The Desert Odyssey in Photos – All Good Things...

[mrhenniger]

I didn’t have the spare time to spend all day at Fox Field. Before leaving Palmdale I made a stop at the local college...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Antelope Valley College - D-558
...since I wanted to get pictures of the Skyrocket that I couldn’t find in 2009. This time there were better satellite images! I knew where to look for it this time.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - D-558-2 Skyrocket, s/n 145 NACA, c/n 6569




The trees at this place really could use a trim!

[mrhenniger]

I left Palmdale, headed south and crossed the mountains into Los Angeles. In the last few years the airport setup a public viewing area for aircraft movements at Van Nuys...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States – Public Viewing Area
...it is well equipped with a children’s play area, picnic tables and shade. The only problem is the tall chain link fence. It would have been nice if view ports had been provided at the right height for lenses. I have posted a few shots I took in the few minutes I was there.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - L-39C Albatros, c/n 430315, c/r NX139CK


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - CH-54A Tarhe [S-64E], s/n 66-18413 USAF, c/n 64-015, c/r N173AC


Unfortunately I had just missed viewing the two CL-415 launching for ops. You can’t see everything from the public viewing area, so if you visit Van Nuys be prepared to drive around the perimeter. I did and found this Prentice...
Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Prentice T.1 [P-40], s/n VS385 RAF, c/r NX1041P

Last edited by mrhenniger on Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

[mrhenniger]

I took a trip over to the west side of the airport to find the Condor Legion...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Condor Squadron - 10 airframes

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - SNJ-4 Texan [NA-88], s/n 27255 USN, c/n 88-12291, c/r N86WW


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - SNJ-4 Texan [NA-88], s/n 27307 USN, c/n 88-12407, c/r N9525C



Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - SNJ-5 Texan [NA-88], s/n 43974 USN, c/n 88-16316, c/r N7969C


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - SNJ-5 Texan [NA-121], s/n 111974 USN, c/n 121-42937, c/r N3169G


I NEED SOME HELP IDENIFYING THESE NEXT TWO! Tips anyone?

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - AT-6 Texan


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - AT-6 Texan


Van Nuys was supposed to be my last stop of the day, but I managed to stay ahead of schedule despite my extra time at Fox Field in the morning. I wanted to keep ahead of schedule so that I would have more time to spend in Arizona later in the trip. The original plan showed I would not have enough time to visit everything I wanted to. So I continued to press on.

Last edited by mrhenniger on Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

[mrhenniger]

I wanted to get on site to get a picture of a UH-1 used as a jump training platform for the fire department...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - L A County Fire Department Aerial Operations - UH-1
...but unfortunately when I got to the gate the site appeared restricted. Fortunately I had noticed when driving there I could see the UH-1 mounted from a distance, so I stopped along a side street to get a not-so-good picture.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - UH-1 Iroquois


Can anyone ID this Huey for me? Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!

[mrhenniger]

Continuing on I tried to see if I could view some A-4s in a compound in North Hollywood...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States - A-4, A-4, A-4, A-7, TA-4 (forward fuselage)
...but unfortunately the gate was closed and I could not see anything stored on site. Stike one. Oh well. Moving on...

[mrhenniger]

This place was extremely easy to find...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Mount San Antonio College - UH-1
...and appeared to be in a very nice neighbourhood. I had no problems getting pictures through the gate surrounding the compound it is stored in.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - UH-1D-BF Iroquois [205], s/n 66-16071 US Army, c/n 5675

[mrhenniger]

Continuing south brought me to another nice part of the greater LA region known as Yorba Linda which is home to the Richard Nixon Library...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Richard Nixon Library - H-3
...which is in turn home to a former Marine One H-3...

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - VH-3A Sea King, s/n 9H0002 MASDC, c/n 61-123

[mrhenniger]

I then continued even further south to Santa Ana to the County Hall...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - County Hall of Administration - A-4
...where an A-4 is displayed...

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - A-4M Skyhawk, s/n 3A0585 AMARC, c/n 14534




If you are planning on visiting refer to the locator dossier for a tip on where to park to access the site. It took me a few trips around the block to figure it out myself.

[mrhenniger]

I was hoping to see some fire helos at the Fullerton Municiapal Airport.,.
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Orange County Fire Authority - UH-1, UH-1, UH-1, UH-1
...but with all of the fences there was no way to see anything. Strike two for the day!

[mrhenniger]

Apparently the Western Museum of Flight in Torrence...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Western Museum of Flight - 20 airframes
...has a T-38 and F-22 prototype stored at Northrop in El Segundo...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Northrop Grumman - F-23, T-38
...so I made one last attempt for the day to see something. The place has more security than Fort Knox. Strike three! At least I went down swinging.

I decided to call it a day. I headed north to meet my relatives for dinner. As I drove along the PCH I saw the CL-415s, which had launched from Van Nuys earlier, making water pick ups on the Pacific. It was the perfect end to a very nice day.

I’ll get started on the Day 3 pictures soon. These shots cover my travels across the greater LA region, a quick excursion to Palm Springs, then a trip down to San Diego. I’ll be posting again in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

[viking73]

Great, great photos Mike. Thanks for sharing all of them on your trip.

I think the college in Palmdale need to trim that tree! Maybe that's why you could find the Skyrocket last time, it was hidden in the trees!

-Derek

[Roger Cain]

I NEED SOME HELP IDENIFYING THESE NEXT TWO! Tips anyone?

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - AT-6 Texan


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - AT-6 Texan

Mike, did you get another view showing the letter which would be a "P"? My pictures of this one in recent times would appear to be N3680F, and matching the antenna's on your picture with the one's I took confirm this.
German schemed Number 14 is easy, that is N57418.

[mrhenniger]

Mike, did you get another view showing the letter which would be a "P"? My pictures of this one in recent times would appear to be N3680F, and matching the antenna's on your picture with the one's I took confirm this.
German schemed Number 14 is easy, that is N57418.

Thanks Roger!

[mrhenniger]

The journey continues! To view my route for this day go to...
Aerial Visuals – Trip Tool – Desert Odyssey, Los Angeles to San Diego

If you would just like to kick back and relax you can watch a slideshow of the pictures I took that day here...
Aerial Visuals - Airframe Gallery Slide Show - Desert Odyssey, Mojave to Los Angeles

[mrhenniger]

I wasn’t up at the crack of dawn, but I was on the road early enough. After a short stint of rush hour on the PCH I stopped at the Santa Monica airport...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States - 10 airframes
...I was hoping to see something different parked on the west side, and I wasn’t disappointed, there was a Sabre there I didn’t know had arrived...

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - SNJ-4 Texan, s/n 27760 USN, c/n 88-13376, c/r N7077C


Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - YF-86H-5-NA Sabre [NA-187], s/n 52-2090 USAF, c/n 187-116



Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Yak-52, c/n 888407, c/r NX52EX