Lancaster, Fox Field, CA; 14th Oct 08

On the morning of the 14th Oct 08, the day I was due to return to the UK, the fires of the previous day had died down somewhat, allowing me to venture North of Los Angeles, towards Lancaster, with its airport, Fox Field.

I stopped at Fox Field earlier in the year, to visit the Milestones of Flight Collection there, and had hoped to see some fire fighting aircraft there, but it was the wrong time of year for fires in the LA area, so none were present. There was much better luck this time though, with the presence of five Lockheed Neptunes from Neptune Aviation Services, and four Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe Sky crane helicopters from Helicoper Transport services.

The fire fighting base at Fox Field (Fox Tanker Base) is operated by the US Forest Service, in contrast to most other bases in the area, which are run by the California Department of Fire and Forestry (CDF). The aircraft tend to be based there seasonally, with the Neptunes present all hailing from Montana.

The aircraft are an obvious source of great pride to their crews, and all carry some sort of personal insignia, from nose art, and shark mouths on the jet engine intakes, through to names and flags inside the nose glazing.

The CH-54 helicopters made an impressive sight, lined up on the apron. Although retired by the US Army some years ago, many of these aircraft still earn an important living as fire fighters throughout the US, and worldwide.

Fox Field always seems to turn up something interesting, and unusual, and this time was no exception. There were two very nice King Air derivatives on the ramp, the first a US Forest Service aircraft, the second a USAF C-12J. This C-12 is in fact the sole aircraft operated from Holloman AFB by the 586th TSS, and used in support of weapons trials in the New Mexico desert.

My visit also gave me the opportunity to photograph a resident Magister and UH-1B, neither of which appear to have flown for some time.

Another great visit to a very friendly and interesting little airfield. My thanks to the staff at Fox Tanker base, the Helicopter Transport Services crew and the ops staff at Fox Field for allowing me access to their aircraft.

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