LAX Event to Spotlight New Airport History Book, Authors

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NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ethel Pattison
or Lee Nichols 310-215-5291


LAX Event to Spotlight New Airport History Book, Authors

It began as a simple landing strip in a bean patch known as Mines Field and grew over the next 80 years to become Western America’s most important air transportation center. This is the story of Los Angeles International Airport, as told in a newly published book featuring many never-before-published photos from LAX’s massive archival collection.

Titled simply, Los Angeles International Airport, the soft cover 128-page volume is based on the research of aviation historian William A. Schoneberger and co-authored by Ethel Pattison, longtime LAX archivist, and Lee Nichols, executive director of the airport’s Flight Path Learning Center and Museum. The book was developed by Flight Path in cooperation with Arcadia Publishing Co. as part of the publisher's Images of Aviation series.

A public book-signing event is scheduled Tuesday, March 17, 12 noon to 3 p.m., at Flight Path in the LAX Imperial Terminal, 6661 W. Imperial Highway, Los Angeles. Co-authors Ethel Pattison and Lee Nichols will be present to autograph copies of the book. Admission and parking are free. The book is available at Flight Path, at major book retailers and from on-line book vendors.

The volume features photos of all the great moments and personalities of LAX history, according to Flight Path President Rowena Ake. These include Charles A. Lindbergh on a surprise visit to the airport following his famed trans-Atlantic solo flight, legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart at the 1936 Air Races in Los Angeles, the Beatles arriving to a welcome from hysterical fans in the 1960s, and numerous other memorable events.

"Many of today’s travelers don’t realize that the airport has been at the heart of local history for many years," said Ake. "This book restores a sense of pride in a place we often take for granted."

Other photos show crowds gathered for the airport’s official dedication in 1930, daredevil pilots and their aircraft at early air shows, camouflaging and other tight security at the field during World War II, development of the "jet age" terminal complex in the late 1950s, construction in preparation for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and LAX at it appears today.

Visible in several of the book’s photos is the airport’s Hangar No. 1, built in 1929 and the only surviving structure from the original Mines Field era. The hangar now is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Monument.

Additional information on the publication and the book-signing event is available by contacting Flight Path at (310) 215-5291