CULVER CITY : Factory Where Hughes Built Spruce Goose Closes Down

The 51-year-old factory where Howard Hughes built the giant Spruce Goose seaplane closed Thursday, a victim of aerospace work shifted to Arizona.

McDonnell Douglas Corp. had built helicopter parts in Building 15 since buying Hughes Aircraft Co.’s helicopter line in 1984. The work had been shifted gradually to McDonnell’s main helicopter site in Mesa, Ariz.

Only about 50 workers remained for the last shift in Culver City.

Building 15 was where Hughes built the HK-1 Hercules Flying Boat, the Spruce Goose. At 218 feet long and 79 feet high, it is among the largest planes ever built. Hughes piloted the Spruce Goose on its first and only flight over Los Angeles Harbor in 1947. The plane later was displayed in adjacent Long Beach, then was moved to Oregon last year.

Two dozen other structures are at the 260-acre site, a few still leased by Hughes Aircraft and McDonnell but most sit empty.

McDonnell Douglas will keep a few employees at the site until its lease runs out at the end of the year, said Ken Jensen, a spokesman for the helicopter operations in Mesa.