VR Route Shooting

G

GX

Well-Known Member
I'm sure many of you are aware of the photos that come out of the UK with guys standing on hilltops catching incredible images of aircraft flying IR/VR Routes. I'm hoping that some of you guys could help me find such a place in AZ, or SoCal. We'd make the trip, and I'm sure we'd get shots on par with the stuff that's coming out of the UK.

Any suggestions?
 
The Kern River Valley and the Southern Sierras overlooking Owens Lake may offer some of what you're looking for in the geographic area you are considering. Edwards test jets, China Lake jets, Fresno ANG Vipers, and NAS Lemoore Super Hornets all flow through that area. Bring some hiking boots though, as the terrain is a shade rougher than the Mach Loop in central Wales.
 
We were thinking southern Az (near Barry/DM/NJK/NYL) or SoCal. Something we could do in a day.
 
The big problem will simply be with the volume of traffic that you would get at any particular spot on a US MTR.

The Mach Loop in Wales is what it is because RAF and USAF pilots know there are photogs there and intentionally plan their routes to go through there. Even with that, it is a crapshoot for what you might see on any given day. I've spent a couple days on the side of the mountain there, and some days have dozens of aircraft going through, and others literally have none. Many of the guys who shoot the Loop climb up there every day or multiple days per week to get what they get -- it is their hobby.

So, I just don't really see that there are any particular locations on MTRs that have such regular traffic and provide such interesting angles to photograph that it would be worth your time for a trip on a single day.
 
Hacker15e said:
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We have the people in the SoCal and Az areas who would make it a regular thing if we could find a location. I'm a member of two groups of photo nerds who have been talking about it for a while. We were thinking somewhere near Barry as an ingress/egress point that we could set up on. Regular traffic comes with the biz. Some days it's gold, and some days it's dirt.

A place close to Phx, Tucson, or SoCal would allow us to get there, and home in a day.
 
Look on a sectional chart for the labeled grey lines. Only VR and IR routes are depicted as SRs aren't technically part of the MTR system. As Hacker said the volume of flying may leave your efforts fruitless, especially now with the whole sequester thing going on.
 
I don't know how accessible the Yuma ranges are by vehicle (though I-8 runs right by them), but we did a lot of low level stuff through the R2301W just east of NYL. Also the El Centro ranges are pretty close. IR289, VR1266/67 are common ones we did if I'm not mistaking numbers. Anywhere around the northeast side of the salton sea is a good place. There is a turn point right at the north of there where most guys will do a pretty aggressive turn at 300' to get heading SW over the lake towards the mountains. Just prior to there and due east of that little airport on the east side is a really good ridge crossing where guys will go inverted right up against the ridge line. As for Yuma, much like the China Lake/panamint/saline valley areas, the whole thing is a low level area iirc down to like 100'. I did my 100' AGL demo out there just east of the first row of mountains in the vicinity of "TACTS airfield" (probably not on a sectional). Hope that helps!
 
///AMG said:
I don't know how accessible the Yuma ranges are by vehicle (though I-8 runs right by them), but we did a lot of low level stuff through the R2301W just east of NYL. Also the El Centro ranges are pretty close. IR289, VR1266/67 are common ones we did if I'm not mistaking numbers. Anywhere around the northeast side of the salton sea is a good place. There is a turn point right at the north of there where most guys will do a pretty aggressive turn at 300' to get heading SW over the lake towards the mountains. Just prior to there and due east of that little airport on the east side is a really good ridge crossing where guys will go inverted right up against the ridge line. As for Yuma, much like the China Lake/panamint/saline valley areas, the whole thing is a low level area iirc down to like 100'. I did my 100' AGL demo out there just east of the first row of mountains in the vicinity of "TACTS airfield" (probably not on a sectional). Hope that helps!
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Awesome. Thanks for this. I was going to reply sooner, but babies don't wait, human, or equine. And we've had 2 in the past week.

The range is difficult to access, but there are places where one can drive in. We'll start planning a trip and see what we get. Thanks for this.
 
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