Edwards AFB Fly In, 2010

T

The Gardener

Terrafirma Phobic
For the first time ever Edwards AFB hosted a fly in event for general aviation aircraft. In order to visit the event an application had to be submitted and then pilots and aircraft were chosen in a lottery. Unfortunately, I wasn’t selected but when I got the announcement of who was invited I recognized a friend’s N number on the list! A few emails later I was the lucky recipient of an invitation! 4 of us were able to load into 733EJ, and we launched at the wee early hours of the morning. We were airborne at 6:08 am, and this also marked the first time I departed before the LGB tower opened. Oye, I’m glad I got the lazy seat in the back for the ride up. I was able to sit back, enjoy the sunrise and let the others do the work! The arrival was a well orchestrated agenda with arrival schedules, holding points and such and we were vectored in at just about right on time to the 17,000′ runway 23. The landing on the dry lake was uneventful due to some accurate and skilled flying and we taxied into parking as the 12th GA aircraft to ever make a landing at Rosamond Dry Lake. The day progressed with warbird arrivals, a few fly overs, including skydivers from a C-17, and a flyover from a F-22 Raptor. There was a presentation covering the unique issues with the restricted areas surrounding Edwards, along with many suggestions to help pilots to improve their see and avoid skills as well as general traffic awareness. Hopefully they will be able to host more of these events in the future as it was quite a fun event for everybody involved.

A link to the write up and slideshow can be found here.
albatross-web_.jpg


albatrossengineweb.jpg


flightlineweb.jpg


p51spinnerweb.jpg


sunriseweb.jpg


pt-19androgerweb.jpg


albatrossoutsideweb.jpg
 
I *might* get stoned to death for this one but... Albatross > DC-3.

I had originally planned on going back to the flight line for a few more pictures but as it turned out they bumped our departure times up due to some thunderstorms headed our way and we were in the first batch of departures to leave. Next year I suppose!
 
A man has to do what a man has to do. I actually really like the Grumman. I have a model of one sitting in a box (with a stack of others- I build them for relaxation - working on an Electra currently) that I will be starting soon. I flew the Douglas back when the first ferns were formed on the planet, so I was just hoping to see it. sigh

It sounds like you had a really good time. I am glad someone from this joint made it there.


I was flying back from SAN late this afternoon and had dry lightning around and some decent formations but no rain. A bit on the bumpy side in spots. Now it's just still humid as hell and I still had to water. And pick up dog logs. Exciting day for me. lol
 
I wasn't sure you made it out there with the T-storms all over the place in the afternoon. Great photos and report. Why not just post em all up?
 
ETAV8R said:
I wasn't sure you made it out there with the T-storms all over the place in the afternoon. Great photos and report. Why not just post em all up?
Click to expand...

The storms weren't much of an issue. On the way back we split a couple of cells but they were 30+ each way. North of CMA it was really going for it though.

Later in the day I was going out for a flight to do some landings and there was dry lightning between the clouds. I scrubbed it and decided that happy hour was better than 40 gazillion volts!

I didn't want to post the rest because;
a) I don't think the rest were worth the light of day
b) I really can't Stand huge slide shows of mediocre pictures. Just a few good ones is better than a ton of ok shots but YMMV.
 
A Life Aloft said:
A man has to do what a man has to do. I actually really like the Grumman. I have a model of one sitting in a box (with a stack of others- I build them for relaxation - working on an Electra currently) that I will be starting soon. I flew the Douglas back when the first ferns were formed on the planet, so I was just hoping to see it. sigh

It sounds like you had a really good time. I am glad someone from this joint made it there.


I was flying back from SAN late this afternoon and had dry lightning around and some decent formations but no rain. A bit on the bumpy side in spots. Now it's just still humid as hell and I still had to water. And pick up dog logs. Exciting day for me. lol
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, the DC-3 is an epically great aircraft. We were actually having a chat yesterday about the most iconic aircraft in history and the DC-3 has to be on that list without a doubt. Really though, anything that is radial powered and requires a type is just outstanding.

We did have a great time, I'm hoping that they choose to do it again, with more planning and the use of 2 parallel runways they could at least double the capacity and there is no shortage of space! All of the people there really seemed to appreciate the event and the military folks who participated also seemed to be enjoying themselves. It is nice to hear a B-2 test pilot remark about how fun it is to see so many planes on their lake bed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top