China Lake NAS 25 Years On - Eddie Douglas 15 October 2011

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Picture the scene near the US Navy Weapons Station at China Lake in California and a group of spotters are surrounded by four security cars and being searched and identity checked. The time is November 1986 at the height of the Cold War and a visit to the base had turned rather wrong when we had stopped at the roadside afterwards to read off and identify the aircraft in the wreck storage compound about 2 mile away inside the operational base. After a couple of hours and a stiff “collar feeling” we were released and went on our way with no real damage done but with a feeling of a job not finished. Fast forward to October 2011 and while having our bacon and muffin breakfast in a Vegas diner we heard about a real problem with our planned visit to the public open day at China Lake being held to mark the Centennial Year of US Naval Aviation. Changes to our schedule just had to be made as this visit was a unique opportunity and a must do at a high security base seldom open to the public. This trip report covers my 1986 and 2011 visits to the base and is an unashamed trip down memory lane that gives the chance to remember some good times and show a few photos from the archives.

I was standing on the viewing balcony of the Prestwick terminal on 01.11.86 and pondered my first transatlantic flight and USA trip while trying to shake off the pints from the night before. The Northwest Orient B747 N601US that was to be our transport was already on the ramp ready to magic the cold and sun of the UK for the warm glow of California. The trip was entirely military spotting as the Cold War provided plenty of military to see and our visit to the China Lake area started at Inyokern airport where Northrop had a factory that converted the F-86 Sabre into QF-86 drones for the US Navy Weapons Centre at nearby China Lake and Point Mugu, the location of the Pacific Missile Test Centre. At that time before the present day terrorist concerns the access allowed to military establishments could be remarkably open and a polite up front request to the security post was often successful to obtain access. That was our approach at Northrop and we were quickly on a guided visit round the Sabre conversion hanger that had aircraft shells in all stages of work 576449 and QF-86F 576450 out on the ramp for engine runs. They were so accommodating that a request for the identities of the aircraft being processed produced a printout of all the F86s that had been through the factory - it was 1” thick. They were working on the QF-86F version of the Sabre many of which were ex Japanese Self Defence Force aircraft that had been returned to the USA and quite rare for the number hunters. The non standard six digit serial representation was sometimes used by the Navy for aircraft acquired from the US Air Force or other organisations. The F version production run was around 50 aircraft to be followed by the QF-86H in a final batch of about 30 aircraft. This final drone version of the Sabre was a pretty advanced system for its time with a sophisticated analogue flight control system linked to an operators control cabin not unlike the setup of 21st century UAV drones. On the civil ramp was a couple of dozen light aircraft that went unidentified by the military minded group and an antique ex Navy hanger of the old style construction.

We drove on a few miles to nearby China Lake to see the F-86s that the Navy had in storage for the drone programme and made our request at the security post to photograph the aircraft on display around the base including A-4D Skyhawk 137814 although a test vehicle used on the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT) for ejection seat trials was too far away and inside the outer security area. The SNORT track setup was dual rail and four miles long, and used from the 1950s to also accelerate rockets, missiles, models and full-scale aircraft to high speed for test purposes. This area got us close enough to the F86 storage compound to identify 20 aircraft in storage for the drone programme some from overseas operators but the active ramp was far away beyond many security fences and only three T38s including 0-01595 were identified. Up to that stage everything had gone according to plan and we left the base returning the yellow pass to the security post and headed down the highway to stop and view the wreck storage compound some distance away inside the base. It contained about 50 aircraft including two B-29s and C117s, numerous fighter types and about 30 F-4 Phantoms only a few of which were identified. Then the two highway patrol cars arrived and boxed in our two cars and for good measure two Navy security cars with plain cloth guys who also got involved. The standard security check format then went into operation - passport, drivers licence, airline tickets and search in the boot then wait outside the cars for the identity checks to be run. A slow process by car phone in the time before modern computers but at last the checks were complete while our “Brit chat” with the security men let them know we were friendly and the production of our letter to the base requesting a visit had also helped to lighten things up. However during the 2 hour wait I spotted to my horror the Inyokern F86 printout on the back parcel shelve of the car in open view – if spotted that could have been a game changer and probably seen us in the brig overnight and a lot of people into trouble. But thankfully like Poe’s “purloined letter” the printout went unnoticed and we made our way down the road with feelings of unease and much checking of rear view mirrors. For me there was a real feeling of unfinished business as the long detour into the high desert to visit the base had produced few photo opportunities.
The US Navy established China Lake as the Naval Ordnance Test Station during the Second World War around 1943 and it later became the Naval Air Weapons Centre and operates today with Point Mugu as part of the Naval Air Warfare Centre - Weapons Division. Its mission is to carry out the research, development and testing of airborne weapons and is located in the high Western Mojave Desert at about 2500 feet altitude and 150 miles north of Los Angeles between the Sierra Nevada mountains and Death Valley, a starkly beautiful, sun stricken place scorching hot by day and freezing by night. It is the Navy’s largest single landholding and its two ranges and main site cover more than 1.1 million acres, in a vast and sparsely populated desert with near perfect flying weather and practically unlimited visibility that provide an ideal location for their work. Their engineers, scientists, experienced military personnel and defence contractors make China Lake one of the foremost research, development, test and evaluation institutions in the world. In the 1950s they developed the Sidewinder air to air missile which has become the world’s most used and copied air-to-air missile and they went on to develop or test many more up to the Joint Direct-Attack Munition (JDAM) weapons of the present day. The Navy have put a lot of effort into the local environmental issues of their landholdings with historical, archaeological and wildlife aspects being covered by extensive surveys and they even have their unique bird the Inyo Brown Towhee that must hide out in some of the quieter places on the base. It was not logged on either visit.

