{"id":28230669,"date":"2026-10-16T09:59:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=28230669"},"modified":"2026-10-16T09:59:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:59:55","slug":"lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hollywood Hid Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color .15s}\n.mfsh-trigger:hover,.mfsh-trigger:focus-visible{background:#0F1720;color:#fff;outline:none}\n.mfsh-trigger svg{width:18px;height:18px;display:block;flex-shrink:0}\n.mfsh-trigger.mfsh-bottom{margin:8px 0 28px}\n.mfsh-meta{position:relative;padding-right:190px}\n.mfsh-trigger.mfsh-inmeta{position:absolute;right:0;bottom:0;margin:0;height:30px;padding:0 8.9px;font-size:13px}\n.mfsh-trigger.mfsh-inmeta svg{width:16px;height:16px}\n.mfsh-overlay{position:fixed;inset:0;background:rgba(15,23,32,.55);z-index:99999;display:flex;align-items:flex-end;justify-content:center;opacity:0;pointer-events:none;transition:opacity .2s}\n.mfsh-overlay.mfsh-open{opacity:1;pointer-events:auto}\n.mfsh-sheet{width:100%;max-width:520px;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;padding:18px 20px 28px;transform:translateY(24px);transition:transform .22s;box-shadow:0 12px 32px rgba(15,23,32,.25);font-family:inherit;max-height:92vh;overflow:auto;-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch}\n.mfsh-overlay.mfsh-open .mfsh-sheet{transform:none}\n@media (min-width:640px){.mfsh-overlay{align-items:center}.mfsh-sheet{padding-bottom:20px}}\n.mfsh-head{display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between;margin:0 0 14px}\n.mfsh-head strong{font-size:18px;font-weight:800;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;line-height:1}\n.mfsh-head strong svg{width:18px;height:18px}\n.mfsh-close{background:none;border:0;padding:6px;margin:0;cursor:pointer;color:#0F1720;line-height:0;box-shadow:none}\n.mfsh-close svg{width:18px;height:18px}\n.mfsh-preview{display:grid;grid-template-columns:96px 1fr;gap:12px;border:1px solid #DCE3EE;background:#F5F7FB;padding:10px;margin:0 0 12px;align-items:center}\n.mfsh-preview img{width:96px;height:72px;object-fit:cover;display:block;margin:0}\n.mfsh-preview .mfsh-kicker{font-size:10px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.14em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;margin:0 0 4px;line-height:1.2}\n.mfsh-preview .mfsh-title{font-size:14px;line-height:1.3;font-weight:700;margin:0;display:block}\n.mfsh-list{display:grid;margin:0;padding:0}\n.mfsh-item{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:14px;height:50px;width:100%;border:0;border-top:1px solid #DCE3EE;background:none;padding:0 4px;margin:0;text-align:left;font-family:inherit;font-size:15px;font-weight:600;color:#0F1720;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;line-height:1}\n.mfsh-item:hover,.mfsh-item:focus-visible{background:#F5F7FB;outline:none}\n.mfsh-item svg{width:20px;height:20px;color:#5C91FF;flex-shrink:0;display:block}\n.mfsh-item small{margin-left:auto;color:#5B6674;font-weight:500;font-size:12px}\n.mfsh-item.mfsh-done svg{color:#1E9E5A}\n.mfsh-toast{position:fixed;left:50%;bottom:32px;transform:translate(-50%,10px);background:#0F1720;color:#fff;padding:10px 16px;font-weight:700;font-size:13px;font-family:inherit;opacity:0;pointer-events:none;transition:opacity .2s,transform .2s;z-index:100000}\n.mfsh-toast.mfsh-show{opacity:1;transform:translate(-50%,0)}\n@media (prefers-reduced-motion:reduce){.mfsh-overlay,.mfsh-sheet,.mfsh-toast,.mfsh-trigger{transition:none}}\n<\/style>\n<svg width=\"0\" height=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-share\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.9\" stroke-linecap=\"square\" d=\"M12 3v12M8 7l4-4 4 4M5 12v8h14v-8\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-close\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"square\" d=\"m5 5 14 14M19 5 5 19\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-wa\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M12 2a10 10 0 0 0-8.6 15.1L2 22l5.1-1.3A10 10 0 1 0 12 2Zm0 1.8a8.2 8.2 0 1 1-4.2 15.3l-.3-.2-3 .8.8-2.9-.2-.3A8.2 8.2 0 0 1 12 3.8Zm-3 4.4c-.2 0-.5 0-.8.4-.3.3-1 1-1 2.4s1 2.8 1.2 3c.1.2 2 3.2 5 4.4 2.5 1 3 .8 3.5.7.5 0 1.7-.7 2-1.4.2-.7.2-1.3.1-1.4l-.5-.3-2-1c-.3 0-.5-.1-.7.2l-.9 1.1c-.2.2-.3.2-.6.1-.3-.2-1.3-.5-2.4-1.5-.9-.8-1.5-1.8-1.7-2-.2-.4 0-.5.2-.7l.4-.5.3-.5v-.5l-.9-2.2c-.2-.5-.4-.5-.6-.5H9Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-x\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M17.8 3h3l-6.7 7.7L22 21h-6.2l-4.8-6.3L5.4 21h-3l7.2-8.2L2 3h6.3l4.4 5.8L17.8 3Zm-1.1 16.2h1.7L7.4 4.7H5.6l11.1 14.5Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-fb\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M13.5 22v-8h2.7l.4-3.2h-3.1V8.8c0-.9.3-1.6 1.6-1.6h1.7V4.4c-.3 0-1.3-.1-2.5-.1-2.5 0-4.1 1.5-4.1 4.2v2.3H7.4V14h2.8v8h3.3Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-li\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M6.5 8.5H3V21h3.5V8.5ZM4.8 3a2 2 0 1 0 0 4 2 2 0 0 0 0-4ZM21 13.4c0-3.4-1.8-5.2-4.5-5.2-1.6 0-2.7.8-3.2 1.7V8.5H9.9V21h3.4v-6.4c0-1.7.6-2.8 