Lockheed Martin Palmdale Skunk Works Factory 2023
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 มิ.ย. 2023
- The father/daughter 2023 roadtrip has a look at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works factory at Palmdale Airport. Well, the outside of the fence actually but wouldn't you know it; they have a visitor center with a well stocked gift shop. We drive right up to the factory with our truck and trailer. There is a small outdoor museum on the left side of the main gate and to the right is the visitor center building. They currently have two aircraft outside on display and there are two more positions that are currently empty. There was a guard outside that met us and he was very friendly and told us about the gift shop inside. Welcome to Lockheed, come on in. We did and it cost me a few hundred bucks in swag. The main purpose of the building is to receive visitors and contractors and issue them with security badges for entry into the factory complex. And it's big. Hallowed ground for aviation technologies and accomplishments. Very cool that we are even allowed on the property. Respect.
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Exploring and History - get On The Road with Norm.
We keep travelling around and seeing things.
We also like history, aviation museums, and things with engines.
Come along for the ride.
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Cool video. Greetings from France! I have a long time fascination with Californian aircraft manufacturers plants (many of them closed now unfortunately). It began for me in the 80s (I was a teen) with the reading of the outstanding book "The lonely sky" from Bill Bridgeman (Skyrocket test pilot) and future wife Jacqueline Hazard. Captivating story which immerses you from the first lines in the 1950s Californian atmosphere of aircraft manufacturers, the "right stuff" and flight tests of rocket planes.
My friends dad worked for a private security force wackenhut and was stationed at plant 42 and hoover dam
Brings back nice memories, and some bad ones. The building you went into was and maybe still is called the LERC (Lockheed Employee Recreation Center) it housed a gift shop, a couple of meeting rooms for visitors that could not be cleared to go into the plant, and the LFCU (Lockheed Federal Credit Union). The store hasn't changed much, but the counter used to be directly to your left when you entered that door. We used to buy discount tickets for Disneyland, Magic Mountain, and other places there. There also was a very simple file holder that held information and discounts for buying new cars. We bought our first new car using the dealership and sales connection that Lockheed set up. Worked with the best engineers in the world at that time, great to be part of the team. And yes, in those buildings some very special aircraft were built, yes indeed.
Thank-you for your comment. Your information is historically significant and I appreciate everything from the olden days.
I have much admiration for Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks Facility,they make the impossible possible.The SR71 Blackbird is still my favourite looking jet to this day,It just reeks of power and stealth.Thank you for the post.
What a cool place! Thanks for sharing and never realised they had a gift store😀
Air Force Plant 42, actually. Northrop Grumman is on the other side of the air strip (on Avenue M). I cannot believe you did not drive two blocks east on Avenue P and visit the static display at Joe Davies Heritage Airpark and my favorite the adjacent Blackbird Airpark.
th-cam.com/video/kaSNNBL8j-U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JFt62yh6fTgjdY0w Be a believer! Of course I went to Blackbird Airpark but it was closed. However, both the A12 and the SR71A are very close to the museum fence and can be seen quite well from the public road. I went back a month ago and it was open. I will make a more complete video of it when time permits. The Joe Davies outdoor museum used to be called Plant 42 Palmdale Airpark. Only open on weekends. Please hit subscribe!
Interesting video! Well done... just sub'd - good luck with your channel!
I was active duty at Edward's from 99-02 and was lucky enough to see the X-33 being built in one of those hangers while checking one of our units they were borrowing. The program was then canceled.
I was a structural engineer, straight out of Georgia Tech with my PhD. on the X-33 program. It was a neat first job, and also a bit of a disaster of program management. Lockheed taught me many lessons. I remember a meeting with NASA greybeards one of which was none other than Ken Mattingly. I remember telling it like it was about cryopumping and the intricacies of manufacturing and what needed to be done to ensure the best success. Well, did I get a dressing down by the program manager in front of NASA. He called me an 'idiot that was too young to know anything.' I nearly quit that day. Months later the hydrogen tank blew up during a test, failing as I had predicted. I was then pulled into the real Skunk Works and finished my career with the real engineers and program managers, not the public ones. They were good people and it really was the dream job.
@LiTenUpADP Wow! Why didn't they build the tank properly? They should have already known what was required from other programs.
@@MrBen527 Well, this is a loaded question for the ages. The X-33 first and foremost was a technology demonstrator. There were three elements that were unproven up top that point. First was a Graphite/Epoxy liquid hydrogen tank. Second, a floating metal thermal protection system, and third, the aerospike engine. So, we are going to use a brand new engine, fed liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from an unproven tank design, and then use an unflown thermal protection system. Greaaaat. The aerospike engine had its own development hurdles, the TPS and substructure had its own development nightmares, and the quad-lobed sandwich structure composite tank had the most technical obstacles. The load paths from the aerospike engines had to travel through the hydrogen tank. The massive inertial load from the aluminum liquid oxygen in the aluminum tank opposing those thrust loads. And the aerodynamic loads from the TPS shell transferred into both tanks at the same time. Here's a link to the failure report:
ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20030067586
So, to answer your question, nothing like this had been done before. The program was searching for the lowest mass fraction possible to get a spacecraft to orbit in a single stage (SSTO). It turns out what we learned is that SSTO or any claim of SSTO is basically a farce - meaning no country or company can make that claim again. The only caveat to that statement is to leave the door open for a major - and I mean MAJOR - development in materials science.
Here are some more links:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA573018.pdf
And this is a nice read that I think most accurately describes the roller coaster ride:
thehighfrontier.blog/2015/10/06/the-x-33-nothing-ventured-nothing-gained/
Cheers
The jackets look like one of those rand* Carhartts.... branded for Skunkworks of course.
Wait... how did I get ahold of a rand* jacket?
Yeah, they are a bargain. Near the collar is a pocket... I use mine for those hand warmers during the winter. Right at the neck & shoulders, and the inside pocket is another great place for those hand warmer things.
I think I will make some modifications on my jacket. I found some zippers and i think there's a nice place to put a deep pocket without much effort.
HUSH, HUSH .. it stinks