Southern California: Aerospace Capital of the World (Los Angeles, Long Beach: transfer to, high school)

[DewDropInn]

I asked my brother about the "why do they launch from Florida?" part of this. We grew up in Orange County, CA when every dad on the block worked for either the space program or Disneyland. He immediately said what I had been thinking...

We were told the launches were from Florida because there is that great big ocean next to it. In the early days of our space program there were a lot of failures. It was nice to have all that water for the rocket to fall into if it failed to reach orbit. Also as pieces of the rocket separated during the launching process they, too, could fall into the ocean.

Here's something I was told that he doesn't remember at all: That we had our Mercury, Gemin and, Apollo astronauts land in the ocean for pick-up because manned flight started under Kennedy and he was a Navy veteran. There would be wonderful pictures of Navy ships steaming to our boys to dip them up out of the water. (Remember that Russia was landing their Cosmonauts on land.) Have no idea where I got that from.

[FLIGHTSIMMER]

Not any more most aerospace jobs are gone never to return, between high taxes and the ever tighter EPA regulations it is amazing anyone does business here any more.

[Charles]

"The five latest contracts were given to Aerojet in Sacramento; Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., which has production facilities in Canoga Park; Northrop Grumman Corp., which has a space manufacturing center in Redondo Beach;"

from

NASA awards propulsion system contracts to five firms - latimes.com

[FLIGHTSIMMER]

A drop in the bucket compared to what it once was.

[drunk on kool aid]

While surfing, I came across "Windsor Math/Science/Aerospace Magnet," a K-5 LAUSD school located in Windsor Hills, the affluent, majority-black district in L.A.

I can't seem to find much information about the school but is there really a demand for elementary schools with emphasis on aerospace? A lot of aerospace engineer parents living in the area? I'd never heard of such a magnet but I would have imagined that if such a beast existed, that it would be a middle or high school? Anyway, I thought it was interesting in the context of this SoCal aerospace thread.

[Bruin5]

Unfortunately, I just read about Boeing cutting 800 jobs in Long Beach. 550 of the jobs are moving to Oklahoma City. Really a sad day for Southern California.

[FLIGHTSIMMER]

I hate to say it but California is no longer a great place to live and is really in a downward sprial, if I could sell my house and move I would, it is just getting worse here, taxes keep going up as politicians have destroyed the budget for the next 20 years, debts we will never pay off, business are leaving, it is a terrible shame what has happened to this state and it won't get better any time soon.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by Bruin5

Unfortunately, I just read about Boeing cutting 800 jobs in Long Beach. 550 of the jobs are moving to Oklahoma City. Really a sad day for Southern California.

150 or so more in Irvine as well, from a fairly recent acquisition.

[FLIGHTSIMMER]

It is estimated that by 2012 that most if not all the parks and librarys will have to close. I can't believe the mass carnage I am seeing in this state, it seems that all in power are just out for them selves, look at the city of Bell, the city council criminals were robbing the people blind with the bloated salaries the worked out for them selves. I wish I could make 800K a year for a part time job.

[Charles]

"The [unmanned aircraft, drone] industry is centered in Southern California, a testament to the region's rich aerospace history and the skilled workforce that arose with it."

from

Drones create a buzz in Southern California aerospace industry - latimes.com