I just signed up so I could contribute to this bitchin thread. The Santa Ana Drag Strip was on a ramp (airplane parking lot) not a runway. There was only one runway and it was runway 21/3. I bought the view from Historic Aerials just to show you. See the ramp which angles toward the runway? That is it. The street at the starting line end was Paularino. You can pull the starting line coordinates off Historic Aerials and see where it would be located today. Or look at the map overlay I presented below somewhere. The airport has been moved around quite a bit and I will try and show you.
Here is a shot from LIFE 4-29-57. That's the issue with Norm Grabowski at Bob's Big Boy. It shows the circle with a small airplane weathervane in the center at the left almost out of the picture.
The original Eddie Martin Airport was at Newport and South main. (Magenta outline). It was moved to the location shaded in yellow which is where it was when Santa Ana Dragstrip existed. You can see how South Main was truncated and merged into MacArthur. If you look below the airport you will see a circle at the intersection of Orchard and Klien marked "BT". at one time I recovered a Vultee BT-13 from a back yard there. The owner used to taxi the plane from the airport to his back yard where he kept it. Anybody know about the light tube shown in the very old map in the top left?
Here is a great video. at 1.05 minutes, under the mistaken heading of "Burbank Airport" the car is turning off of South Main onto Acacia along the back side of Santa Ana Airport. You can see the Tustin Blimp Hangars in the distance and nothing else except bean fields.
one more post, here is the WWII view of AT-6's parked on the future dragstrip. Same rotating beacon as shown in the video on my previous posts. The rotating beacon tower is a vintage tower removed from the beacon airway, an early navigation aid. I hope you guys enjoy this-it took a while to pull it all together. VBW, Dan MacPherson
I work a stones throw away from there and the only interesting thing is the plane museum now......and the bombers/war planes flying over the shop. Here's a pic from work of John Wayne Airport from what I believe is the 60's (judging by the cars). The noise is a contant issues with the Newport crowd, they're always trying to shut down the airport. The planes land coming over Old Town Tustin.....but they don't complain as much. Ahhhh, to have lived around here when it was that spacious. I collect old street scene post cards and old images (60's and older), the ones that really kill me are the areas I know........totally born in the wrong era.
Hey F, As steep as that initial climb is, it is very thrilling. Most days, they take off in that pattern. Those houses and structures in the Newport/Santa Ana Heights are right below, but the level of elevation from those jets aren't as bad as it seems. Noise from any jets are bad, as most adapt because of where they live and the coast. But, the thrill of the angle and sound is pretty much an adventure for us So Cal residents. We have noticed that most flights to cities in the Midwest and East are NOT non-stop. If you want to go to Mexico for a vacation, you might end up in Houston, first for an hour or so layover. So, for us, the drive to LAX for non stop flights anywhere is preferable. We certainly don't want the city or county to be political enough to blast away houses from the airport to the ocean like it is in Playa Del Rey in Los Angeles. Those homes were not up to Newport Coast standards, but they were homes. Now, it is a barren war zone look for the blocks that are still there. One can see them as you drive down the coast either way to and from Marina Del Rey to the South Bay beaches. Jnaki The interesting thing is, when the wind switches to offshore, the incoming planes do the ocean to inland route on takeoff. But, most of the time, planes from the northern coastlines follow the water's edge until the Santa Ana River. Then they blast up the river to somewhere around North Tustin for a sweeping turn (very steep) to get lined up to land at the OC Airport. If you liked the steep take off, the steep turn is almost in the same range of effects. For some, it is sickening, too. We old guys still call it the OC Airport, not John Wayne. By the way, there is a political move to rename the airport back to its original name... It might be to save up on all of the baggage tags that still have the old name on them. (Or other political/social/moral reasons.) It is a nice place to visit, but we would not want to live under that steep flight path often called the Disneyland E ticket ride. For you young folks, Google is your friend. As far as the drags are concerned, thanks to the early hot rod guys/girls for their contribution to the events and fascination. Without those early racers/builders, we would have missed out on plenty of innovations from back then. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...d-drag-racing-was-born.1198656/#post-13664914
Thank you Dan MacPherson for the research and sharing yourwork with us. Grew up in Orange County but was too late for the airport. Damn near lived at OCIR, Lions or Irwindale once I reached the age of mobility
Thanks Dan. From the location of Paulerino going thru the where SNA is now you can easily see where the drag strip was next to the where the second airport existed. Closest I ever came in 53 was going down to the BoyScout/Cub Scout Jamboree which was located off what is Jamboree Rd in Irvine As for being on the ramp; I remember being out on the ramp at Hawthorne Muni many times which was on the 120th street side adjacent to the runway. There was a taxiway to the Crenshaw end on the other side but all that was Jack Northrops and very very few private planes were on that side other than Dr. Mudds old converted cargo plane from WWII. We crossed the runway at the gas dock or up at the Prairie end and taxied down Jacks side for take offs and moved over to the 120th side ramp after landing.
