Lockheed plant (before)
Above and below Various US government views of a WWII aircraft factory, concealed from aerial view by suspended imitations of suburban neighborhoods.
Lockheed plant (after)
•••
Susan Elia MacNeal, THE HOLLYWOOD SPY: A Maggie Hope Mystery. New York: Bantam, 2021.
They passed through tall, imposing gates to a security checkpoint, and John showed his identification. "Yes, Flight Commander Sterling," one of the guards said, a lean man with a bulbous nose. "Mr. Hughes told us you'd be here this afternoon—and bringing a guest." He waved them through.
As they walked into the giant wooden hangar, Maggie looked around. Men in coveralls, and even one woman—her hair tied up in a Rosie the Riveter bandanna—were working on the planes. The air smelled faintly of oil and jet fuel. "Impressive," she said, voice lost in the cavernous space.
"Takeoffs to the west have to be coordinated with the Los Angeles International Airport," John said.
Warplanes going to the Pacific, Maggie realized. "Where are the factories?"
"Close by, but hidden. The defense companies worked with set designers to camouflage the plants—they've even gone so far as to put fake grass and wooden cows on the roofs.”
"That's very...Hollywood."
above and below ground views
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus
