Flew to LA yesterday, meeting with Dryden’s John Kelly at Aris’s digs to go over the plans since the next test flight is 2 weeks away – again…
As I lifted my eyes from my screen and looked out the window, I could see the Hwy 5 – Hwy 99 intersection and the Grapevine service station before the mountain pass. Cool! I’ve driven this so many times I know the road by heart now, and the SJC-ONT flight route apparently pretty much overflies Hwy 5.
But wait! If that’s Grapevine on the right, then the Hwy 138 turnoff should be just up the hill, with the road heading left towards Mojave… and the reservoir… yes!
I walk to the back of the plane where there’s an empty row on the left side, and peer out – sure enough, here’s the first lakebed (next to Edwards’ west gate) and right over the wing is the now-familiar shape of our lakebed. I can make out the Space Shuttle landing strip, the lakebed runways, and even compass rose.
Cool! I must have seen this white patch of sand 20 times before, but it never felt so much like home…
The picture, of course, just like all pictures out of a passenger seat in a jetliner, came out fuzzy and boring. But still I thought I’d share.
Happy Fourth!






For the obvious reasons, I invariably get too busy to blog exactly when things get interesting...