During the planning for our 2011 US trip the Centennial Open Weekend at China Lake had not been well publicised as it was mainly a local community event and our plans had been based on an exchange of emails with the base PR people who did not mention that only Saturday was an aircraft event. We were booked for the Sunday and that was barbeque, music and socialising, not exactly what we had in mind. The plan had been to do the NAS Lemoore Show on the Saturday and China Lake on the Sunday so it was just a matter of changing them round in theory. However these US trips are pretty intensive and with plans and visits linked together to make changes can be time consuming and tricky. But flexibility was the key and the plan was changed successfully and we rolled into Inyokern airfield on the Friday afternoon to find the old Navy hanger still there but the Northrop facility had closed probably when the new generation of modern drones required more secluded production and testing facilities. There was a report in 2013 that Northrop Inyokern had bid for part of the Predator UAV programme. There were only three light aircraft on the ramp and 3 UH1 hulks nearby - not a good start. So we rolled along the highway to the Navy base and into nearby residential Ridgecrest, a typical modern rural US town that was once recorded as having the highest IQ per person due to the brainpower recruited by the Navy nearby. We headed for food and to plan for a very full visit the next day. Saturday 15 October was another clear sky day and we turned up at the Navy security gate to the non flying area at 0800 and got a pass to visit the base museum and photograph the display aircraft around the base. After 25 years the gate guard Skyhawk was still 137814 but now in a new colour scheme from the 1960s of red, grey and white and there was some good new exhibits including AD-4NA Skyraider 125739, F-11A Demon 138647, RF-4B 157348, AV-8B 159249, and F/A-18A 163092. The outside display area at the museum held YF-18A 160775 the first Hornet prototype, F-11A Tiger 138647 and A-7C Corsair 156797 but the best had to be the Sabre QF86F 627479 in operation Navy markings. There were no aircraft inside and the extensive collection was devoted to a wide variety of weapons and weapons testing. It held about two dozen missiles that had been developed or tested in all shapes and sizes, armaments, guns and many unique artefacts and videos of weapons tests out on the ranges. The main types were the Sidewinder, Phoenix (at the core of the F14 Tomcat weapons system), Maverick and Tomahawk.

