Towering above Edwards AFB
New control tower allows for greater visibility
PALMDALE — Controllers have a new birds-eye view of the Air Force Plant 42 airfield, thanks to the opening of a new, 160-foot-tall control tower.
It replaces one in use, since 1958, and is not only higher, but also in a better location to provide visibility over the entire airfield. It also meets seismic standards and can withstand higher wind loads than the old tower.
Its construction will help improve and ensure the continued importance of the site to aerospace development into the future, officials said, Wednesday morning, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“You are actually standing at the center of the aerospace testing universe,” Brig. Gen. Matthew Higer, Edwards Air Force Base commander, said, citing the partnerships — military, industry and civil — in the area that have created and will continue to create unprecedented advancements in aerospace.
Referring to the upcoming rollout of the B-21 bomber at Northrop Grumman’s site at Plant 42, on Friday, “That is the latest in a very long line of things that have happened because of this installation, and the capabilities here, including the people that live in the area and have the privilege of serving here,” he said.
Plant 42 is a government-owned, contractor-operated installation that is home to all three of the major aerospace contractors: Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It also serves
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control center.
“In the history of aviation, Kitty Hawk is interesting, but insignificant,” Plant 42 Director David Smith said. “What is significant is Southern California; if you look at where aviation really grew and manifested in this great nation, it’s Southern California. And we are not a small part of that journey, here at Plant 42.”
He said that more Collier Trophy (known as the aerospace industry’s Oscar) winners came from Plant 42 “than any place else on the Earth” and that it was cited most frequently at a recent conference by senior Air Force officials.
Lorraine Sadler, who served as secretary to numerous Plant 42 commanders over a 42-year career, before retiring in 1999, was on hand for the dedication, just as she was for the former tower.
She recalled that the new tower is actually the third built on the airfield. The first was a wooden structure with an outdoor staircase that had to be evacuated in high wind, she said.
Construction of the $17.8 million tower project was years in the making, with the several partners overcoming special challenges posed by the COVIC-19 pandemic, including the attendant material shortages, supply chain issues and inflation, Jacqueline Janning-Lask, director of Engineering and Technical Management and chief engineer for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, said.
“The project was completed with minimal cost and schedule delays,” she said.
Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer recalled speaking with the late state Sen. Pete Knight about the need for a new tower at Plant 42, then later lobbying for it in Washington with his son, Rep. Steve Knight.
“This is very cool to see this,” Hofbauer said.
Several officials alluded to the many partnerships that come together at Plant 42, of which construction of the new tower was one, involving the Air Force, US Army Corps of Engineers, contractors and others.
“We have a group here that can really appreciate the significance of what this new tower means to the longevity of this particular Plant and just the community at large,” Justin Gay, deputy district engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, said.
The Corps of Engineers handled the tower design and construction management.