James Laird - Adventures on a Bike at Lark Ellen Home for Boys- Page 2

The Clover Field airport was not too far from the boys home and some of us would walk over to prowl around the airport looking at the planes and what was happening in the big buildings. Looking at a map today you see the airport has been renamed the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. One of the big attractions for us was the airplane used in a favorite radio show, was kept there. "Jimmy Allen and the Monsoon Eight Hundred" was the show. We did not see much of the Monsoon Eight Hundred but it was fun looking.

McDonnell Douglas started building his first big planes there, and the hanger doors were usually open so you could watch them working on the airplane. What made it unusual was the size and the fact it was made of Aluminum and the only other plane we saw made of metal was a Ryan ST which was one of the most beautiful planes you would ever see with its low wing, open cockpit and wheels in streamline covers. We thought the big Douglas plane was a new design military bomber under construction. After a good look around, we would go lie on the bank at the end of the airport and watch the planes take off and land just over our heads.

The Ryan was the prettiest and the Beachcraft the most unusual with its odd two wing configuration and modern landing gear that folded up into the fuselage. With its landing gear down when landing and taking off there were two big holes showing in the bottom when it passed overhead. A golf course was next to the end of the airport and sometimes we would wander over there to look for lost balls. We usually did not get to stay there very long before someone chased us off. Every month or two we would have a special guests visit the Boys Home. This happened mostly on a Saturday or Sunday and we would all dress in our best clothes and meet them in the big living room.