Next stop was the operational base area and driving through more security gates we passed the same SNORT ejection seat vehicle from the 1986 visit that was now on display near the entrance to the operational airfield. The last hurdle was to get through a bag search and at then onto the test squadron ramp where a good selection of the squadrons based aircraft were on display. There were a number of highlights in the static with the best being, probably the last Sabreliner on the inventory T39D 150992 and F/A-18C Hornet 165210 in a red, grey and white colour scheme, the marks of the base test unit from the 1950s. Both of the resident Air Test and Evaluation Squadrons (AIRTEVRON), VX-9 the Vampires coded “XE” and VX-31 the Dust Devils code “DD”, had their colourful F/A-18E “Cagbirds” on view with 166871/DD200 (P8) on display and 165780/XE100 flying the twoship in the afternoon. There were around two dozen Hornet and Super Hornets on the ramp and in the sunshelters allocated to both the resident squadrons and also three new EA-18G Growlers including 166945 and 166946 that carried the 500 series codes. The Growler presence in numbers reflected the development work being carried out on its electronic countermeasures role and getting the type into operational service to replace the Prowler, and only a single aircraft of this type was present. Only a few S3 Vikings remain in service with test units after the end of its carrier service a number of years ago and a Centennial marked example 160581 of VX-30 was on display and carried the three headed Cerberus dog motif used by RAF Canberras for many years. A static display Reaper UAV drone 04-014 made yet another modern connection to the F86 drones of the 1986 trip and gave the chance to examine one of the newer versions close up and realise that it’s a big machine, 75% the length of an F16. A Canadian visitor was CF-18B 188923. While photographing the UAV from a high access ladder on the side of a hanger I attracted the attention of the local security police but with 25 years more bluffing experience available to me we parted company amicably a bit like 1986 - it had to happen. The operational ramp and sun shelters were very close and crammed with Hornets and although cordoned off photography and logging were no problem. An old style control tower looked down directly onto the ramp and the assembled aircraft only two of which were due to fly on the day that was mainly a community open event. As a couple of Super Hornets blasted off and did multiple flybys for the crowd in the early afternoon we were ready to hit the road and as we exited the car park spotted the wreck storage compound about half a mile away that had been the source of such stress in 1986. It just had to be done to complete the day - and with the nearest marine security guy marshalling cars about half a mile away we took a sharp turn away from the exit and across the base to the storage compound and duly logged the lot but did not push our luck and leave the car for photos. The aircraft were now in a state of much disrepair but B-29 44-70102, DC-130A 57-0461 and RA-5C 156640 were identified among others but the Phantoms had gone and there were fewer aircraft than in 1986. An unforgettable day and with a job well done we went for the exit without stopping and took the mountain road west through a fantastical Yucca forest at 4500 feet into the setting sun and the Centennial show at Lemoore the following day.

Log for the show

Static:
160436/XE-510	EA-6B	VX-9
166946/XE-501	EA-18G	VX-9
165210	F/A-18C	mkd china lake/100yrs c/s
166871/DD-206	F/A-18E	VX-31
166673/XE-250	F/A-18F	VX-9
159228/DD-002	AH-1W	VX-31
1-4-4014	MQ-9A
160581/30-X-1/7011	S-3B	VX-30
150992/393	T-39D	VX-31
163871/DD-86	AV-8B	VX-31
188923	CF-188B	nn
Area by Control Tower:
166945/XE-500	EA-18G	VX-9
164716/XE-300	F/A-18C	VX-9
164879/XE-301	F/A-18C	VX-9
163989/DD-112	F/A-18D	VX-31
.../XE-111	F/A-18E	VX-9
165780/XE-100	F/A-18E	VX-9
166450/DD-217	F/A-18F	VX-31
166925/XE-230	F/A-18F	VX-9
166927/XE-231	F/A-18F	VX-9
166755/7	UH-1Y	VX-9
165759/DD-463	MH-60S	VX-31
Under Sun Shelters in front of Hangars:
166642/DD-500	EA-18G	VX-31
163153/DD-100	F/A-18A	VX-31
163459/XE-102	F/A-18C	VX-31
164237/XE-400	F/A-18D	VX-9
165660/DD-204	F/A-18E	VX-31
165668/DD-201	F/A-18F	VX-31
165669/DD-214	F/A-18F	VX-31
165793/DD-215	F/A-18F	VX-31
165928/DD-211	F/A-18F	VX-31
166635/DD-213	F/A-18F	VX-31
166843/DD-223	F/A-18F	VX-31
166889/XE-214	F/A-18F	VX-9
164129/DD-88 +1	AV-8B	VX-31
…	CF-188	behind sheds
VX-31 Dust Devils Hangar
166754/DD-410	UH-1Y	VX-31
…/DD-464	MH-60S	VX-31
166297/DD-465	MH-60S	VX-31
Also in this hangar there was an AH-1W, an F/A-18 and an AV-8B.
Storage compound:
156640/AC-602	RA-5C
159312/604	A-6E	plus one more
52-2669	C-97K
N31310	C-117D
N722NR	C-117D
150468/35	F-4N
145528	DF-8L
152715	F-111B
59-2873/ED	T-39B		ex AVTEL
150989	T-39D
Plus parts from a B-29, hulk mainly, and some F-86s
Elsewhere:
57-0461	DC-130A	stored
Base museum (accessible through main gate):
152102	NTA-4F
152936/610	A-6E
156797	A-7E
124587	XF4D
138647	F-11F
160775	YF-18A
627479	QF-86F
Preserved elsewhere on base:
137814/100	YA-4A
125739/XE	AD-4N
157348/RF	RF-4B
163092/XE	F/A-18A
159224/XE	AH-1J
159249	AV-8A