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Edwards Air Force Base Open House
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The image pairs below are stereoscopic. To see the airplanes and helicopters in 3-D, cross your eyes until the two images line up. It's easier to view the large imges if you sit a couple of feet back from your monitor.
U.S.A.F Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey carries U. S. Navy BuNo 165839.
NASA McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A Hornet N853NA Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW). It carries Navy BuNo 161744.
Freshly repainted Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, 56-790 was delivered to the U.S. Air Force as an F-104A-20. In 1966 it was converted to an NF-104A to serve as NASA chase plane #720. It was later converted to F-104G configuration for nuclear weapons shape trials. It was displayed for several years at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum in NASA colors.
NASA Lockheed NF-104A Starfighter, N820NA on display at the AFFTC Museum in 2005.
NASA McDonnell-Douglas F-15B-12 Eagle is equipped with the 24-foot-long Gulfstream Quiet Spike for experiments to mitigate sonic booms. It was delivered to the U.S. Air Force as 74-0141.
Link to a NASA page describing the Quiet Spike.
Ryan RQ-4A Global Hawk, 98-2003 is a Gulf War veteran. It served three years in the middle east. It accumulated 4,800 flight hours on 249 sorties of which 191 were combat sorties.
NASA McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A-8 Hornet, N850NA carries Navy BuNo 161703.
Boeing NB-52H Stratofortress, 61-0025 has been transferred to NASA. It was intended to launch the X-37, but the Scaled Composites White Knight has taken on that task. 61-0025 may be returned to the Air Force.
NASA Beech T-34C Mentor, N865NA carries Navy BuNo 160266.
NASA Boeing 747-Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, N905NA was originally delivered to American Airlines.
Boeing 747-SCA, N905NA takes off from Runway 22 with Enterprise at the beginning of the first Approach and Landing Test (ALT-1) at 8:00 A.M. on August 12, 1977.
Canadair Sabre Mk.6, N38453 is restored as U.S. Air Force F-86F, 51-13487. It is flown by Al Hansen. It flew for the South African Air Force as #378. It was registered by Flight Systems in October 1983 and then to Global Aerospace of Newport Beach, California in September 1992.
Russian MiG-15 UTI Mongol, N41125 has been owned by Thomas Smith of Granada Hills, California since 1996. It was built in 1954.
Canadair CT-133A Silver Star, N306CW is owned by Wallasch Aviation, Inc of Acton, California. It was built in 1955.
Lockheed-Martin-General Dynamics F-16XL #1 Cranked-Arrow Wing demonstrator, N849NA was built as the fifth YF-16A 75-749. An additional section of fuselage was spliced in during the conversion to the cranked arrow delta configuration. It was fitted with a Digital Flight Control System in 1997.
This F-16XL was first displayed to the public at the October 23, 1982 Open House.
Link the NASA Dryden F-16XL #1 Photo Gallery.
Link the NASA Dryden F-16XL #1 Fact Sheet
Freshly repainted McDonnell F-101B-105 Voodoo, 58-0288 is in the collection of the AFFTC Museum.
Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, N7825C originally wore Navy BuNo 122674. Its Grumman construction number is D.1227. It was built in 1948. E. Weiner of Los Angeles registered it under its current tail number in 1958. It was bought by Leo Demeers of Aurora, Oregon in 1963. Richard Tobey of Newport Beach, California in acquired it in 1966 and then sold it to Paul Finefrock of Hobart, Oklahoma in 1969. Gary Levitz picked it up later that year. It has belonged to the Confederate Air Force since 1972. It underwent a major rebuild from 1989 to 1991. It made its first flight after the rebuild on December 17, 1991.
Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, N1078Z Minsi III. Its Grumman construction number is A-5634. John Sandberg recovered it from the Fergus Falls Airport in Minnesota in 1962. It was subsequently owned by Lloyd Nolan and Ed Messick.
Grumman HU-16B Albatross, N7141S was delivered to the U.S. Air Force as SA-16A, 51-0025.
North American SNJ-5 Texan, N89014 was ordered by the Army Air Corps as 41-34524, but it was diverted to the U. S. Navy as BuNo 84865 in 1943. Its construction number is 88-16676. It spent some time in the service of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. Dennis G. Buehn and Warbirds West of Compton, California recovered it from Japan in October 1977 and registered it as N89014. Brandon O'Brien bought it in 1979. The former Confederate Air Force of Harlingen, Texas acquired it in 1986.
Brand new Boeing-McDonnell-Douglas C-17A Globemaster III, 06-6155 is assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing and 349th AMW (Reserve) at Travis Air Force Base.
North American T-28A Trojan, N2496 was delivered to the U.S. Air Force as 49-1496. It once served the Laotian Air Force as 3407.
Stinson L-5G Sentinal, N6055C was delivered to the Army Air Corps as 45-34950. It is the collection of the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino.
Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, NX670AM of the Planes of Fame Museum. It was built as Navy BuNo 28536 but delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force as NZ5062. After the war it was used as a wind machine by MGM Studios. Wings from another SBD were recovered from Guadalcanal to return this Dauntless to flying condition in 1987. It flew its first flight after reconstruction on February 7, 1987. It is powered by a Wright R-1820 radial engine.
Fairey Firefly AS-6, N518WB has been registered to Edward Kurdziel of Del Mar, California since February 2003. It was built in 1950 and is a veteran of the Korean War. It flew for the Royal Australian Navy as WB518 and still carries that ID. The K on the tail denotes that this Firefly came off the HMAS Sydney. Its Fairey construction number is F.8646. For a while, it was displayed on a pole at Griffith, New South Wales. Classic Aviation Pty Limited of Bankstown, NSW acquired it in 1991. It was restored using parts of Firefly WD828.
Visit the web site of Fairey Firefly WB518.
Stearman A75N1 (PT17) Kaydet, N4777V was built in 1943. Its construction number is 75-5733.
General Atomics RQ-1 Predator, 02-0087.
General Dynamics F-16D Block 40A Fighting Falcon, 87-0392 of the 412th Test Wing.
Norwegian Air Force General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon, 80-3666 is participating in the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) mid-life update evaluation program.
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk. 84-0811 of the 412th Test Wing.
Lockheed U-2S, 80-1067 is based at Palmdale. It wears the tail code WR because the Air Force U-2 program management is based at Warner-Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.
Convair F-106B Delta Dart, 59-0158 has recently been restored for display at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum. It was retired to to MASDC as FN0019 on Oct 21, 1983. It was later converted to a QF-106 target drone, but fortunately it escaped destruction. It was retired to AMARC again as FN0205 on Feb 23, 1998.
Fairchild-Republic YA-10B Night/Adverse Weather Thunderbolt II 73-1664 is the only two-seat example of the A-10.
YA-10B 73-1664 was displayed at the Edwards AFB Open House on September 20, 1981.
Link to the Air Force Museum page about the YA-10B N/AW Thunderbolt.
Northrop T-38A-45 Talon, 62-3715 of the 412th Test Wing.
Beech C-12A Huron, 76-0158.
General Dynamics F-16A Block 15AQ OCU Fighting Falcon, 92-0407 was manufactured for the Pakistani Air Force, but their airplanes were embargoed. It was placed in storage at AMARC on September 28, 1993 as FG0036. It was delivered to the 416th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) in January 2003.
General Dynamics F-16D Block 25 Fighting Falcon of the 412th Test Wing.
U.S. Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion, BuNo 162011 of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron HMH-769 based at Edwards Air Force Base.
U.S. Marine Corps Vertol CH-46F Sea Knight, BuNo 156419 of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron HMM-764 Moonlighters based at Edwards Air Force Base.
Boeing C-135C Stratolifter, 61-2669 Speckled Trout was delivered to the Air Force as a C-135B and later converted to a WC-135B. Subsequently, it served as the personal transport of the Air Force Chief of Staff.
Link the Edwards AFB page about the C-135C Speckled Trout.
Hunting Percival Jet Provost Mk 5A, N4XW was built in 1971.
Beech Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk, 94-0131 of the 48th Flying Training Squadron based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
Raytheon T-6A Texan II, 04-3712 of the 85th Flying Training Squadron Gunslingers based at at Laughlin AFB, Texas.
Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182R, N9815H was built in 1981. Its construction number is 18268044.
Yakovlev Yak-50, NX150YK was built in 1982. Its construction number is 822308.
Beech D17S Staggerwing, NC53298 was built in 1943. Its construction number is 4900.
North American AT-6G Texan, N884TA was remanufactured by the U.S. Air Force as 49-3190. It is restored as AT-6C-15 42-48884.
The heavy bombers were not yet in position on Friday afternoon when I shot the stereo pairs above.
> Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, 60-0050 Dragons Inferno of the 412th Test Wing.
B-52H 60-0050 hadn't quite made contact with Boeing NKC-135A Stratotanker, 55-3128 at the November 9, 1986 Edwards AFB Open House. It sports SIOP camouflage and a single AGM-86 cruise missile pylon on the left wing.
Nose art of B-52H 60-0050 Dragons Inferno at Edwards Air Force Base on October 29, 2006.
Rockwell B-1B Lancer, 85-0075 Ghost Rider of the 412th Test Wing.
Nose art of B-1B 85-0075 Ghost Rider.
Northrop-Grumman B-2A Spirit, 82-1068 Spirit of New York of the 412th Test Wing.
B-2A 82-1068 Spirit of New York.
The Edwards Air Force Base Open House was held over the weekend of October 28-29.
The USAF Thunderbirds put on their usual precision flying performance each day of the airshow.
A media contingent spent several hours photographing the air traffic on the main runway at Edwards Air Force Base on Wednesday, October 25. The air temperature was in the 70s. The wind was blowing 17 miles per hour, gusting to 23 miles per hour.
More Edwards AFB displays.
Go to the Airshow Page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.
Send a message to Brian.