2.1-2.8 1.4 0 2 1 2 2.8V21H21v-7.6Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-rd\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M22 12.1a2.4 2.4 0 0 0-4.1-1.7 11.7 11.7 0 0 0-5.5-1.7l1-4.5 3.1.7a1.7 1.7 0 1 0 .2-1l-3.6-.8a.5.5 0 0 0-.6.4l-1.1 5.2a11.8 11.8 0 0 0-5.8 1.7A2.4 2.4 0 1 0 3 14.3v.5c0 3.4 4 6.2 9 6.2s9-2.8 9-6.2v-.5a2.4 2.4 0 0 0 1-2.2ZM7.5 13.8a1.7 1.7 0 1 1 3.4 0 1.7 1.7 0 0 1-3.4 0Zm8.9 4.5c-1.2 1.2-3.4 1.3-4.4 1.3s-3.3-.1-4.4-1.3a.5.5 0 0 1 .7-.7c.7.8 2.4 1 3.7 1s2.9-.2 3.7-1a.5.5 0 0 1 .7.7Zm-.6-2.8a1.7 1.7 0 1 1 0-3.4 1.7 1.7 0 0 1 0 3.4Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-tg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M21.9 4.6 18.7 19.9c-.2 1-.9 1.3-1.7.8l-4.9-3.6-2.3 2.3c-.3.3-.5.5-1 .5l.4-5 9-8.2c.4-.3-.1-.5-.6-.2L6.4 13.5 1.6 12c-1-.3-1.1-1 .2-1.5l18.8-7.2c.9-.3 1.6.2 1.3 1.3Z\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-mail\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.8\" d=\"M3 6h18v12H3z\"\/><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.8\" d=\"m3 7 9 6 9-6\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-link\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.9\" stroke-linecap=\"square\" d=\"M10 14a4 4 0 0 0 5.7 0l3-3a4 4 0 0 0-5.7-5.7l-1.5 1.5M14 10a4 4 0 0 0-5.7 0l-3 3a4 4 0 0 0 5.7 5.7l1.5-1.5\"\/><\/symbol>\n  <symbol id=\"mfsh-i-more\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><circle cx=\"5\" cy=\"12\" r=\"2\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><circle cx=\"12\" cy=\"12\" r=\"2\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><circle cx=\"19\" cy=\"12\" r=\"2\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/symbol>\n<\/svg>\n<span class=\"mfsh-top-slot\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger\" data-mfsh-placement=\"top\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button><\/span>\n<script>\n(function(){\n  if (window.__mfsh) return; window.__mfsh = true;\n  var SECTION = 'afterburner';\n  function meta(p){ var m=document.querySelector('meta[property=\"'+p+'\"]'); return m ? m.getAttribute('content') : ''; }\n  function pageUrl(){ var c=document.querySelector('link[rel=\"canonical\"]'); return (c && c.href) || (location.origin + location.pathname); }\n  function pageTitle(){ var h=document.querySelector('h1.entry-title'); return (h && h.textContent.trim()) || meta('og:title') || document.title; }\n  function slug(){ return location.pathname.replace(\/\\\/+$\/,'').split('\/').pop() || 'home'; }\n  function kicker(){ var c=document.querySelector('.et_pb_title_container a[rel=\"category tag\"], .et_pb_title_container a[rel=\"category\"], a[rel=\"category tag\"]'); return 'Afterburner' + (c && c.textContent.trim() ? ' \u00b7 ' + c.textContent.trim() : ''); }\n  function shareUrl(ch, placement){ return pageUrl() + '?utm_source=share&utm_medium=' + ch + '&utm_campaign=' + SECTION + '&utm_content=sheet_' + placement; }\n  function track(ch, placement, extra){\n    window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];\n    var ev = { event:'share', share_channel:ch, share_variant:'sheet', share_placement:placement, page_section:SECTION, content_id:slug() };\n    if (extra) for (var k in extra) ev[k]=extra[k];\n    window.dataLayer.push(ev);\n  }\n  var CH = [\n    ['whatsapp','WhatsApp','mfsh-i-wa',''],\n    ['x','X','mfsh-i-x',''],\n    ['facebook','Facebook','mfsh-i-fb',''],\n    ['linkedin','LinkedIn','mfsh-i-li',''],\n    ['reddit','Reddit','mfsh-i-rd','r\/aviation, r\/WarplanePorn'],\n    ['telegram','Telegram','mfsh-i-tg',''],\n    ['email','Email','mfsh-i-mail',''],\n    ['copy','Copy link','mfsh-i-link',''],\n    ['native','More','mfsh-i-more','Instagram, Signal, AirDrop']\n  ];\n  var overlay, toastEl, toastT, placement = 'top';\n  function build(){\n    overlay = document.createElement('div'); overlay.className = 'mfsh-overlay'; overlay.setAttribute('role','dialog'); overlay.setAttribute('aria-modal','true'); overlay.setAttribute('aria-label','Share');\n    var img = meta('og:image');\n    var items = CH.filter(function(c){ return c[0] !== 'native' || !!navigator.share; }).map(function(c){\n      return '<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-item\" data-mfsh-ch=\"'+c[0]+'\"><svg><use href=\"#'+c[2]+'\"\/><\/svg>'+c[1]+(c[3]?'<small>'+c[3]+'<\/small>':'')+'<\/button>';\n    }).join('');\n    overlay.innerHTML = '<div class=\"mfsh-sheet\"><div class=\"mfsh-head\"><strong><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share<\/strong><button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-close\" aria-label=\"Close\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-close\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>'\n      + '<div class=\"mfsh-preview\">' + (img ? '<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"'+img+'\" alt=\"\">' : '<span><\/span>') + '<div><div class=\"mfsh-kicker\">'+kicker()+'<\/div><span class=\"mfsh-title\">'+pageTitle()+'<\/span><\/div><\/div>'\n      + '<div class=\"mfsh-list\">'+items+'<\/div><\/div>';\n    document.body.appendChild(overlay);\n    