LOCKHEED PLANT B-6

North is to the left. CLICK on the above image to see an much enlarged image.

 

The Lockheed B-6 plant was on the east side of Burbank airport along Hollywood Way. It was on land originally outside of the airport fence, and it once had a farm house owned by a former Mayor of Burbank. It was used by early Lockheed test pilots as a pilot lounge. The area was developed after 1940 for Lockheed assembly, overhaul and Flight Test to support the war effort.

Buildings # 309 & #310 were the huge assembly buildings used for the Constitution, SR-71's and F-117 production lines. Building #360 was where the C-5's would arrive under cover of darkness to take away finished product. It is still there; (Sorry...it was demolished in late 2001) if you look at the runway side, above the hangar doors you will see a small window. This is a room about 8'x12' from which the airport was controlled during the C-5 operations. Between building # 360 and the runways, is a chain link fence that opens very wide into the area adjacent to 360.

Building # 357, near the north-south runway, is referred to as "the Fort" by Ben Rich, in his book "SKUNKWORKS" and was used for cryogenic experiments using liquid hydrogen. It was originally a WWII revetment made with 8' thick concrete walls and underground bunkers and had been used for storage of bombs and bullets for Lockheed Flight Test.

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