Saturday, September 27, 2008

Brief History of LGB based Edde Airlines

Edde Airlines (Edde Aircraft Inc) – (LGB/Salt Lake City, UT) 1962-1966. Founded by Garth, Joseph, and William Edde. Passenger charter operations using C-46, DC-3, L-049 and M-404 equipment.

*DC-3 struck hill during snowstorm near Salt Lake City on 11/27/65 en-route to Provo, UT to pick up additional BYU fans attending football game in Albuquerque. 13 fatalities including Captain Garth Edde.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Long Beach airplane hangar goes Hollywood

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- An old Boeing hangar is coming back to life. A place where airplanes used to sit could soon see movie equipment. A group of investors is buying the facility and plans to turn it into a massive movie studio.

The old hangar is an extremely large building. It's a place where planes were made, but soon it may be used to make movies.

"There's no better location than where we are. And how would you find this building? I mean this was almost a godsend. That it was meant to be," said actor Jack O'Halloran.

The old Douglas Aircraft plant dates to World War II, and is now owned by Boeing. In 2006, the last Boeing 717 aircraft rolled out and into history.

Some thought this facility would become history as well. The city even toyed with the idea of making it a parking facility for recreational vehicles.

"This is delightful. We put this studio together. This is so much better for the city. And it's a great use of a structure that is enormous," said Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster. "You don't get a sense of how large a million square feet is until you come in here."

The facility could fit 17 football fields. However, they aren't going that route. Instead, building owners hope to install 40 soundstages, which would make it one of the biggest studios in Los Angeles.

After shooting movies in Europe, actor Jack O'Halloran realized Los Angeles of all places didn't have big soundstages. He says this place is perfect.

"This should've been done 20 years ago. So what we will do is we will build this place, and we will outfit it -- wire it -- so that for the next 20 years, as technology changes, it will be adaptable," said O'Halloran.

It's an ambitious and risky plan. The idea is to make the hangar into a small city, including a hotel, TV facilities and make it state-of-the-art. Owners hope it will be so attractive, movie producers won't need to go to Canada or other states to make their projects.

"Over the past decade, California has lost a quarter of a million jobs to runaway production. And with real estate changing, and developers, more and more soundstages and lots are being torn down every day. And, if we don't reinvest in the infrastructure to make films, there won't be a film industry in California," said Jay Samit, Long Beach Studios.

The first phase could be finished by 2010. So the future of moviemaking could be just a few miles south of Hollywood.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sunday 9-14-08

2 F/A-18 Hornets arrived at 2:50pm and parked at Signature. They departed later at 4:30pm.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Saturday 9-13-08

Gulfstream G550 N709DW was towed from the paint shop to the Gulfstream ramp at 6:49pm.

Tail numbers noted at Gulfstream: N785QS

Below are some photos that were taken throughout the day on the ramp.










Friday 9-12-08

Gulfstream G-IV N486QS arrived from SNA at 3:49pm and parked at Gulfstream.

Gulfstream G-V VP-CES departed at 6:09pm to VNY.

Tail numbers noted at Gulfstream: N63HS, N550GW, N711GA(Green)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Monday 9-8-08

Gulfstream C-37 06-0500 returned from a test flight at 2:53pm and parked at Gulfstream.

MD-87 N168CF departed on a test flight at 4:45pm and returned at 5:18pm. The plane parked at AirFlite.

Gulfstream G550 VP-BLR was towed from the Gulfstream paint shop to the completion center at 5:45pm.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Friday 9-5-08

Gulfstream G450 N821GA arrived from ASE at 6:21pm and parked at Gulfstream.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Thursday 9-4-08

USAF Boeing C-17A 07-7177 (P-177) which will be delivered to Dover Air Force Base departed on a test flight at 3:41pm and returned at 5:33pm.

A Marine Blackhawk helicopter landed at 4:05pm and taxied to Signature. I did not see when it left.

Tail numbers noted at Gulfstream: N711GL, N254SD

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Tuesday 9-2-08

Alaska Airlines 737-890 operated into LGB as ASA542 and arrived at 10:30am. The pilot reported to maintenance that the APU-A/C switch was loose and the mechanic tightened the knob. Then the pilot wanted a brake temp check and those were normal. The plane went to depart back to SEA but at 60 kts the lights came on in the cockpit saying that the emergency exit doors did not lock and the pilot aborted takeoff. The plane returned to the gate and after going through 3 different checks the emergency exits seem to work properly and the plane finally departed back to SEA as ASA543 at 3:16pm, almost 4 hours late.

Gulfstream G450 N425QS arrived at 5:23pm and parked at Gulfstream.

Tail numbers noted at Gulfstream: N222NP, N490QS, N1LB, N609GA(green).

Monday, September 1, 2008

Monday 9-1-08

Allegiant Air MD-83 N872GA arrived as AAY5011 from IFP at 3:52pm. The plane departed as AAY5012 at 4:47pm and ferried to LAS.

Tail numbers noted at Gulfstream: CS-DKD