Santa Monica Airport (SMO) celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with a cloud hanging over its head: The city’s plans to close the airport in December 2028 and turn it into a park.
As the airport turns 100, the local newspaper, the Santa Monica Daily Press, has started a series of articles focusing on the future of Santa Monica Airport. The first delves into the “incredible history connected to this seemingly ordinary strip of land” and is well worth the read — if only to learn about the fake city that was created above the airport to protect it during World War II.
From the story by Scott Snowden: “This new, non-existent ‘neighborhood’ was constructed by using nearly five-million square feet of chicken wire stretched across and supported by more than 400 giant poles, each about 20 feet high, forming a canopy over the entire site. On top of this were placed lightweight wooden houses with attached garages, fences, clotheslines and even trees made from twisted chicken wire and feathers painted green.”
Click here to read the full story and be prepared to say “wow.”
Since Douglas left Santa Monica and moved to Long Beach in the 70’s the airport has been in a slow and gradual decline similar to many other GA airports around the country.
I earned my PPL at SMO. Fond memories of the field. What a shame to close it!
There is a whole lot more to Santa Monica Airport than its WWII history. When my father left the Navy after four years during the Korean War, his first job was as night-shift maintenance man for Douglas there, while he was working on his engineering degree at UCLA then later San Fernando Valley State College. He eventually landed a job as a draftsman for Douglas, working alongside others in a massive hangar converted into engineering space, desks in long rows as things were done back then in aerospace. Before moving on to North American Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, he worked on all Douglas civilian aircraft from the Super DC-3 up to the DC-8. I used to think that destruction of these historic airports is a crime. Given the state of things in SoCal, it really doesn’t matter much any more as the entire area is essentially destroyed by bad politics and an open border leading to drugs, crime, and homelessness.
I’m totally with You, Mr. Kent.