Mojave Airport, CA; 26 Oct 08

Located North of LA, and surrounded by the desert which bears its name, the town of Mojave is well known for one reason - its airport. Mojave Airport is home to several companies engaged in fascinating and visionary projects, at the cutting edge of technology. The most famous of these is Scaled Composites, the company set up by Burt Rutan, to produce advanced technology aircraft. In 2004, Rutan's "Spaceship 1" made history as the first manned, privately produced craft to 328,000ft (twice in a 14 day period), and in doing so, claimed the $10million Ansari X Prize. Today, Rutan's engineers are engaged in the production of similar aircraft for Virgin Galactic, who will soon be offering passenger flights into space.

In addition to Scaled Composites, Mojave is also home to a BAE Systems facility, which modifies redundant F-4 Phantom II airframes to produce unpiloted drones, and the National Test Pilot School, who train new test pilots using a variety of exotic aircraft.

At the opposite end of the aviation spectrum, Mojave is also well known as the final destination for many elderly airliners, which arrive for storage and eventually disposal. With the aviation industry currently experiencing the harsh realities of a global recession, many aircraft are currently residing for storage at Mojave, and similar facilities throughout the South Western USA.

In recognition of some of the activities which go on at Mojave, two aircraft are displayed at the main gate. The first is a former USAF F-4D (representing the drone conversion work), the second is a rare Convair 990, formerly operated by the FAA, and stored for many years on Mojave Airport.

At the airport at Mojave, it is possible to take tours, accompanied by one of the security staff. Photography is sadly not permitted on the ramps here, but once into the storage and disposal area, restrictions are relaxed.

During the tour, I was very surprised to see a pair of aircraft which I had once flown! The aircarft concerned were two early A320-111 series aircraft once operated by British Airways (G-BUSB and G-BUSE). The A320-100 series was only produced in small numbers, before being superceded on the production line by the -200 series. BA operated five -100 series aircraft, all of which were rather long in the tooth, and all of which have now been retired. All that remains of the two aircraft at Mojave are fuselages, so it may be that these are being retained for use as cabin trainers, or for testing work.

Of interest amongst the airliners are a pair of Convair designs, a Convair 880, and the later 990. These are both rare aircraft now, and it is to be hoped that they could be placed on display in a museum at some point in the future.

Amongst the stored airliners are a couple of ex-military aircraft, including several Saab Lansens, and a former Flight Systems Inc F-100 Super Sabre.

Close to the airfield, is a scrap yard, containing the remains of several interesting aircraft, including a pair of F-111s. The first of these, which is in rather better condition, is an EF-111A, parts of which are apparently destined to restore the other example, a rare F-111B. The F-111B was intended as an interceptor for the US Navy, but never entered production.

Also residing in the yard is a former US Army CH-37 Mojave helicopter and parts of several other aircraft, including an F/A-18 Hornet.

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