toastEl = document.createElement('div'); toastEl.className = 'mfsh-toast'; document.body.appendChild(toastEl);\n    overlay.addEventListener('click', function(e){\n      if (e.target === overlay || e.target.closest('.mfsh-close')) { close(); return; }\n      var b = e.target.closest('.mfsh-item'); if (b) act(b.getAttribute('data-mfsh-ch'), b);\n    });\n    document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e){ if (e.key === 'Escape') close(); });\n  }\n  function open(p){ placement = p || 'top'; if (!overlay) build(); overlay.classList.add('mfsh-open'); track('open', placement); }\n  function close(){ if (overlay) overlay.classList.remove('mfsh-open'); }\n  function toast(m){ toastEl.textContent = m; toastEl.classList.add('mfsh-show'); clearTimeout(toastT); toastT = setTimeout(function(){ toastEl.classList.remove('mfsh-show'); }, 1600); }\n  function act(ch, btn){\n    var url = shareUrl(ch, placement), t = pageTitle(), enc = encodeURIComponent;\n    if (ch === 'copy') {\n      var done = function(){ toast('Link copied'); btn.classList.add('mfsh-done'); setTimeout(function(){ btn.classList.remove('mfsh-done'); close(); }, 900); };\n      track(ch, placement);\n      if (navigator.clipboard && navigator.clipboard.writeText) navigator.clipboard.writeText(url).then(done, done); else done();\n      return;\n    }\n    if (ch === 'native') {\n      track(ch, placement, { share_result:'opened' });\n      navigator.share({ title:t, text:t, url:url }).then(function(){ track('native', placement, { share_result:'completed' }); close(); }).catch(function(){});\n      return;\n    }\n    var target = {\n      whatsapp: 'https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?text=' + enc(t + ' ' + url),\n      x:        'https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=' + enc(t) + '&url=' + enc(url) + '&via=MiGFlug',\n      facebook: 'https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=' + enc(url),\n      linkedin: 'https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=' + enc(url),\n      reddit:   'https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=' + enc(url) + '&title=' + enc(t),\n      telegram: 'https:\/\/t.me\/share\/url?url=' + enc(url) + '&text=' + enc(t),\n      email:    'mailto:?subject=' + enc(t) + '&body=' + enc('Thought you would like this, from Afterburner, MiGFlug\\'s magazine:\\n' + t + '\\n' + url)\n    }[ch];\n    track(ch, placement);\n    if (target) { if (ch === 'email') location.href = target; else window.open(target, '_blank', 'noopener,width=680,height=560'); }\n    close();\n  }\n  var mq = window.matchMedia('(min-width:981px)');\n  function place(){\n    var t = document.querySelector('.mfsh-trigger[data-mfsh-placement=\"top\"]'), slot = document.querySelector('.mfsh-top-slot');\n    var meta = [].slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('.et_pb_title_meta_container, .et_post_meta_wrapper .post-meta, .single .post-meta')).filter(function(m){ return m.offsetParent !== null; })[0];\n    if (!t || !slot) return;\n    if (meta && mq.matches) { meta.classList.add('mfsh-meta'); t.classList.add('mfsh-inmeta'); if (t.parentNode !== meta) meta.appendChild(t); var a = meta.querySelector('a'); if (a) { var pr = document.createElement('span'); pr.style.cssText = 'display:inline-block;width:0;height:0;vertical-align:baseline'; a.appendChild(pr); var base = pr.getBoundingClientRect().bottom; pr.remove(); var fs = parseFloat(getComputedStyle(a).fontSize) || 14, mb = meta.getBoundingClientRect().bottom; t.style.bottom = Math.max(0, mb - (base + fs * 0.12)) + 'px'; } }\n    else { t.classList.remove('mfsh-inmeta'); if (t.parentNode !== slot) slot.appendChild(t); }\n  }\n  if (document.readyState === 'loading') document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', place); else place(); window.addEventListener('load', place); if (document.fonts && document.fonts.ready) document.fonts.ready.then(place); window.addEventListener('resize', place);\n  if (mq.addEventListener) mq.addEventListener('change', place); else mq.addListener(place);\n  document.addEventListener('click', function(e){ var b = e.target.closest('.mfsh-trigger'); if (b) { e.preventDefault(); open(b.getAttribute('data-mfsh-placement') || 'top'); } });\n})();\n<\/script><!-- \/mfsh:top -->\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In early 1942, a pilot flying over Burbank, California, would have seen rows of houses, trees, lawns and a few parked cars. Underneath, thousands of people were building warplanes. The suburb was made of canvas, netting, chicken wire and paint, and much of it was put together by people who normally built film sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A post doing the rounds on Instagram tells the story of how Lockheed&rsquo;s factory was made to disappear. It is essentially right, and the real story is even bigger: Lockheed was one of several West Coast plants hidden this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Plant:<\/strong> Lockheed, Burbank, California<\/li><li><strong>After:<\/strong> The attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941<\/li><li><strong>Led by:<\/strong> Army camouflage officer John F. Ohmer Jr.