In military terms, it’s a section of the desert northeast of Los Angeles known to aviators as “The Complex”. In general aviation terms, it’s R-2508 and you better have your ducks in a row and all of the proper permissions before you attempt to fly into the zones. And properly, it’s known as Rainbow Canyon, almost splitting the distance between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in Death Valley National Park. But to those in the know, it’s Star Wars Canyon, and for good reason: this is where U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy jets come to perform flight training, the kind of high-speed, quick maneuvering flights that make for great photos and absolutely killer videos. These are the days where every Viper driver, every Hornet driver, and even the Talon trainees can give their skills a shot while pretending like the camera is trained on them. All sorts of pilots have taken on what is unofficially known as the Jedi Transition Route, a carving run through Rainbow Canyon that will make any pilot that doesn’t smack the wall look absolutely heroic. This is the kind of footage that pretty much demands “Danger Zone” blasting in the background, the kind of footage that encourages young people to sign up for the military for the sheer hope that they get the chance to be one of these pilots, doing stuff like this.
In the last couple of years, military pilots have made the news for some interesting contrail art. Maybe they wouldn’t be drawing cheap art over tract housing if they got to cut loose and have a little fun like everyone you’ll see flying in this bit of footage…
Naaah, they’d still do that. Trust me, I know.
(Thanks to SBG for the tip!)
What a vast assortment!