Heritage Airpark next target for B-52

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post_article ^ | BOB WILSON

[BenLurkin]

PALMDALE - Voting unanimously and without discussion, the City Council agreed Wednesday to spend about $248,000 to bring a B-52 Stratofortress to the Plant 42 Heritage Airpark. Although none of the 1950s-era bombers were built at Plant 42 by The Boeing Co., some have been modified at the military facility for the testing of other aircraft, and some B-52s assigned to Edwards Air Force Base have used Plant 42 for refueling as well as practice takeoffs and landings.

The city is interested in acquiring the plane not because of its affiliation with Plant 42 but because of its role in the history of U.S. military aircraft, Mayor Jim Ledford said Monday during a pre-meeting briefing on City Council action and discussion items.

"Part of the mission of the (city's) airpark is not to only show the evolution of Plant 42 but to tell the story of aerospace," Ledford said.

"We are trying to represent the heritage of aerospace, and it's going to take a variety of displays to do that," he said.

Funds earmarked for the project will be used to pay Airstone Enterprises of Marana, Ariz., to move a B-52 from the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Okla., to the Heritage Airpark at 20th Street East and Rancho Vista Boulevard (Avenue P).

[BenLurkin]

http://www.cityofpalmdale.org/airpark/index.html