USA West Coast Road Trip - November 1989

[bigcrow]

Thirty-Five years this month I, dad a couple of friends took our first adventures to the USA for a 3-week trip to the west coast & what delights we photographed.

Flew into LA & the next Morning we attended NAS Point Mugu air show. One aircraft we all wanted to photograph were US Navy A-3's which were dying breed. So, to drive through the main gates & witness three Whales lined up next to the car park was very special & still lives long in the memory. The following day was Edward's show which also had some quality items all in there gorgeous red & white test schemes. Anyway, here are some of the highlights from that weekend. The rest will follow.

#1

138944\20 KA-3B VAQ-34, NAS Point Mugu, Ca by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#2

138944\20 KA-3B VAQ-34, NAS Point Mugu. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#3

161587/XF-35 F-14A VX-4 'Evaluators' NAS Point Mugu. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#4

151939\14 HH-46D Point Magu Search & Rescue Flight, NAS Point Mugu. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#5

160586\NE-700 S-3A VS-38 'USS Ranger', NAS North Island. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#6

158360/1 F-4S VX-4, NAS Point Mugu, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#7

158360\1 F-4S VX-4 'Vandy 1', NAS Point Mugu, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#8

158360/XF-1 F-4S VX4, NAS Point Mugu, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#9

66-0377\ED NF-4E 6512th Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#10

69-6194/ED A-7D 6512 Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, Ca by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#11

66-0289\ED NF-4E 6512 Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, Ca by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#12

65-0713\ED YF-4E 6512th Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

[Amp]

Some gems in there and I regret never having been to Point Mugu. Always a soft spot for the Black Bunny.

[Mustang531]

Thanks for sharing these with us some great shots. Never did Point Mugu either, but did manage to get to Edwards.

[slogen51]

Beautiful

The red and white colour scheme of the Edwards test wing is iconic

[iainpeden]

Lovely. I suspect those ED Phantoms were the former Thunderbird ones - short gun muzzles and original hard wing - which were never converted back to original spec for operational use.

[paddyboy]

Yet another stunning set

Thanks so much for posting, Stuart

Paddyboy

[Petepilot]

What a selection!!! The F-4s are the stars of the post, naturally . Thanks for sharing, and....more please!!!

[roughcutter]

Wow, the canines jewels!