After Jimmy B posted this, I realized it was likely filmed in 1953. Note the lack of helmets on both drivers and riders, and not even leathers on the riders! The safety mind set was still in the future. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1954-so-cal-drag-race-sports-car-racing-footage.1204518/
"...Closest I ever came in 55 was going down to the BoyScout/Cub Scout Jamboree which was located off what is Jamboree Rd in Irvine." Hello, What a small world. That location (Newport Fashion Island-Newport Center) is about 5-6 miles away from the old Santa Ana Drags location. Back then, anyone standing on that big hill at the Newport Center could probably see the whole Saddleback Valley and the mountain range. It was all farming, Orange tree groves, and cattle ranching back then. No smog, so the view towards the Santa Ana Drags location would be easy to spot. Jnaki Here is a little history on the only Westcoast Jamboree for the Boy Scouts and little pre-scouts on that giant hill overlooking the ocean and in the 360 degree views everywhere. It was a great place to be back then. 1953 Friends, Tommy and Ronnie, part of the Westside Long Beach troop. Hello, In talking about family camping, our family was not high on outdoor camping in tents. But, my brother and I learned all of the techniques for camping in tents from an early age of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. This was one of those early times in 1953 Newport Beach. It was the first time event on the West Coast of the USA. The event was called the 1953 BOY SCOUT NATIONAL JAMBOREE and the 1st West Coast Jamboree. It was held between the Upper Newport Bay, Jamboree Road on the West and MacArthur Blvd on the Eastern side. The center was at the high on a hill, just inland from the Pacific Coast Highway. The current Fashion Island Shopping Complex and myriad of giant office buildings, various homes, a car dealer, gas stations and a high school, now make up the old “high on a hill” campgrounds that was the event in 1953. A similar 4 door Buick sedan Our family’s 1953 big, 4 door Buick had to park in a designated parking area and my parents had to walk into the compound to visit us in our country-side camping area. We had just moved into our last Long Beach house and my dad loved driving his big Buick 4 door sedan. So, a 60 mile coastal, round trip to the little makeshift city on a big hill was a road trip for them. The early Orange County-Los Angeles area view from the top of the hill was amazing. 360 degrees in all directions, with the gleaming, Pacific Ocean to the West. It was dirt and scrub trees as far as we could see. The massive housing came many years later when the building boom hit the Westcoast. Jnaki Today, the area is unrecognizable with the growth in 66 years. It was a planned compound, leveled on the top of the high hill. It was a functioning mini city. In the years that have passed, we have all driven on the Orange County road called Jamboree Road. This road starts at the big Irvine Lake complex and runs all through South Central OC (near the Tustin Air Base Historic Hangars) to the Pacific Coast Highway ending in Newport Beach. The official end is at Pacific Coast Highway, but the road continues to become Marine Avenue that runs through the little community of Balboa and eventually, dead ends into the Balboa Bay. That Jamboree Road commemorates (for us) the big time event in 1953 that took place on the top of the highest hill called Fashion Island or Newport Center, these days. The flat top location high on a hill has been graded to have safe earthquake standards for the shopping center and the numerous multi-story high rise office buildings. https://www.ochistoryland.com/jamboree
Hahaha, NOT the Guess Who! That's the original, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, recorded in 1960, and only charted in the UK. The Guess Who recorded it in 1964.
