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51-597: United States Air Force Plant 42 ( IATA : PMD , ICAO : KPMD , FAA LID : PMD ) is a classified aircraft manufacturing plant owned by the United States Air Force in the Antelope Valley, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from downtown Los Angeles . It is also used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ). Plant 42 shares a runway with Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD). Plant 42

102-671: A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft . About 250 major subcontractors supplied various systems and components to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The structures of the orbiter were manufactured at various companies under contract to Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. The upper and lower forward fuselage, crew compartment, forward reaction control system and aft fuselage were manufactured at Rockwell's Space Transportation Systems Division facility in Downey and were transported overland from Downey to Rockwell's Palmdale, California, assembly facility. The midfuselage

153-493: A few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

204-605: A five-year contract for architect and engineering services at Plant 42. Current known projects include design, engineering, pre-production, production, modification, flight testing, servicing and repair mission related activities to the following: Two museums are located adjacent to Plant 42: the Blackbird Airpark Museum and the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark . The Blackbird Airpark Museum displays 4 Cold War -era reconnaissance aircraft which were developed by

255-483: A network of emergency landing fields. It provided a pilot in distress with a better alternative than landing on a public road or a farmer's field. In 1940, Palmdale Army Airfield was activated as a United States Army Air Corps (later Air Forces) airfield for use as an emergency landing strip and for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber support training during World War II . It was one of many intermediate fields that were used as auxiliary fields or emergency landing fields by

306-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

357-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

408-574: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

459-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

510-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

561-510: Is now operated by the Department of Defense , with 412th Test Wing /Operating Location, Air Force Test Center in command. Plant 42 controls more than 5,800 acres (23 km) of Mojave Desert land north of Avenue P and south of Columbia Way (Avenue M). The western border is Sierra Highway, and the plant extends east to around 40th Street East, south of Avenue N to Avenue P, and 50th Street East north of Avenue N to Columbia Way (Avenue M). It

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612-464: Is owned by the United States Air Force and operated as a component of Edwards Air Force Base , which is 23 mi (37 km) northeast. Most of its facilities are operated by private contractors to build and maintain military aircraft and their components for the United States and its allies. Plant 42 has 3,200,000 square feet (300,000 m) of industrial space and a replacement value of $ 1.1 billion. Some of its facilities build aircraft, including

663-516: Is the Antelope Valley's second-largest employer. Northrop Grumman's B-2 final assembly and modification facility is at Palmdale. In February 1999, Department of Defense officials said that depot support for the B-2 would be provided by commercial and military sources. For example, the engines are to be maintained by the Air Force, software support is to be provided by commercial sources, and airframe maintenance

714-476: Is to be provided by Northrop Grumman at Palmdale. Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility is where all the individual parts, pieces, and systems of the Space Shuttle came together and were assembled and tested. Upon completion, the spacecraft was turned over to NASA for truck transport to Edwards AFB. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base was where the spacecraft was loaded and unloaded on

765-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

816-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

867-470: The Korean War in 1950 caused the Air Force to reactivate the property for use in final assembly and flight testing of military jet aircraft. Both the Air Force and its aircraft contractors needed a location away from major population centers - due to sonic booms , other noises and security concerns - but close enough to the major centers of aircraft design and production, while having excellent flying weather

918-786: The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and other unmanned aircraft . Others maintain and modify aircraft such as the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber. Still others make spare parts. Aerospace contractors at Air Force Plant 42 share a runway complex, and either lease building space from the Air Force (an arrangement commonly referred to as a "GOCO", or Government Owned Contractor Operated) or own their own buildings outright (e.g., Lockheed Martin Skunk Works ). There are eight production sites specially suited for advanced technology and/or "black" programs . Currently,

969-673: The Palmdale Plant 42 Heritage Airpark is an aviation museum and airpark located in Palmdale, California with various United States military aircraft on display. The park is located adjacent to the United States Air Force Plant 42 and the Blackbird Airpark Museum . All of the aircraft on display were donated or loaned to the city of Palmdale, which owns and operates the park. The Palmdale Plant 42 Heritage Airpark

1020-471: The list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and the use of two letters allowed only

1071-448: The AAF during World War II. Their dispersion along the air routes, their infrequent use, and their U.S. government ownership made them ideal for use by military aircraft. It acted as a sub-base for Muroc Army Airfield and Hammer Army Airfield . Palmdale Army Airfield was declared a surplus facility in 1946 and was purchased by Los Angeles County for use as a municipal airport. The outbreak of

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1122-719: The Air Force at this time, established its permanent presence at Plant 42. It signed a lease in 1956 for 237 acres to use Palmdale Airport for final assembly and flight testing. Lockheed's famed "Skunk Works" (a corporate division tasked with clandestine development of black projects ), which developed such aircraft as the U-2 , SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 Nighthawk , is at Site 10 of the complex (actually private property with secure access to Plant 42's airfield), near Sierra Highway. It relocated to Plant 42 from its original Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (now Bob Hope Airport ) site in Burbank after

