A Whole Lot of Nothin’
By Eric McCarthy
I recently flew from southern California to Henderson, NV for an aerial photo assignment. It wasn’t my first time up that way, but I had forgotten just how desolate the desert between here and there is. You see, as someone who grew up in the Boston area, the desert southwest is whole new experience – we don’t have anything like this in the northeast! The remote, unending barren wastelands are both mind-boggling and -numbing. In the wilderness of the northern New England and upstate New York, practically all undeveloped land is covered in trees; if you spot an opening in the trees, it’s probably a pond or lake, or possibly a meadow where a pond used to be. Not so in the desert southwest – there are very few signs of any life on the barren surface below. I’m sure there’s actually quite a lot of very specialized life– insects, rodents, snakes, etc. each adapted to survive the harsh conditions of the desert – but not a lot of humans down there. From our perch 8,500’ up we could see 40 or 50 miles in any direction, and there’s just more barren landscape! No settlements, no towns, few roads even – and, really, who would want to live out there anyway?
We departed from Palomar (KCRQ), crossed the coastal mountains at Julian (JLI), passed over the northern portion of the Anza Borrego Desert on our way to Thermal VOR (TRM) at Cochran Regional Airport (KTRM). Once clear of the Coachella Valley you cross over the Joshua Tree National Park en route to the Twentynine Palms VOR (TNP) and from there on, for the next 150 miles, there’s pretty much nothing but sand! Oh, there’s a few mountains along the way, and an occasional mine or remote agricultural development, but not many. And when you do see something like that, you have to wonder how they even got there.
We flew over Route 66 which was pretty unremarkable from our altitude – I do want to visit Amboy and their uncharted dirt runway someday to get one of those iconic photos of the plane in front of the old hotel there. We flew over Highway 40, which I image is one of the roads you see in the movies – a long, straight line stretching from horizon to horizon. From the air you can see some bends in the road, but I’m sure it looks pretty straight and flat from the ground.Eventually, after passing Goffs VOR (GFS), you can begin to see signs of civilization in the distance, the first of which is the blindingly bright Ivanpah solar site about 35 miles south of Las Vegas. Ivanpah is a concentrated solar power facility using three huge arrays of ground-mounted mirrors to reflect sunlight onto three boilers atop 450’ towers which drive steam turbines to generate electricity. The development hasn’t been without problems, including cooking birds as the attempt to fly by, but when it’s up and running, even on an overcast day, it’s a visual landmark you can identify from a long way away.Next you’ll see the large photovoltaic arrays south of Boulder City. From a distance they appear to be lakes, but of course, there’s not a lot of water out here! Then, over the hills, the Las Vegas’ skyline and its suburbs begin to appear in the distance, and you can start to breathe easier.
We completed our photo mission and headed to Henderson Executive (KHND) to relieve and refuel, cleared straight-in for runway 35 Right. Lined up on final, we listened as a Citation landed on 35 left, and then we were offered a sidestep to 35 Left. I knew from our pre-flight preparation that the fuel pumps were located on the west side of the airport, so I accepted the offer, landed and cleared the runway at Delta.After fueling we enjoyed a great lunch at The Landings restaurant in the terminal. It was a simple meal: I had a delicious BLT and my friend had a very generously-sized burger; simple, but really good and served very quickly! Highly recommended!Lunch completed, we departed for our return flight to Palomar. We followed the 15 southwest to clear the Las Vegas Class Bravo, passing over Jean Airport (0L7) before turning south to the waypoint ZELMA at the north end of the corridor between the Bristol and Turtle MOAs. About an hour later we were descending into Palomar – another photo mission in the books!Tragic lossAs I was writing this I learned of the tragic loss of life and an historic airframe with the crash of the Planes of Fame’s Northrop N-9MB in a prison yard in Norco, CA. Details are still filtering in, but we do know that the aircraft was completely consumed by the post-crash fire; the pilot, 52 year old David Vopat, did not survive. I did not know Mr. Vopat, so I will not attempt to eulogize him here; prayers and my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.The N-9MB acquired by the museum was one of only four built in 1944 as 1/3-scale test platforms, but this was the only one to survive. Designated N-9M 1&2, and A&B, each was painted a distinctive color pattern; the museum’s model painted in its original yellow over blue. Following a painstaking 13-year restoration, the N-9MB returned to flight in 1996. Truly an aircraft ahead of its time, the N-9MB was the first to “utilize a fully hydraulic flight control system with airspeed-sensitive feedback” according to the Planes of Fame website. Powered by two 300hp Franklin OX-504-7 eight cylinder engines, the N-9MB cruised around 160 mph and had a service ceiling of 21,500’. One of the original test aircraft was lost in an unrecoverable spin in 1943; two more were destroyed when the flying wing program was cancelled, leaving only N-9MB.There is a similar looking but smaller aircraft, the Northrop N-1M, on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. The N-1M was an earlier iteration (the ‘1’ denoting ‘Model 1’) of the flying wings Jack Northrop would eventually build as the XB-35 and YB-35 experimental propeller-powered heavy bombers, and the YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber. Few of the full-scale experimental models were built and all were eventually scrapped following some bitter Air Force contract intrigue. Nonetheless, the pioneering research completed through the program eventually led to the development of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber decades later, vindicating Jack Northop’s prescient vision.Until next time, fly safe!
