Edwards AFB and NASA, 2010
On the way home to Mt Whitney, I like to swing by Edwards AFB. This time I stopped to see the open-air aircraft museum.
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A timeless 'beauty' the brilliantly conceived and highly effective tank killer and ground support A-10 |
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Vietnam War vintage B-52 C or D. In those earlier birds the gunner resided in the tail compartment above the gun turret that sported four 50 cal machine guns and a track radar, a search radar above the turret, and way at the top, you can see the glass dome for the optical sight/tracker. You may ask yourself, 'how does he know all of that?' |
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| The CH-53, the model I had the pleasure of flying in, from Nakhon Phenom, supplying Green Beret camps in 1968 |
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The crazy angles of the SR-71, aka Blackbird |
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The NASA museum and gift shop on Edwards AFB |
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Forward swept wing, first tried in WW2 Germany, but materials were not yet available that could handle the stress and the wings would break in flight. |
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A variety of unique experimental test aircraft |
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The old M-2 F-3 Lifting Body already proposed in the late 1950s, is still considered in modern guise
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Back in the days of the Space Shuttle program, this was where the lander, when it landed at Edwards AFB, was processed and then, using the large steel structure on the left, lifted onto the back of a specially designed Boeing 747, to be flown cross-country to Cape Canaveral, FL, for the next launch. |
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NASA file image - how it was done |
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The vast expanse of the dry lake bed that permits all sorts of vehicles to land, without restrictions of runways |
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At that time, the lone F-35 trainer aircraft |
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