1173-511: The IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn , is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as

1224-613: The Kennedy Space Center. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration had been paying the Air Force for use of Plant 42 facilities for the shuttle work. NASA decided in February 2002 to shift space shuttle overhaul and modification work from Palmdale to Florida. On August 7, 2020, J G Contracting of Nipomo, California, received a contract for maintenance, repair, and construction at U.S. Air Force facilities at Plant 42. On August 31, 2021, KAL Architects of Irvine, California, received

1275-688: The Lockheed Corporation, while the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark displays 22 aircraft from multiple manufacturers which were designed, built, and flown at Plant 42. The origins of Plant 42 go to the early 1930s, when a small airstrip was built in the desert. It was listed in 1935 documentation as CAA Intermediate #5 . It was established by the Bureau of Air Commerce (later the Civil Aeronautics Administration ) who maintained

1326-764: The U-2/TR-1 and support the SR-71. Northrop produced the F-5E , and Rockwell supported the B-1B Lancer . Past projects included: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in

1377-513: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Joe Davies Heritage Airpark The Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant 42 , formerly known as

1428-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

1479-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

1530-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

1581-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

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1632-541: The end of the Cold War . Its present hangar was constructed in 1968 and the outer walls of the structure were put up in a matter of days. Its hangar originally was built for the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar passenger jet project. Since then, the plant has supported facilities for the production, engineering, final assembly and flight testing of high performance aircraft. During the 1980s it was used by Lockheed to produce

1683-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

1734-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

1785-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

1836-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

1887-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

1938-632: The major airframe manufacturing industry in southern California. The concept for Air Force Plant 42 originated in the challenge of flight testing high performance jet aircraft over heavily populated areas. Following approval of the Master Plan in 1953, the Palmdale Airport officially became Air Force Plant 42; ownership of the installation was transferred to the Federal Government in 1954. With USAF encouragement, Lockheed, looked upon with favor by

1989-544: The most well-known contractors at Plant 42 are Boeing , Lockheed Martin , and Northrop Grumman . Previously, the facilities were operated by IT&T ; McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft ; Lockheed California; Norair , a division of Northrop ; and Lockheed Air Terminal . Plant 42 is a GOCO, contractually operated for the Air Force since 1954. But under the Obama administration, the Air Force chose to take over some plant operations that had long been performed by contractors. The airfield

2040-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

2091-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

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2142-431: The park is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Most of its employees are volunteers. The aviation museum has a total of 21 retired military aircraft and a 1:8 scale model on display. The first aircraft to be put on display at the park was a North American F-100 Super Sabre ( Bureau number : 54–2299). On September 12, 2014, one of the two Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ( Tail number : N911NA)

2193-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

2244-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

2295-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

2346-399: The year around. The land which became Plant 42 fit these criteria. Consequently, the Air Force agreed to purchase the land from Los Angeles County in 1951. The Air Force awarded a contract to Lockheed Aircraft to develop the master plan for the site. The plan was to construct a facility that would meet the requirements of full war mobilization and augment the industrial production potential of

2397-519: Was established on October 20, 1998, by the city of Palmdale and the United States Air Force on land donated to the city of Palmdale by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics . The park is located at 2001 East Avenue P. It is adjacent to United States Air Force Plant 42 to the north and the Blackbird Airpark Museum to the east. The aviation museum was established commemorate the various aircraft which were designed, built, and flown at Plant 42. In 2008, park

2448-416: Was manufactured at Rockwell International's Columbus, Ohio, facility and transported overland to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The aft orbital maneuvering system/reaction control system pods were manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, St. Louis, Missouri, and transported by aircraft to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. They were also transported by aircraft from Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility to

2499-857: Was manufactured by General Dynamics, San Diego, California, and transported overland to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The wings (including elevons) were manufactured by Grumman, Bethpage, Long Island, New York, and transported by ship from New York via the Panama Canal to Long Beach, California, and then transported overland to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The vertical tail (including rudder/speed brake) were manufactured by Fairchild Republic in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, and transported overland to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The payload bay doors were manufactured at Rockwell International's Tulsa, Oklahoma, facility and transported overland to Rockwell's Palmdale assembly facility. The body flap

2550-587: Was put on display at the park as a part of a long-term loan from NASA to the city of Palmdale. According to the city of Palmdale, the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark could display a Boeing 767 , a Convair F-102 Delta Dagger , a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk , a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor , a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II , a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit , and a Rockwell-MBB X-31 in the future. The park plans to have over 40 aircraft on display. In addition to

2601-489: Was renamed to the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant 42 to honor Joe Davies, a resident of Palmdale who served as the commander of Plant 42 from 1963 to 1967 and later served three terms on the Palmdale city council from 1988 to 1996. A memorial plaque was installed at the park in 2021. The park has a program called "Adopt-a-Plane" which cleans aircraft on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Admission and parking are free, and

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