I recently flew from southern California to Henderson, NV for an aerial photo assignment. It wasn’t my first time up that way, but I had forgotten just how desolate the desert between here and there is. You see, as someone who grew up in the Boston area, the desert southwest is whole new experience – we don’t have anything like this in the northeast! The remote, unending barren wastelands are both mind-boggling and -numbing. In the wilderness of the northern New England and upstate New York, practically all undeveloped land is covered in trees; if you spot an opening in the trees, it’s probably a pond or lake, or possibly a meadow where a pond used to be. Not so in the desert southwest – there are very few signs of any life on the barren surface below. I’m sure there’s actually quite a lot of very specialized life– insects, rodents, snakes, etc. each adapted to survive the harsh conditions of the desert – but not a lot of humans down there. From our perch 8,500’ up we could see 40 or 50 miles in any direction, and there’s just more barren landscape! No settlements, no towns, few roads even – and, really, who would want to live out there anyway?We departed from Palomar (KCRQ), crossed the coastal mountains at Julian (JLI), passed over the northern portion of the Anza Borrego Desert on our way to Thermal VOR (TRM) at Cochran Regional Airport (KTRM). Once clear of the Coachella Valley you cross over the Joshua Tree National Park en route to the Twentynine Palms VOR (TNP) and from there on, for the next 150 miles, there’s pretty much nothing but sand! Oh, there’s a few mountains along the way, and an occasional mine or remote agricultural development, but not many. And when you do see something like that, you have to wonder how they even got there.We flew over Route 66 which was pretty unremarkable from our altitude – I do want to visit Amboy and their uncharted dirt runway someday to get one of those iconic photos of the plane in front of the old hotel there. We flew over Highway 40, which I image is one of the roads you see in the movies – a long, straight line stretching from horizon to horizon. From the air you can see some bends in the road, but I’m sure it looks pretty straight and flat from the ground.Eventually, after passing Goffs VOR (GFS), you can begin to see signs of civilization in the distance, the first of which is the blindingly bright Ivanpah solar site about 35 miles south of Las Vegas. Ivanpah is a concentrated solar power facility using three huge arrays of ground-mounted mirrors to reflect sunlight onto three boilers atop 450’ towers which drive steam turbines to generate electricity. The development hasn’t been without problems, including cooking birds as the attempt to fly by, but when it’s up and running, even on an overcast day, it’s a visual landmark you can identify from a long way away.Next you’ll see the large photovoltaic arrays south of Boulder City. From a distance they appear to be lakes, but of course, there’s not a lot of water out here! Then, over the hills, the Las Vegas’ skyline and its suburbs begin to appear in the distance, and you can start to breathe easier.We completed our photo mission and headed to Henderson Executive (KHND) to relieve and refuel, cleared straight-in for runway 35 Right. Lined up on final, we listened as a Citation landed on 35 left, and then we were offered a sidestep to 35 Left. I knew from our pre-flight preparation that the fuel pumps were located on the west side of the airport, so I accepted the offer, landed and cleared the runway at Delta.After fueling we enjoyed a great lunch at The Landings restaurant in the terminal. It was a simple meal: I had a delicious BLT and my friend had a very generously-sized burger; simple, but really good and served very quickly! Highly recommended!Lunch completed, we departed for our return flight to Palomar. We followed the 15 southwest to clear the Las Vegas Class Bravo, passing over Jean Airport (0L7) before turning south to the waypoint ZELMA at the north end of the corridor between the Bristol and Turtle MOAs. About an hour later we were descending into Palomar – another photo mission in the books!Tragic lossAs I was writing this I learned of the tragic loss of life and an historic airframe with the crash of the Planes of Fame’s Northrop N-9MB in a prison yard in Norco, CA. Details are still filtering in, but we do know that the aircraft was completely consumed by the post-crash fire; the pilot, 52 year old David Vopat, did not survive. I did not know Mr. Vopat, so I will not attempt to eulogize him here; prayers and my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.The N-9MB acquired by the museum was one of only four built in 1944 as 1/3-scale test platforms, but this was the only one to survive. Designated N-9M 1&2, and A&B, each was painted a distinctive color pattern; the museum’s model painted in its original yellow over blue. Following a painstaking 13-year restoration, the N-9MB returned to flight in 1996. Truly an aircraft ahead of its time, the N-9MB was the first to “utilize a fully hydraulic flight control system with airspeed-sensitive feedback” according to the Planes of Fame website. Powered by two 300hp Franklin OX-504-7 eight cylinder engines, the N-9MB cruised around 160 mph and had a service ceiling of 21,500’. One of the original test aircraft was lost in an unrecoverable spin in 1943; two more were destroyed when the flying wing program was cancelled, leaving only N-9MB.There is a similar looking but smaller aircraft, the Northrop N-1M, on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. The N-1M was an earlier iteration (the ‘1’ denoting ‘Model 1’) of the flying wings Jack Northrop would eventually build as the XB-35 and YB-35 experimental propeller-powered heavy bombers, and the YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber. Few of the full-scale experimental models were built and all were eventually scrapped following some bitter Air Force contract intrigue. Nonetheless, the pioneering research completed through the program eventually led to the development of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber decades later, vindicating Jack Northop’s prescient vision.Until next time, fly safe!