<\/li><li><strong>Helpers:<\/strong> Artists, set designers and painters from studios including Disney, Paramount and 20th Century Fox<\/li><li><strong>Materials:<\/strong> Canvas, netting, chicken wire, paint; chicken feathers for leaves<\/li><li><strong>Under the camouflage:<\/strong> Production of the P-38 Lightning, among others<\/li><li><strong>Other plants:<\/strong> Douglas (Santa Monica), Boeing Plant 2 (Seattle), Consolidated Vultee, North American, Northrop<\/li><li><strong>Removed:<\/strong> By the end of 1946<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Fear After Pearl Harbor<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 7 December 1941, the West Coast expected to be next. A Japanese submarine shelled an oil facility near Santa Barbara in February 1942, and the same month Los Angeles spent a night firing anti-aircraft guns at enemy aircraft that were never there. The aircraft plants of Southern California, building fighters and bombers for the war, looked like obvious targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army turned to John F. Ohmer Jr., a camouflage officer who had studied how the British concealed facilities during the Battle of Britain. According to Lockheed&rsquo;s own history, his earlier proposals had been turned down, but after Pearl Harbor he was given authority to use whatever means necessary to protect the Burbank plant.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Suburb Made of Canvas<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ohmer recruited artists, set designers and painters from Hollywood studios including Disney, Paramount and 20th Century Fox. They stretched chicken wire, netting and painted canvas over the main factory to form a canopy, then dressed it as a California suburb. Trees were made with chicken feathers spray-painted green and brown, to match healthy and dying foliage. Runways and parking lots were painted green to look like alfalfa fields. Burlap bungalows and clotheslines made the neighbourhood look lived in, and the illusion was kept up by moving things around, including laundry on the lines and, according to some accounts, inflatable rubber cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Underneath, the work never stopped. Workers moved through the site using underground walkways, and air ducts kept the covered buildings ventilated. Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank plant built aircraft such as the Hudson and the P-38 Lightning; nearly 10,000 P-38s were built during the war, almost all of them by Lockheed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The test of the illusion came from above. Lockheed says a War Department general was taken up on a reconnaissance flight at 5,000 feet and could not pick out the plant. All he could see was suburb after suburb.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Boeing&rsquo;s Even Bigger Wonderland<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lockheed was not alone. Douglas hid its Santa Monica plant under burlap stretched over chicken wire on about 400 poles, with help from Warner Bros. set designers; the result was reportedly so convincing that pilots landed at the wrong field. Consolidated Vultee, North American and Northrop plants were camouflaged too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most elaborate disguise was in Seattle. From May 1942 the Army Corps of Engineers covered Boeing&rsquo;s Plant 2, which built B-17s, with a fake neighbourhood designed by John Stewart Detlie, a former MGM art director and Academy Award nominee. It covered 26 acres of roof and included about 300 artificial trees, 53 houses, two dozen garages, a store and a gas station, laid out along streets with names such as Burlap Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Was It Ever Needed?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No Japanese bomber ever appeared over a West Coast city, and Japanese reconnaissance aircraft almost certainly never saw the fake villages. Boeing revealed its camouflage publicly in June 1945, the Corps of Engineers began dismantling the villages that July, and by the end of 1946 the last of the West Coast camouflage was gone. Whether it would have worked against a real attack is impossible to know. As an insurance policy, though, it was one of the strangest collaborations of the war: Hollywood stagecraft protecting the factories that built America&rsquo;s air power.