Holly Equipment Corporation was a wholly
owned subsidiary of Transocean and operated
profitably under a continuing lease agreement with Western Sky Industries (another TAL
subsidiary) for the use of its facilities at Hayward Airport at Hayward, California.

Western Sky was established in 1952 when TAL was awarded a Douglas Aircraft Company subcontract for an amount in excess of $3.5 million for the manufacture of aircraft components. Housed in the newly built Holly Building, named for Nelson's daughter Holly, Western Sky Industries assembled 931 wing-sections for the AD-4, AD-5, and AD-6 Sky Raider, the propeller driven multi-purpose Douglas Attack bomber of the U. S. Navy. In 1955, the company assembled forward fuselage sections of the Douglas built AD-3 Sky Warrior, a U.S. jet bomber. Western Sky's executive staff included President Ray T. Elsmore, Vice President Elon Brown, Treasurer Robert E. Hilliard and Secretary S. McKee Mhoon.

The company employed about 400 workers (with a $1.2 million dollar annual payroll) in its ultra-modern 60,000 square foot facility with its high intensity lighting, monorails, and other aircraft production requirements