Simply put, during World War II, Army Corps of Engineers looked for a clever way to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant. This was required to protect the location from being a target for a Japanese air attack. So, they decided to cover everything with camouflage netting and also erected fake buildings, making the entire complex look like a rural subdivision from the air. Continue reading for more pictures and information.
In the early weeks of 1942, March Field came alive. You could run into a small farm being created complete with animals, a barn, a silo and other buildings. Pastoral settings used frames of lumber and large spreads of canvas. The whole thing achieved near reality when a neighboring farmer grazed his cows near the phony buildings.
In other sections of March Field, scattered decoy aircraft made of canvas scraps, ration boxes, and burlap on chicken wire as well as flattened tin cans dominated the landscape. None of these aircraft looked real up close but looked great from a distance. Fake runways were made by burning grassy strips. On high, they looked like the real thing. In all 34 air bases were camouflaged to include the planting of fake foliage and structural cover.