Hey J, never tried to imply that the Newport Beach houses should be razed, like at LAX. Rather, the departure procedures should be normal, instead of marginally unsafe, and let the residents below deal with the sound. The airport was there first.
Hello, First came the people who bought up most of the valuable area property, James Irvine and the McFadden families. Irvine was responsible for most of the land in and around the whole OC area. These days, the city of Irvine is part of that original land ownership. 1923, Eddie Martin of Martin Aviation signed a lease with James Irvine for some property. The small Eddie Martin Airport is adjacent to the current property way back then. By the time the airport was just starting, development of the Newport Bay and housing was already in place, including the coastline and peninsula regions. Jnaki So, the land was there first, including the indigenous Indians, the Spanish Government and their explorers. A whole line up of developments with the missions. The early OC was part of the Mexico territories. Then the wealthy families started buying much of the whole area, including James Irvine. The whole Southern California area is rich in history with the Spanish Culture and then from the Mexican Heritage. Hence, the abundance of Hispanic names all over the county and even into the Los Angeles areas. We learned most of this stuff in our local school systems in So Cal. Then added more information on cultures and geographic development in further educational research. So, the culture and people were first...the airport not so, until the early 20s. Especially, no jets until much later...
Another memory of living on Ryan's map in the 1960's: We lived across the street from Dan Quesenberry and his family. Dan and his brother Marty were very athletic and the fun we all had during the evenings with all the "Kids" on the block! We were all very happy when Dan made it to Major League Baseball with the Kansas City Royals in 1979 as a very good Relief Pitcher. Thanks for the memories Dan!
quote: "Here is a little history on the only Westcoast Jamboree for the Boy Scouts and little pre-scouts on that giant hill overlooking the ocean and in the 360 degree views everywhere. It was a great place to be back then" I wonder if anyone is old enough to remember what my records show is "Palisades" auxiliary airport? it was off Backbay Drive East of Newport Bay. It predated El Toro but was an auxiliary field for El Toro for a while.
I like to tell my relatives who fly in from the mid west or the east coast that the pilots will shut the engines down completely on take off for the noise abatement. I always tell them to come into John Wayne or Ontario. The looks on their faces crack me up.
Another problem for those living under the departure route of the planes was big drops of oil/hydraulic fluid on your property that continued into the late '80s.
Hello, I am not old enough to remember that small Palisades Airport, as I was not born yet. But, a little research provided more history about all of the old airfields and So Cal history from back in those early days. Los Alamitos Airfield is currently a shell of itself from history. But, at least it is still somewhat there. It is on Katella and that turns into Willow St. that runs near our old Westside of Long Beach house. That Willow St. was one way to get to our friend’s houses in the OC and Disneyland. But, during the hot rod days, it was another route within our cruising days to get to our semi secret dragstrip a few miles south, near Seal Beach. Other friends lived in Rossmoor close to the Westminster Blvd. secluded area. It was well known to the locals, but our group many miles away, stumbled on that lonely stretch of road for full acceleration runs on that dark street. The small Palisades Airport was U.S. Navy run and part of the Los Alamitos Airfield group. It was an auxiliary of that original So Cal military complex. Jnaki This small airport, according to the map information would have been built somewhere near Corona Del Mar High School, Eastbluff, and the Big Canyon area. Back then, the Newport Back Bay area was relatively uninhabited and empty. Eddie Martin Airfield + The Santa Ana Dragstrip, would have been about 4-5 miles Northwest in distance away. The odd thing was/is the El Toro Airfield was about 12 miles away, while the Los Alamitos Airfield was almost 22 miles away. I guess auxiliary mean anything...
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