April 17, 2001 Pacific Flyer Re: "…Replica of Famous Hughes H-1 Racer."

What a pleasant surprise to see Howard Hughes with his H-1 Racer in front of Hangar #2 at Burbank, CA. (John Underwood will correct me if I'm wrong) Once the home of Lockheed, Menasco, Pacific AirMotive, Weber Aircraft, Bandi and hundreds more, also birthplace of the Lockheed Skunk Works, the east S. F. Valley will celebrate the upcoming Centennial of Manned Flight without a single physical trace of our once powerful and great aviation heritage. (Oh, wait! Disney Corp. owns Grand Central Terminal. We're holding our breath for them to do the right thing and restore it, but I'm afraid they're waiting for another earthquake to remove that responsibility from their 15 year 'Campus' plan to build over all of the original airport. So that will make it a perfect score. No more buildings or sites from the Golden Age of aviation, the WWII production run up, the Cold War era, the 'black world' and stealth development of the Skunk Works or the thousands of other companies that designed and produced aircraft, rockets and the other gear that has kept us free. Next time it's the morning of 'Dec 8, 1941', instead of running to the production line to make Hudsons and P-38's we'll all run to the new Crispi Crème they're building now. That otta take care of us pretty well. They're getting ready to tear down Hangar #1 & #2 at BUR. Workplace of Paul Mantz, Amelia Earhart, Roscoe Turner, the Bendix Races from 1931-1939 and….the Hughes H-1 Racer. The Burbank Aviation Museum effort still exists. Please find them at: http://www.GoDickson.com/ahsfv1.htm

We need your history help.

J. Ron Dickson Burbank, CA