Day 1 1 movement, was in the wrong location due to sheltering from a rain storm.
1)
DSC_2688 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
2)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
3)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
Day 2 things improved after another rainy morning which had me leaving the hill to grab a hotdog back at camp. Luckily you can walk off the hill drive the 5 miles back to Panamint, order food and a couple drinks, drive back and walk back into position all within an hour!
4)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
5)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
6)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
7)
F/A-18 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
8) This came close to being my shot of the year. 1/320th Fluffy backlit EF-18 Growler AND it's sharp! Sadly I had too much lens (not usually a problem at Rainbow Canyon I was told). This show of force was immediately followed by a vertical climb, inversion and dive down into the exit of the canyon. I almost screamed 'America F*&K YEH!' and did a fist pump, it was that awesome. I think the back seater is saluting too? The next in the series showed the burners on full too but the burners are the only thing in the frame!
EF-18 Growler by Surfrdan, on Flickr
Day 3
After a fantastic afternoon on Tuesday, I was happy with what I had in the bag and coud have gone home happy from there. However, I had a day left on the hill. I was not preared for what followed. After 1 pass on Monday, 4 on tuesday, we had something in the region of 15 passes on Wednesday. All hornets, but included growlers, super hornets and classic hornets as well as 2 special tails! Not only a good traffic day, but the growler pilot from yesterday appeared to be back again. I'd been shooting 420mm yesterday (300mm + 1.4 TC on crop body). Today I got 1 pass banked with the same setup, then moved to the spot where I bagged the growler the previous day, only without the TC on this time. Surely, I'd get him all in shot this time?
9)
F/A-18 Hornet by Surfrdan, on Flickr
10)
F/A-18 Super Hornet by Surfrdan, on Flickr
11)
F/A-18 Super Hornet by Surfrdan, on Flickr
12)
F/A-18 Super Hornet by Surfrdan, on Flickr
13)
F/A-18 Super Hornet by Surfrdan, on Flickr
14)
DSC_2870 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
15)
DSC_2884 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
16)
DSC_2888 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
17)
DSC_2921 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
18)
DSC_2939 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
19) NOPE! Still to close at 300mm
DSC_2944 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
20) Oh well, get a cockpit instead
DSC_2945 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
21) .. and a going away shot
DSC_2948 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
22)
DSC_2965 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
23)
DSC_2967 by Surfrdan, on Flickr
So there we have it. An awesome location yet I only saw 1 or possibly 2 togs there, at the easier to reach Father Crowley Vista. I was down the canyon slightly but the walk was only akin to that of Cad East top from the access road. Hardly 10 minutes scrabble up dusty rocky hill. I owe thanks to Skys7 from fencecheck for the location info. It was an obvious spot though, once you'd seen traffic go through once. My only gripe is that I didn't bag a Falcon. Just as it was my favourite aircraft growing up and I know they have been known to fly through. I think Sequestration has hit them though. Clearly not a problem for Lemoore and China Lake who provided most of the traffic I believe.
Squadrons represented:
VFA-122
VX-31
VX-9
VFA-192
VFA-14
VFA-86
Wish i was there. 
Is it always got something going through there? 
