Interesting Times at Mojave 3-15-17

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ok, but could there be a reasonable explanation that's not conspiratorial in nature?

a reply to: pheonix358

Yeah it's a hell of a zoom on that camera.

very impressive.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'll have to wait till I get home to tease them a little. My Work PC is being a (insert expletive here) to me right now.

a reply to: pheonix358

You need a Nikon Coolpix P900

Thanks for the reminder , i might buy one .

Thats very interesting but not surprising that a private or civilian airstrip is hosting military aircraft.

The other poster is right about a lot of secret areas and strange stuff. Next time you two are out in that area take a drive on the 138. Oh in the evenings...weekdays...find a nice reststop (a specific one) and look back towards lancasters direction. You wont see any airplanes. I mean theyre flying but I wouldnt call them airplanes.

Anyways. Im going to go zoom in on your pics and see the sights. As always awesome job with the photography.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I zoomed in as much as I could on my laptop, and spotted the two fighters, although couldn't clearly identify them.
So I am guessing it is the third aircraft that peaked your interest. Can you tell us what you think it is ? I must admit I didn't even see it till you mentioned it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hey zaph what do you think they could be in your opinion.

a reply to: nelloh62

No, I didn't even see that one until I zoomed in. These two are there for a reason. Something is flying around the area in early evening, and for some reason is using non-traditional chase aircraft out of a civilian airport.

a reply to: thebozeian

Two obviously military aircraft, one preparing to fly a mission, out of a civilian airport close to three major testing areas for new military aircraft, and you don't see anything unusual about it

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hmmmm, interesting indeed. Might the "non-traditional chase aircraft " be in any way linked with an unmanned aircraft ?
That's a strange terminology to use for a chase aircraft ( at least to me ).

a reply to: nelloh62

If you watch the released pictures of Edwards testing, they usually use an F-16 for their chase aircraft, not F-18s. They might use F-18s for Navy aircraft, but the F-16 is the usual chase of choice that I have seen.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Oh, ok gotcha. So, maybe an updated super hornet to work alongside F-35 ? Just grasping at straws now !

a reply to: nelloh62

I have the feeling that they were being used as chase aircraft, but for something they didn't want people to know is flying around. If they used the F-16s, people would be more likely to notice. By parking them at Mojave, it would be more likely that they'd be under the radar so to speak.

a reply to: Zaphod58

So, the old trick of hiding something in plain sight eh. I am guessing you already know what the other aircraft is, so here's hoping someone can clean up the photo's and maybe get a clue of what it is.

a reply to: nelloh62

The third one? I'm not 100%, but I believe that it's the Northrop Model 400, that they were going to use in the T-X program. They built it at Scaled Composites, where they're sitting. Which is another interesting data point, because the only time I've seen anything that was there that could be it, was sitting out in the daytime. Every time I went back through in late afternoon, or early evening, it was back tucked away, until this trip.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I thought Northrop ended its bid ?

a reply to: nelloh62

They did, but they had already built and flown the Model 400. It still comes out onto the ramp at times, and may still be flying, doing other work for them.

Sitting in Barstow getting a light replaced on our trailer, and one of the F-18s just popped up overhead, leaving weird contrail patterns as he held in the area. Then he zipped off West and disappeared.

OK, here's your conspiracy theory for ya:

The Navy is testing a new aircraft.
1. That air craft is of Northrop design as evidenced by what looks like initially as largely spaced canted tail planes of a single aircraft, much like the YF-23 had.

2. The upcoming air show at China Lake forced this new aircraft to leave where it is usually tested to Mojave. Home of Northrop's Scaled Composites facility where they had hanger space to house the craft until it could return to China Lake.

3. The Navy is using two seater F-18's as chase for the new aircraft since it is a Navy project and would use F-18's as opposed to the usual F-16 seen at Edwards.

4. The Navy has been really dragging it's feet on the whole MQ-25 project. This new aircraft is why. The MQ-25 would take away funding as well as needed carrier deck space from this aircraft that might have a stealth bomber and/or tanker mission.

5. They only flew after dark. They had the craft in a hanger but had to bring it out before total darkness to prep for flight. The Moon rises a little before 11pm last night.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Did he write " Zaph, I know your watching me " !