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the Viral Post Gets Right<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The essentials are correct: after Pearl Harbor, the Army had Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank plant hidden under a fake neighbourhood built with help from Hollywood studio artists, with chicken-feather trees and clotheslines, while P-38s were built underneath, and Lockheed itself tells the story of the general who could not find the plant from 5,000 feet. Two details need care. The factory was not literally beneath a neighbourhood but under a camouflage canopy dressed to look like one, and Lockheed&rsquo;s history calls Ohmer a colonel, while other accounts say he was a major when the work began in 1942. And the claim that this could only happen in California is not quite right: Boeing did it on an even larger scale in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DeexLt_FPNC\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\"background:#fff;border:0;margin:24px auto;max-width:540px;min-width:280px;width:100%\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DeexLt_FPNC\/\">View this post on Instagram<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: Lockheed Martin, &ldquo;Lockheed During World War II: Operation Camouflage&rdquo;; Bill Yenne, &ldquo;Wonderland: The Fake Cities on America&rsquo;s West Coast&rdquo;, Warfare History Network (2018); Wikipedia, Boeing Plant 2 and Lockheed P-38 Lightning.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Did Lockheed hide its Burbank factory during World War II?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. After Pearl Harbor, the US Army had Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank plant camouflaged under a canopy of canvas, netting and chicken wire dressed as a suburban neighbourhood, with fake trees, houses and clotheslines. The work was led by camouflage officer John F. Ohmer Jr. with help from Hollywood studio artists.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who helped camouflage the Lockheed plant?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Army camouflage officer John F. Ohmer Jr. recruited artists, set designers and painters from Hollywood studios including Disney, Paramount and 20th Century Fox to disguise Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank plant as a residential suburb.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What were the fake trees over the Lockheed factory made of?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The fake trees used chicken feathers spray-painted green and brown to imitate healthy and dying leaves. Runways and parking lots were painted green to look like alfalfa fields, and burlap bungalows and clotheslines completed the suburban illusion.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did the Lockheed camouflage work?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">According to Lockheed, a War Department general taken up on a reconnaissance flight at 5,000 feet could not identify the plant and saw only suburbs. It was never tested in combat, because no Japanese bombers ever reached a West Coast city.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which other factories were camouflaged in WWII?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Douglas in Santa Monica, Boeing Plant 2 in Seattle, Consolidated Vultee, North American and Northrop plants were also camouflaged. Boeing&rsquo;s Plant 2 disguise covered 26 acres of roof with about 300 artificial trees, 53 houses, garages, a store and a gas station.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When was the West Coast factory camouflage removed?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Boeing publicly revealed its camouflage in June 1945, and in July 1945 the Army Corps of Engineers began contracting firms to dismantle the fake villages. All remaining West Coast factory camouflage had been removed by the end of 1946.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did Lockheed hide its Burbank factory during World War II?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. After Pearl Harbor, the US Army had Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant camouflaged under a canopy of canvas, netting and chicken wire dressed as a suburban neighbourhood, with fake trees, houses and clotheslines. The work was led by camouflage officer John F. Ohmer Jr. with help from Hollywood studio artists.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who helped camouflage the Lockheed plant?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Army camouflage officer John F. Ohmer Jr. recruited artists, set designers and painters from Hollywood studios including Disney, Paramount and 20th Century Fox to disguise Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant as a residential suburb.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What were the fake trees over the Lockheed factory made of?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The fake trees used chicken feathers spray-painted green and brown to imitate healthy and dying leaves. Runways and parking lots were painted green to look like alfalfa fields, and burlap bungalows and clotheslines completed the suburban illusion.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the Lockheed camouflage work?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"According to Lockheed, a War Department general taken up on a reconnaissance flight at 5,000 feet could not identify the plant and saw only suburbs. It was never tested in combat, because no Japanese bombers ever reached a West Coast city.