Starting a new job right out of engineering school was everything I thought it would be. With a great boss, a smart and experienced team, and interesting work, I had everything I wanted, with the exception of having to work the second shift. Seems the radars my employer, Hughes Aircraft, was building for the U.S. Navy needed to be operated 24/7 with an engineering team monitoring and suggesting fixes, upgrades, etc. My shift would start at 3:00 p.m. We would debrief with the more senior first-shift team and then take control of these machines that would soon become the basis for the F/A-18 Hornet weapons control system. Fun!
Because of the Navy’s many requirements, the testing was done on the roof of a house where the 1000-watt radiation would not harm anything or anyone who might pass by. The house was about 40 feet above ground, overlooking what was then the Hughes Airport in Culver City, Calif. Underneath and all around us were the administrative offices that housed all of the engineering and management for the Hughes Aircraft Company, including the team that built the Spruce Goose (H4 Hercules). All that is gone now, but it was a great place to work, especially for someone right out of school
