About This File
FS2004 Scenery--KPMD Palmdale AF Plant 42, California (CA), USA. Palmdale AF is a huge 5800 acres/23 km2 airfield that has somehow been overlooked by addon developers. Almost all hangars and buildings are custom built due to their uniqueness to KPMD. Most of the facilities are owned by private contractors and serve as a manufacturing plant for aircraft used by the United States. Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility is where Space Shuttle came together and were assembled and tested. Upon completion, the Shuttles were turned over to NASA for transport overland to Edwards Air Force Base. The airfield was opened in the early 1930s. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the U.S. Air Force realised a need for a location for use in final assembly and flight testing of military jet aircraft, away from major population centers but close enough to the major centers of aircraft design and production. Year round excellent flying weather was also a prerequisite. The land which became AF Plant 42 fit all these criteria. Therefore the USAF bought the facility in in 1951. In the 1960's Lockheed relocated to Plant 42 from its original Burbank. By Brian Sturrock.