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which other factories were camouflaged in WWII?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Douglas in Santa Monica, Boeing Plant 2 in Seattle, Consolidated Vultee, North American and Northrop plants were also camouflaged. Boeing\u2019s Plant 2 disguise covered 26 acres of roof with about 300 artificial trees, 53 houses, garages, a store and a gas station.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When was the West Coast factory camouflage removed?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Boeing publicly revealed its camouflage in June 1945, and in July 1945 the Army Corps of Engineers began contracting firms to dismantle the fake villages. All remaining West Coast factory camouflage had been removed by the end of 1946.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/glacier-girl-p-38-greenland-ice\/\">Glacier Girl: The Lightning That Slept Under the Ice<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-electra-10e-amelia-earhart-plane-history\/\">Lockheed Electra 10E: The Airliner Amelia Earhart Vanished In<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Pearl Harbor, the Army called in Hollywood to make Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank plant vanish from the air. Canvas houses, feather trees and laundry on the line covered a factory building P-38s, and Boeing built an even bigger fake town over its Seattle plant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":28230455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28230669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"860\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"668\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\"},\"headline\":\"How Hollywood Hid Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1198,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg\",\"width\":860,\"height\":668,\"caption\":\"Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters on mechanized conveyor production lines during World War II\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Hollywood Hid Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\",\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\"},\"description\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy covers French and European aerospace, from Rafale and Airbus to NATO strategy and the continent\u2019s defence industry.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/author\\\/fortuneleroy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug","description":"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug","og_description":"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":860,"height":668,"url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/"},"author":{"name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3"},"headline":"How Hollywood Hid Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb","datePublished":"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/"},"wordCount":1198,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/","name":"Lockheed Burbank Camouflage: The Fake Suburb of WWII | MiGFlug","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-16T07:59:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-16T07:59:55+00:00","description":"After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood set designers hid Lockheed\u2019s Burbank plant under a canvas suburb with feather trees and fake laundry. How it worked, and Boeing\u2019s even bigger Wonderland.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/lockheed-p-38-lightning-conveyor-production-line-burbank.jpg","width":860,"height":668,"caption":"Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters on mechanized conveyor production lines during World War II"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-burbank-factory-camouflage-fake-suburb-ww2-hollywood\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Hollywood Hid Lockheed&rsquo;s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3","name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy"},"description":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy covers French and European aerospace, from Rafale and Airbus to NATO strategy and the continent\u2019s defence industry.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/author\/fortuneleroy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28230669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28230669"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28230669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28231152,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28230669\/revisions\/28231152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28230455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28230669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28230669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28230669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}