Trip Report February/March 2023

As the saying goes: “The best-laid plans go astray”. This is what happened on my first planned photography trip of 2023. The original plan was to visit various locations in the Sidewinder military low flying area of California, USA. Everything was planned, with the car hire and hotels/lodges all booked for the 9‑day trip. The only thing out of my control was the weather. The week preceding my trip, the weather forecast for the areas I planned to visit was looking dire, with winter storms and heavy snowfall forecast. As my departure date approached the weather forecast did not improve, so I made the decision (a wise one in retrospect) to cancel my accommodation and plan an alternative itinerary. With the plans of any military low flying photography scuttled, I decided upon spending my time visiting some aviation museums and general sightseeing.

Friday 24th February - At approximately 19:15 (local time) my British Airways Airbus A380 flight from London Heathrow approached Los Angeles LAX in some of the worst weather I have seen in the area. After safely landing, clearing customs and immigration, I picked up my hire car and stayed overnight at a local airport hotel. Through the night, LAX was closed for 3‑4 hours due to high winds and torrential rainfall.

Saturday 25th February - Watching the early morning weather update on the TV, I was thankful I had cancelled my original plans to travel north, as the Highway 14 between Los Angeles and Palmdale and the Interstate 15 over the San Bernardino Mountains were closed due to heavy snow and blizzard conditions. In Los Angeles it was raining heavy and the forecast for the area for the remainder of the day was for heavy intermittent rain showers. I had planned to visit the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, then stay overnight at Lake Elsinore, before heading south on the Sunday to San Diego. Due to the weather conditions, it was not ideal for viewing and photographing the aircraft located outside at the museum, so I decided to drive straight to San Diego and try and visit the museum on my way back later in the week. Driving from Los Angeles to San Diego along the Highway 91 and Interstate 15 was probably the worst driving conditions I have ever experienced. Heavy downpours of rain with reduced visibility, combined with cars lane‑hopping, speeding, driving too close behind and not having their headlights on in such adverse conditions made it quite a nerve‑racking experience.

Sunday 26th February - Visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum at Balboa Park. I had visited the museum in November 2019, but photography was hindered due to the museum preparing for a function in the Edwin D. McKellar Pavilion of Flight, and as I was unable to capture all the exhibits another visit was always considered.

Entrance to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, housed in the old Ford Building, Balboa Park, San Diego. In front of the museum are exhibited (L‑R) a Convair YF2Y‑1 Sea Dart and Lockheed A‑12.

Monday 27th February - Today I was driving the 405 miles to Tuscon. I had a 5:30am start, not only to avoid the early morning commuter traffic, but to get to El Centro, California, a two‑hour drive away, in the hope of catching the first practise flight of the day for the U.S. Navy aerobatic demonstration team the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels practise at Naval Air Facility El Centro from January till March and their first training flight of the day is normally scheduled for 8am. I arrived at the perimeter fence at the far end of runway 12, the noted departure runway for the team at 7:30am. There was already a line of vehicles parked‑up, with aviation enthusiasts and their step ladders waiting in anticipation for the event. A small pair of step ladders (2‑3 steps) is recommended to see over the airfield perimeter fence, but as I did't have any I opened the back door of the car and by standing on the door sill and propping myself up against the door post I managed to get an unobstructed view of runway 12/30. Any aircraft taxiing at the near end of the runway though (runway 30 departure end) would be obstructed by the fence poles and netting.
At 8am on a pleasant warm sunny morning, the Blue Angels #1 to #4 aircraft lined‑up on runway 12, four‑abreast and started their take‑off. The four F/A‑18C's in full afterburner passed overhead my location at approximately 125‑150ft in a deafening roar. The shock wave rocked the car and set‑off adjacent vehicle car‑alarms. For the next five minutes they passed overhead in different formations before heading south into the remote desert area to practise their routine. After approximately 50 minutes the four aircraft returned and landed on runway 12. After leaving the runway, the Blue Angels lead and opposing solo #5 and #6 aircraft departed from runway 30 for their session, returning 30 minutes later, landing on runway 12.

