| AIAA LA 5/2 Section (Town Hall) Meeting (In-person attendance) Saturday, May 2, 2026, 2 PM PDT (GMT -0700) |
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(May 2) Cold War California |
Speakers:
Francis Gary Powers Jr. and Christopher Sturdevant, Franky Ortega
Panelists:
Francis Gary Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, Monica Chang, Franky Ortega, Tony Chong, Michelle Evans (1 or 2 more might be added)
Moderator:
Dr. Jeff Puschell
Co-Moderator:
Prof. Monica Chang
(The speakers/panelists and attendance are all in-person) (This event is not endorsed or sponsored by the Culver City Julian Dixon Library.) |
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Culver City Julian Dixon Library (Meeting Room)
4975 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230
View on map |
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May 02, 2026 02:00pm PT - May 02, 2026 05:30pm PT |
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| Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles Section (You do not need to be a member of AIAA to attend the event) |
| Tentative agenda (All Times Pacific Time (PDT, GMT -0700))
2:00 pm PDT: Check-in / viewing exhibitions of tech products or artwork / networking 3:00 pm PDT: Presentation by authors 3:40 pm PDT: Panel discussion 4:20 pm PDT: Book signing 5:00 pm PDT: Program ends 5:30 pm PDT: Adjourn 6:00 pm PDT: Library closes |
| Presentation (Based on Amazon.com for the book description of the same title)
"The focal point of western defense against Soviet aggression during the Cold War, California proved instrumental in preventing a Third World War during the twentieth century. The state’s major military presence on land, air, and sea diverged with a peaceful counterpart that created the United Nations in San Francisco in 1946.
Muroc Field, the future Edward Air Force Base, was the site of Chuck Yeager’s feat breaking the sound barrier in 1947, and Lockheed Skunkworks produced the top-secret high-tech U2 Dragon Lady and SR-71 in Southern California. Cold War presidents, stalwarts Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both hailed from the Golden State. Billionaire Howard Hughes, who made his mark in aviation and the movies, provided cover for the Glomar Explorer mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine in the Pacific.
Hollywood was a two-sided coin, supporting both pro-American movie messaging and becoming a flash point for government investigations into Communist sympathies. Cold War historians Francis Gary Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, and Franky Ortega delve into California’s role in winning the Cold War." |
| Panel Discussion
Please join us for an insightful panel discussion and share the experiences and stories of the Cold War and the aerospace involvement in it, and the thoughts about the past, current, future of the U.S. Relationship with China and Russia.
If you would like to join the panel, please email: contact@aiaa-lalv.org Thank you very much. |
| Exhibition
Please join us for interesting exhibition of Cold War related items, photos, posters etc. If you would like to bring you displays, please email: contact@aiaa-lalv.org Thank you very much. |
| Location: (Tentative) Culver City Julian Dixon Library (Meeting Room) 4975 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230
(South of 10 Hwy, West of 110 Hwy, and North/East of 405 Hwy)
Parking Information: (Library parking is on the back. After entering the front entrance of the library, please keep going and you will see the parking area. Please don't park in the spots marked for the Library Staff. Thank you.)
(This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Culver City Julian Dixon Library.) |
| Francis Gary Powers Jr. (Speaker and Panelist) MPA, MA US History Founder and Chairman Emeritus - The Cold War Museum Board Member - The SAC and Aerospace Museum Honorary Board - The International Spy Museum (The speaker will present in person.)
Francis Gary Powers Jr. is the founder and chairman emeritus of The Cold War Museum, a 501(c) (3) charity in Vint Hill, Virginia, near Washington, DC. As chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Cold War Theme Study, he worked with the National Park Service and leading Cold War experts to identify historic Cold War sites for commemorating, interpreting, and preservation. He served as a consultant to Steven Spielberg's Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies. He lectures internationally and appears regularly on the History, Discovery, and A&E Channels. |
| Chris Sturdevant (Speaker and Panelist) Author: Cold War California, Cold War Virginia, Cold War Illinois, and Cold War Wisconsin (The speaker will present in person.)
Christopher Sturdevant is a children’s librarian who resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His interest in the Cold War began while growing up during the 1980s. Chris studied history and physics at Carroll University. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and chairman of the Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum in Washington, D.C. |
| Franky Ortega (Speaker and Panelist) Author: Cold War California, Teaching in a Cold War Nike Missile Headquarters (The speaker will present in person.)
Franky Ortega teaches at a Cold War Nike Missile Headquarters. He has written for an encyclopedia, produced a documentary, parachuted into Normandy, curated museum exhibits and taught military history courses and is a guest lecturer. |
| Dr. Jeff Puschell (Moderator) AIAA Region VI Director of Education, AIAA Fellow, Advisor, AIAA Los Angeles Section National Academy of Engineering Inductee 2024, SPIE Fellow Northrop Grumman Corporation | Space Systems
Dr. Jeff Puschell is AIAA Region VI Director of Education, AIAA Fellow, Advisor, AIAA Los Angeles Section. He is also National Academy of Engineering Inductee 2024, and SPIE Fellow. He is with the Northrop Grumman Corporation | Space Systems. |
| Prof. Monica Chang (Co-Moderator) Economics Professor, California Court Mediator
Economics Professor at St. John's University and Queens College, CUNY, University of the West, California Research Fellow at Columbia Institute of Tele-information, Board of Directors for MIT Enterprise Forum New York Chapter (1990s for 10 years), California Court Mediator (certified in 1990), Managing Principal of Chang's Artech Exchange, and Business/Employment advisor. |
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| Tony Chong (Panelist) Author and Historian, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Tony Chong was born in Inglewood, CA in 1954 and raised in Redondo Beach, CA. He began his career as a professional model maker in 1980 and was hired into the Northrop Display Model Shop in 1984. While working full-time he returned to university, eventually getting his B.A. in History from CSULA in 1995, with a focus on aerospace. He spent the last 10 years of his career running the Display Model Shop while also writing articles for internal company publications and presenting lectures and briefings on Northrop Grumman and aviation history. He retired in April 2014 but returned in July of that year as a part-time contractor to work on history-related projects. Chong was named Sector Historian in 2015, and he continues in the role of Northrop Grumman historian today. His book on legacy Northrop aircraft, Flying Wings & Radical Things: Northrop’s Secret Aerospace Projects & Concepts 1939-1994 was published by Specialty Press and released in June 2016. The book won the AIAA 2019 History Manuscript Award. He lives with his wife Tina and their cat Simone in Burbank, CA. |
| Michelle Evans (Panelist) AIAA Distinguished Speaker Founder of Mach 25 Media (www.Mach25Media.com) Writer, photographer, and communications specialist in aerospace. Author, bestselling book “The X-15 Rocket Plane, Flying the First Wings into Space”
Michelle Evans is the founder of Mach 25 Media (www.Mach25Media.com) and is a writer, photographer, and communications specialist in aerospace. She has written the bestselling book “The X-15 Rocket Plane, Flying the First Wings into Space” which was published by the University of Nebraska Press as part of their “Outward Odyssey, People's History of Spaceflight” series. Michelle's background in aerospace engineering includes serving in the US Air Force working on missile systems, and later in private industry accomplishing environmental testing for systems used in airliners and spacecraft. |
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(More Panelists to be announced.) |
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