It all started with a kind invitation to attend what was to have been the final flight of the world's sole surviving Douglas DC-2, making its very last journey from Long Beach, California to Seattle, Washington where it was to be permanently enshrined in the Museum of Flight. All that was not to be, however, as an administrative problem grounded the aircraft on the spot. After an enjoyable lunch at the Long Beach Marriott with some of my former Douglas cronies, I was driven up to the plant to see the actual airplane, but what transpired left me in shock. The once-familiar drive up Lakewood Boulevard had a strange and almost alien feel to it, for the once-quaint little airport now looked like a sprawling aviation metropolis. Rochelle's restaurant, famed site of so many mega-deal-closing lunches for Douglas execs, was now leveled to make way for the new airline terminal's long-term parking. We proceeded northward and turned into what had once been the proud site of the Douglas Aircraft Company. Giant mounds of dirt signaled the end of an era as small out buildings were being taken down, but most of the plant's landmark fixtures seemed to remain intact despite being empty and abandoned.
展开▼
