Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

appalachiablue

(41,056 posts)
Sun Mar 27, 2022, 02:54 PM Mar 2022

How Aviation Shaped Los Angeles; Hollywood Film Industry, Aerospace, *Blue Sky Metropolis* Film

Last edited Sun Mar 27, 2022, 05:02 PM - Edit history (2)



- Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer and author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart
________
- 'How the aviation industry shaped Los Angeles.' Curbed, LA. The fascinating, strangely forgotten history is recounted in a new four-part documentary produced by KCET. By Hadley Meares, Jul 8, *2019. - Ed.

It was like nothing America had ever seen before. Over 11 days in January of 1910, more than 200,000 people flooded Dominguez Field in LA County. They were there for the Los Angeles Air Meet, to witness aviation pioneers such as Glenn Curtiss, Didier Masson, and Charles Willard take to the sky in powered airplanes. “This was only the second demonstration of powered flight ever made in the world,” says filmmaker Peter Jones. “And it was in Los Angeles because of these risk-taking people—the Chandler family, and also William Randolph Hearst… who, with Henry Huntington, sponsored the Los Angeles Air Meet.”



These titans of early Southern California saw potential in the death-defying spectacle. “A lot people just looked at these flying machines as entertainment, daredevil entertainment,” Jones says. “But they thought there could be something to this as a real industry. And they were right. And so that created Los Angeles as the place where this kind of new thing was happening.” This pivotal event would help cement Los Angeles as the center of the burgeoning aviation and aerospace industry for decades to come. This fascinating, strangely forgotten history is recounted in 'Blue Sky Metropolis', a new 4-part documentary produced by KCET in partnership with Emmy-Award winning Jones.

The film is part of the PBS “Summer of Space,” featuring programming honoring the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing, Blue Sky Metropolis. Narrated by actor Tony Goldwyn, the series tracks the history of SoCal aerospace pioneers & boosters, including John Northrop, Donald Douglas, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Walt Disney, Wernher von Braun, & the rocket-mad folks who started the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Their stories are close to Jones’ heart. An LA native, he is a product of the of the aerospace industry—his father was president of Northrup Corp. for 30 years. As the film explains, Los Angeles from its founding was a hugely engineered product. “This was a city that basically engineered and invented itself with people who said: ‘You know, we don’t have our own port, let’s build a manmade port,” says Jones. “So we created the Port of Los Angeles. We don’t have water... Let’s bring water from Central California.”

This SoCal pioneer spirit—of making the impossible possible—would nurture not only the early aviation and aerospace industry but also its unlikely partner in crime, the entertainment business. “It is not a coincidence that you have these two industries, Hollywood filmmaking and aviation and aerospace, coming of age in Southern California,” says Jones. There was ample cheap land, and the weather was ideal for year-round filming and flying. LA’s open-shop, anti-union stance also meant that workers were cheap and plentiful...

- More, https://la.curbed.com/2019/7/8/20684245/aerospace-southern-california-history-documentary-blue-sky



- Walt Disney.
________
- ECONOMY OF CA, 5th Largest. The economy of the State of California is the largest in the US, with a $3.0 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2020. If California were a sovereign nation (2020), it would rank as the world's 5th largest economy, ahead of UK, India and behind Germany. Additionally, California's Silicon Valley is home to some of the world's most valuable technology companies, including Apple, Alphabet Inc., & Meta Platforms. In total, over 10% of Fortune 1000 companies were based in California in 2018, the most of any state...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California#:~:text=The%20economy%20of%20the%20State,and%20India%20and%20behind%20Germany.
________



- "Blue Sky Metropolis" (2019) TRAILER for 4-Part Series, The untold story of how aerospace was central to the growth of California & its emergence as an economic power. The documentary miniseries focuses on the people behind the aerospace movement & will feature many of the current major players in the aerospace industry in Calif., which is the hub of modern day aerospace engineering. The aerospace century will unfold through the lives & words of the men & women who created it: John Northrop, Glenn Martin, Donald Douglas, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Walt Disney & Wernher Von Braun. ~ More on YouTube. - KCET and PBS SoCal members can watch this series with Passport on the PBS App. Learn more at https://www.kcet.org/passport

- Operation Paperclip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip#:~:text=Operation%20Paperclip%20was%20a%20secret,Europe%2C%20between%201945%20and%201959.



- Disney Sells the Space Dream | Blue Sky Metropolis | Season 1 | Episode 2.

Wernher Von Braun was an ex-Nazi who helped create the rocket that bombed Great Britain. His knowhow would be used in the United States in service of the space race; his background swept under the rug. Alongside Walt Disney and his Tomorrowland, Von Braun, now dubbed the “Father of the American Space program,” the two would ignite a fervor for the great beyond. *2 more episodes on YouTube. - Operation Paperclip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip#:~:text=Operation%20Paperclip%20was%20a%20secret,Europe%2C%20between%201945%20and%201959.

KCET and PBS SoCal members can watch this series with Passport on the PBS App.
Learn more at https://www.kcet.org/passport
3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How Aviation Shaped Los Angeles; Hollywood Film Industry, Aerospace, *Blue Sky Metropolis* Film (Original Post) appalachiablue Mar 2022 OP
looks real interesting.... bahboo Mar 2022 #1
What I've read so far is quite interesting, esp. the associations appalachiablue Mar 2022 #2
For years North Douglas St. in El Segundo was a 7 lane one way street Zorro Mar 2022 #3

appalachiablue

(41,056 posts)
2. What I've read so far is quite interesting, esp. the associations
Sun Mar 27, 2022, 06:52 PM
Mar 2022

between govt. agencies, corporations, Hollywood and more for The Space Program.

Fort Bliss, Texas (El Paso) which is near White Sands, N.M. was one of the main program centers for German rocket scientists/aerospace engineers who came to the US in Operation Paperclip.

During WWII, dad trained at Fort Bliss for the Army's Aircraft Artillery before shipping to Europe and my mom who accompanied him to Texas loved the SW area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip#:~:text=Operation%20Paperclip%20was%20a%20secret,Europe%2C%20between%201945%20and%201959.

Zorro

(15,691 posts)
3. For years North Douglas St. in El Segundo was a 7 lane one way street
Sun Mar 27, 2022, 07:45 PM
Mar 2022

and I often wondered why, until I realized it was how Douglas Aircraft moved planes from their manufacturing plant to LAX during WWII.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»How Aviation Shaped Los A...