Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale International Airport, California |
Air Force Plant 42
at Palmdale hosts a number of aircraft and spacecraft
manufacturing and modification operations. It also serves as a
convenient location for test aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base
and other Southern California airfields to shoot touch-and-go
landings.
The space
shuttle orbiter Columbia, OV-102 was delivered to Air Force
Plant 42 at Palmdale, California on Saturday, September 25 on the
back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).
The Lockheed-Martin X-35 Joint
Strike Fighter took off on its first flight from Air Force
Plant 42 at Palmdale, California on the morning of October 24,
2000. It returned to Palmdale on November 22, a little after
three in the afternoon. It made a series of touch-and-go
landings. It will be equipped with a lift fan and vectored thrust
nozzle for short take-off/vertical landing tests next year.
The Lockheed-Martin
X-35B vertical take-off prototype of the Joint Strike Fighter
candidate flew from Palmdale to Edwards AFB on July 3, 2001.
The F-5 Shaped Sonic Boom
Demonstrator (SSBD) has been conducting tests aimed at reducing
the impact of sonic booms. It made a series of flights from Air
Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California during the week of August
25 - 29, 2003.
Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale is home to two collections of vintage airplanes, Blackbird Airpark and the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark. Both airparks are located on Avenue P, adjacent to 25th Street East. Blackbird Airpark is the only place where you can see an SR-71A, an A-12, and a D-21 drone together. There will eventually be over 40 airplanes on display at Joe Davies Heritage Airpark.
Boeing's Canadair T-33, N416X and the first Boeing 757-200, N757A which now serves as the F-22 Avionics testbed, arrived at Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale on the morning of February 13.
The last four Lockheed-Martin F-117A Nighthawks from the 49th Fighter Wing flew from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California on Monday, April 21.
The last four Lockheed-Martin F-117A Nighthawks from the 49th Fighter Wing departed from Air Force Plant 42 at Plamdale, California for Tonopah, Nevada on Tuesday, April 22. Their wings will be removed and they will be stored in their old hangars. The four Stealth Fighters took off from Runway 25 at 2:00 PM.
Slideshow of the visit of the last Stealth Fighters at Palmdale.
Send a message to Brian.
Go to home page of the Goleta Air and
Space Museum.