Blue Angels F/A‑18C Super Hornets start their take‑off at El Centro, California.

A surprise bonus was the USAF Thunderbirds aerobatic demonstration team were visiting El Centro and they too did a training session late morning, departing from runway 12, but landing back on runway 26. Throughout my short visit, F/A‑18 Hornets were also arriving and departing from runway 26. No photos were captured of aircraft using this runway as they were too distant and as I was only visiting for a limited time I did not move to the required viewing location.
Well‑pleased with my visit, I spent the remainder of the day driving to Tucson, arriving in the Arizona city early evening.

Tuesday 28th February - The first of two days spent visiting the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona. Pima is one of the world's largest non‑government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres. The aircraft are displayed outside, or in one of the museum's four hangars. As the weather forecast for the following day was looking unfavourable, I decided to spend the day viewing and photographing the exhibits located outside. One notable exhibit and recent addition to the museum's inventory is the NASA SOFIA Boeing 747 (registration N747NA). The aircraft is a heavily modified version of Boeing 747SP, carrying a reflecting telescope observatory, which was designed for infrared astronomy observations. Flying in the stratosphere at 38,000 to 45,000ft puts the airborne telescope above 99 percent of the Earth's infrared‑blocking atmosphere, allowing astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways which was not possible with ground‑based telescopes.

NASA SOFIA Boeing 747SP (Registration N747NA). The aircraft was not officially on display during my visit.

Wednesday 1st March - Another day spent at Pima. I finished off viewing/photographing the remaining aircraft located outside as the weather was favourable, but went indoors mid‑morning to view the exhibits located in the hangars, as the winds had picked‑up as forecast.
The museum is located next to the Davis‑Monthan Air Force Base and throughout both days I observed many A‑10 Thunderbolt's departing/arriving or doing circuits of the airfield. I also observed a mixed flight of two T‑38 Talon's with a P‑51D Mustang and later F‑22 Raptors practising for the March 25th/26th ‘Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona Air Show’.

Thursday 2nd March - I awoke early morning to a blanket of snow. Snow in Tucson ‑ unbelievable.
Today I was driving to Palm Springs. I delayed my departure till 10am, to give the light covering of snow time to clear. The 380‑mile drive to Palm Springs went without incident, arriving early evening.

Friday 3rd March - Visited the Yanks Air Museum, Chino. The museum houses one of the largest and most historically significant collections of American aircraft, covering the period from 1903 to 1984. The majority of the aircraft are exhibited in the museum's two hangars, but there is also access to the main restoration hangar and adjoining boneyard, where aircraft are stored or in various stages of restoration.

Northrop F‑5E Tiger II (BuNo. 76‑1638) in the Starfighter Hangar, Yanks Air Museum.

The museum attempts to restore all aircraft to an airworthy condition, though some will never be flown due to their rarity.
After I finished visiting the museum I made the 40‑mile drive to Elsinore to stay overnight.

Saturday 4th March - In the morning I visited Skydive Elsinore. I used to visit the drop zone back in the late 1990's and early 2000's when I was a regular jumper. It was nice to relax for a couple of hours with a coffee and watch the many skydivers pack their parachutes and dirt dive (practise their planned routine/formations) for their next jump. From the spectator area located adjacent to the parachute landing zone I could watch as the skydivers board either the Twin Otter or Cessna Caravan jump aircraft and then land back on the drop zone (DZ).
Photographs captured from my skydiving days can be seen at:
Skydive ‑ Digital Photos.
Skydive ‑ Scanned 35mm Film.
After leaving Elsinore I made the drive back into Los Angeles, where I visited the Proud Bird Food Bazaar & Events Center, located near LAX. The aviation‑themed restaurant located on Aviation Blvd, has a collection of original, replica and mock‑up aircraft exhibited in front of the restaurant. From the grounds, one can observe aircraft departing and landing on LAX's runway 25L. After a late lunch, it was time to return the hire car and make my way to LAX to catch my late evening flight back to the U.K.