Grand Central Airport (California)
Grand Central Airport is a former airport in Glendale, California. Also known as Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT), the airport was an important facility for the growing Los Angeles suburb of Glendale in the 1920s and a key element in the development of United States aviation. The terminal, located at 1310 Air Way, was built in 1928 and still exists, owned since 1997 by The Walt Disney Company as a part of its Grand Central Creative Campus (GC3). Three hangars also remain standing. The location of the single concrete 3,800-foot (1,200 m) runway has been preserved, but is now a public street as the runway was dug up[2] and converted into Grand Central Avenue.
This article is about the former airport in Glendale, California. For the airport in South Africa, see Grand Central Airport. For the former airport in New York, see Holmes Airport.Location
The terminal building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 27, 2017.[3]
Movies and movie stars[edit]
The airport was the setting of several films, including Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels (1930), Shirley Temple's Bright Eyes (1934), Lady Killer (1933) starring James Cagney, Sky Giant (1938) with Joan Fontaine, Hats Off[17] (1936) with John Payne, the musical Hollywood Hotel[18] (1937) with Dick Powell, and the adventure film Secret Service of the Air (1939) starring Ronald Reagan. Episodes of the 1941 movie serial Sky Raiders show the terminal and other GCAT structures. The terminal was a favorite shooting location.[19]
The airport was also known for stunt flying[20] and supplying planes for use in the movie industry by people like Paul Mantz. Just about every airplane design flying during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s could be seen at GCAT for use in movies, or there to be serviced.[21]
Wartime[edit]
When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, Grand Central Airport (like all other west coast airports) was immediately closed to private aviation. (The remaining airlines had already moved to Burbank.) The government moved in, heavily camouflaged the place, and converted it into an important defense base for Los Angeles. In 1942, the runway, which originally ended at Sonora Avenue, was extended North to Western Avenue, giving it a 5,000' length to accommodate large airplanes and future jet aircraft.
Training of United States Army Air Forces flying cadets began under contract to Grand Central Flying School, Cal-Aero Training Corporation, and Polaris Flight Academy. The facility was assigned to West Coast Training Center (later Western Flying Training Command) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield, which also instructed Royal Air Force flying cadets. Some who would go on to become members of the Eagle Squadrons. (71 Squadron: Bob Sprague, J.J. Lynch, 121 Squadron: Kenneth Holder, Don McLeod, Jim Peck, Forrest Cox, John Lynch. 133 Squadron: James Coxetter, Hugh Brown). The Fairchild PT-19 was the primary flight trainer, along with Vultee BT-13s.[22] The Grand Central Flying School (GCFS) started out at the airfield and evolved into the Cal-Aero Flight Academy (CAFA).[23] Cal-Aero had schools at Ontario, Mira Loma at Oxnard, and Polaris at War Eagle Field. Glendale Junior College staffed flight ground school at Grand Central Air Field.[23]
A P-38 training base was built on the west side near the river which prepared the 319th Fighter Wing for action in Europe. Hundreds of P-51s, C-47s, B-25s and others transitioned Grand Central Airport in Glendale for refurbishment and reconditioning. Larger aircraft, like the B-29, were sent to the Grand Central Service Center in Tucson, Arizona.
On April 14, 1944, a fire destroyed three buildings, burned seven aircraft, and injured five workmen, one of them seriously.[24]
Plans were announced for the Grand Central Creative Campus redevelopment of the Grand Central Business Park in September 1999. Additional details were released in March 2000 indicating that it would have 3.6 million square feet in several four- to six-story buildings for office, production and sound stages and hold 10,000 employees.[30] In 2001, The Walt Disney Co. was planning to expand at the location from a single building to a campus of 6 million square feet.[31] In early May 2004, the Disney Company received design approval for its first phase of this redevelopment. This expected to spearhead the redevelopment of the San Fernando corridor of Glendale. This phase consisted of two 125,000-square-foot office buildings on a company owned 100-acre lot at 1101 and 1133 Flower St. which were to fit in with the Art Deco motif design of the KABC-TV studio facility nearby the campus (KABC had relocated from their previous home base at The Prospect Studios, formerly the ABC Television Center West).[27] A Disney employee day care for the campus was given design approval in July 2008.[32] Disney's Pixar sequel unit, Circle 7 Animation, was started in a converted warehouse on Circle 7 Drive in 2004, only to be closed in 2006.[33][34][35]
The campus' second phase began construction in September 2010 on a 338,000-square-foot six-story building with a five-story wing and a parking structure. 1,200 employees were expected to be working in the new building.[36] In mid-November 2018, the Disney Stores USA headquarters moved out of the Royal Laundry Complex to G3C.[37][38]
Disney units on the campus are:[39]
The KABC-TV studios are adjacent to the campus, but not a part of it.[39]