I Was a Riveter at “Boy’s Town”

I still have my first pay envelope

by George S.

I started work as a riveter on March 25, 1941, at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Middle River, Maryland, at 50 cents an hour. The company was affectionately called “Boy’s Town” due to the youth of the men working in this new field of aviation. I still have my first pay envelope, in which cash was the method of weekly payment. I worked on the first B-26 Marauders (except for a short break in the United States Army). I met Glenn L. and his mother, Minta, when she christened the “Martin Mars” flying boat in November 1942. Mr. Martin, an avid sports fan, built a baseball field in front of the engineering building and would watch as other employees and I played baseball. After my release from the service, I again worked on the B-26B and, later, the B-57 Canberra Bomber. I was promoted to supervision during this time. In 1960, I transferred to the Denver division. After many years working on Titan missiles, Skylab projects, and supporting launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base and in Florida, I retired in 1988. Now age 90, I’ve enjoyed 25 years of retirement, and retain fond memories of my experiences with the company. I have enjoyed many travels with my wife of 64 years, in great part due to the benefits provided by the company. My wife passed on in 2010, but I continue to enjoy sharing my memories with others. I could not have selected a better company for which to work. Many thanks.

A World War II Recruiting Poster

Liquid Propellant Missile Course

We archived important Lockheed Martin history

by R. David H.

A United States Government agency was interested in how we developed the Titan missile. They reasoned that other countries would go through similar stages as we did. They wanted a course to which they could send their agents to examine the facilities we used and query those who built the Titan. I was the proposal manager, and later the program manager. With a team of several old-time employees, we developed a course to be presented by those who had hands-on experience on that weapon system, including tours of facilities and a multi-page loose-leaf notebook with photos and commentary for them to take home. We provided a four-day course, classified as Secret, at the Waterton facility. A significant intangible for Martin Marietta was the gathering of all this history in one volume. The material we gathered was found in scattered file cabinets, old 16mm films, stashed photos and the minds of soon-to-retire employees. The Government caused and funded this collective effort. Several spin-off opportunities ensued with that agency.

Global Diplomacy

I had an amazing adventure on the “Condor”

by George W.

In 1992, the Antonov An-124 was the largest aircraft in the world. The Antonov is much larger version of our C-5A Galaxy (see in standing in front of the An-124 below). Twenty years ago, the Russians could not afford to operate the aircraft, and they leased to the British. Lockheed Martin rented it from them to carry the Automated Remote Tracking Station (ARTS) to the Republic of Seychelles, where we had one of seven tracking stations. We had to take the whole station down for upgrades, and the ARTS took over until the station was back online. We loaded this 53-foot trailer with the dish and the communication van, which was 53 feet as well, and a 30-foot motor home end-to-end inside the Antonov. The other side of the aircraft was filled with crates with more parts. Ken Youngquest and I ran the media department at the plant in Sunnyvale, California. The program manager who ran the ARTS program had us videotape all the loading of the ARTS into the aircraft. The An-124 landed at Moffet Naval Air Station at Sunnyvale. This where the P-3 Orion was stationed. It was the aircraft that chased submarines on the West Coast.

This Lockheed Martin adventure was legendary!

Photo Instrumentation Advanced the Science of Medicine

Lockheed’s space-age innovation helped disabled children

by John H.

In 1965, while working at Lockheed Santa Cruz Test Base, David Sutherland, M.D., from Shriner’s Hospital in San Francisco contacted Lockheed for assistance in a project that he had in mind. Upon learning about Dr. Sutherland’s request, I volunteered my time and efforts for this project, and contacted three of my follow workers to see if they would be interested in volunteering as well. My volunteer efforts eventually led my career to Shriner’s Hospital, San Francisco, to establish and direct the Gait Analysis Lab there. 

We were able to showcase how innovation transformed health care!

A Thousand Ways It Won't Work, One Way It Will

I loved the challenges of research and development

by Tony D.

I started my career at Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, in July 1960 as an assembler doing wiring, soldering and building parts for the space program. After about nine months, I became the lead man with 21 women and three men achieving zero defects. I was good at building RF cable assemblies and became interested in the RF field. I became a technician in the electromagnetic research test lab. I then moved on to research and development as an electromagnetic technician for eight years. 

In 1964, I worked on an antenna project that consisted of two teams, with one technician and one engineer per team. The first team got its antenna to work. The part I worked on with my team did not. After about eight months of trial and error, we were ready to scrap it after trying everything known to science. In our shop, we had a small metal brake that I used to bend the flairs on the antenna. The brake was too short to bend the full length that was needed, about eight inches too short. I had to splice pieces on for testing. I decided to leave off the extra pieces, centered it and ran a test. It worked perfectly! We completed the final product and went on to other projects. Three-and-a-half years later, the division manager told me it did its job and I received a commendation.

I've always loved mental challenges!

Sea Shadow

I worked on the Navy’s cutting-edge Cold War stealth ship

by Hal W.

Lockheed built ships too! In 1959, Lockheed bought Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company in Seattle and operated the shipyard and construction company for almost 30 years as Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Co. (LSCC). LSCC designed and built commercial ships and ferries, as well as warships and performed overhauls and repairs on various craft. I got the surprise of my professional life one day at LSCC when I was called to a secret briefing and learned that our shipyard was going to assist Lockheed's Redwood City facility in designing and building a ship that would be invisible to radar! Sponsored by the United States Navy and a government contract, a 162 foot, 560 ton version of the ship, named "Sea Shadow" was built and tested but, as far as I know, the program was ended and the Sea Shadow was recently sold by the Navy for scrap.

An Amazing Ship

A Lifetime of Aviation, from Propellers to Rockets

Dad was an aerospace pioneer

by Kent Y.

Ralph Youngberg liked to tell the story that when he finished his degree in aerospace from the University of Minnesota, he received a letter from Lockheed. It was a job offer. The pay was 10 cents an hour less than his instructor position. However, with the position in California he would not have to buy a winter coat!

Dad took the train to Union Station the next day. He hitchhiked to Burbank and started his career, which lasted from 1936 to 1980. He worked on projects ranging from P-38 armament to the Agena rocket.

Later in life, he told me stories of Kelly Johnson, Howard Hughes and Robert von Braun. The stories came out after his retirement in reference to the books I bought about Lockheed. Dad was a great guy, I miss him every day. 

Dad began his career in 1936!