Bob Herendeen trained at the site.

John Underwood

Grand Central Air Terminal

9780738546827

$24.99

From 1923, when it was known as the Glendale Airport, to the World War II era, when the military took it over, Grand Central Air Terminal was the main commercial airport serving Southern California and the ancestral home of what became Convair (General Dynamics) and Hughes Aircraft. The first scheduled transcontinental passenger service was flown out of Grand Central by Charles Lindbergh, with Amelia Earhart among the passengers. Grand Central had the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains, and was a terminal for Pickwick, TWA, American, and Pan Am's Mexican subsidiary. After Pearl Harbor, commercial operations ceased and the Army Air Corps turned Grand Central into a training center and a key element in the air defenses for Los Angeles when a Japanese invasion seemed imminent.

Diane Y. Welch

Del Mar Fairgrounds

9780738525310

$7.99

The Del Mar Fairgrounds—which hosts the county's annual fair and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club—unites local communities in an arena that attracts worldwide attention.

The stunning beauties who were crowned Fairest of the Fair and the smoldering good looks of Tommy Hernandez as Don Diego symbolized the hospitality of the San Diego County Fair, whose historic roots began humbly in the genteel port town of National City, just 10 miles north of the Mexican border. That 1880 inaugural autumn fair, initiated by developer Frank A. Kimball, showcased citrus, agriculture, and horses. Today the 22nd District Agricultural Association hosts the summer fair, which features international superstars, flower shows, livestock contests, exhibits, sports events, carnival rides, and its famed fast food, together with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's racing meet, which has helped make the city of Del Mar a star-studded world-class destination with a colorful history. Enjoy the rich history of the Del Mar Fairgrounds in this collection of 15 historic black-and-white postcards.

Maria Desiderata Montana

San Diego Italian Food

9781626195264

$21.99

As ethnic neighborhoods in other cities assimilate to American life, the exuberant local flavor of San Diego's Little Italy remains both culturally and culinarily distinct. Tucked between Interstate 5 and San Diego Bay southeast of San Diego International Airport, the blocks surrounding the landmark Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church contain many of the most notable eateries and gourmet cafes in America's Finest City. Join Maria Desiderata Montana, a daughter of that Italian heritage and one of the city's most notable food writers, on this savory tour through the zesty Italian food traditions, businesses and recipes both in Little Italy and across San Diego.

Robin Michael Roberts

Hanford

9780738529486

$24.99

Hanford, created by the Southern Pacific Railroad and named for paymaster James Madison Hanford, is located in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley near the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers. Incorporated in 1891 and named the seat of Kings County two years later, this city has grown from humble origins to become a center for business and government while also maintaining its agricultural tradition in ranching, dairy farms, vineyards, and other crops. The story of Hanford is captured here in vintage photographs that detail its history from the Tache tribe of the Yokut Indians, who were first to inhabit the region, to the coming of the railroad and the infamous Mussel Slough tragedy that led to monopoly reform laws, and finally to the building of the town itself.

Arthur Sommers

Railroads of Placer County

9781467128407

$7.99

Though small in geographic size, Placer County is large in its rich history of railroading in California. These vintage-photograph postcards showcase the 14 different railroads that did or still do exist in some association with Placer County. There were narrow-gauge and standard-gauge, long transcontinental, and short point-to-point railroads. Some railroads were fully contained within the county, and others just touched the county. Some railroads were short-lived operations, while others operated for decades. One railroad still functions today, undiminished after 150 years in service.

Kevin Bash

The Navy in Norco

9780738575261

$24.99

On December 8, 1941, sixty miles from the ocean, the US Navy rolled into Norco. There, on the grounds of the former Norconian Resort, the federal government built what may have been the finest and most complete World War II naval hospital in the nation. The first patients to arrive were those wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor; they were cared for in luxurious rooms once reserved for movie stars. By 1945, approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines were being treated. In 1951, the smartest physicists, engineers, and mathematicians in the world set up laboratories in the hospital's tubercular wards and entered into the Cold War. Today the hospital is gone, but the magnificent buildings and top secret naval laboratory remain, along with thousands of photographs of one of the most historic and colorful sites in America.