`B.J.'S CORNER'; AIRCRAFT LOVER REMEMBERED AT MEMORIAL.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer When 200 people turned out Saturday to pay their last respects Noun 1. last respects - the act of expressing respect for someone who has died; "he paid his last respects by standing quietly at the graveside" deference, respect - a courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or regard; "his deference to her wishes was very to B.J. MacWhirter, it was fitting that there were airplanes to watch. An Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. Aero Club T-34 and a single-engine Cessna droned back and forth above the crowd. Then a big-bellied, four-engine C-17 transport testing at Air Force Plant 42 swept in low, waggled its wings and tilted into a steep bank. Everybody cheered. ``I wish the guy was here,'' said Palmdale resident Dennis Anderson
Dennis Anderson (born October 10, 1960) is a professional monster truck driver. , part of the crowd gathered at ``B.J.'s Corner'' - Avenue N and Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling . ``He would have loved this.'' Over 17 years, until his death last weekend, MacWhirter had become a local landmark. He acted as informal host at the best aircraft-watching spot in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley - his corner, right at the end of Plant 42's main runway. MacWhirter was there almost daily, invariably in·var·i·a·ble adj. Not changing or subject to change; constant. in·var  i·a·bil with a can of beer in his hand. He told tall tales, joked and provided information on the aircraft passing overhead. MacWhirter seemed to know when some special airplane was going to be flying - a B-2 stealth bomber, an SR-71 spy plane - and he would spread the word, by citizens band radio citizens band radio: see radio. or through his network of friends and acquaintances. So when the special plane took off, there might be dozens - or even hundreds - of other aircraft enthusiasts standing on the hard-packed dirt next to MacWhirter's aging step-van or Pinto pinto Spotted horse, also called paint, piebald, skewbald, and other terms to describe variations in colour and markings. The American Indian ponies of the western U.S. were often pintos. Most pure-breed associations refuse to register horses with pinto colouring. station wagon. Many of those people showed up for Saturday's memorial gathering. It wasn't a typical memorial. Nobody was in a suit. Lots of them wore shorts and baseball caps and T-shirts emblazoned with aircraft images. Son Troy MacWhirter wore a red-white-and-blue bandanna around his head. Many carried video cameras. Airplanes flew overhead, motorists driving by on Sierra Highway honked, and a color guard from American Legion American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Post 311 fired a 21-gun salute. ``B.J. was as much a part of the Antelope Valley as Lockheed's big building,'' the Rev. John Murtlow told the crowd. ``Everybody knew B.J. or knew about him, knew where his corner was. B.J. was a landmark.'' The 58-year-old MacWhirter was found dead Aug. 9 in the guest house where he lived at the Palmdale ranch of his brother, Donald. MacWhirter was under medical care for heart problems and high blood pressure and apparently died in his sleep, Donald MacWhirter said. A salesman and former operator of a number of small enterprises - publishing, selling aircraft memorabilia, auto detailing Auto detailing is the practice of performing an extremely thorough cleaning, polishing and waxing of an automobile, both inside and out, to produce a show-quality level of detail. - MacWhirter started watching planes at the corner in 1980, shortly after moving to the valley. Looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a place to eat food he had just bought at a fast-food joint, he parked across the street from Plant 42, he recalled in a 1995 interview. An F-104 fighter jet flew directly overhead. ``I couldn't believe it. I was looking right into the cockpit,'' B.J. MacWhirter recalled. ``(The pilot) knew he got me, and then he did it again. It was just amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. . I had never seen anything that close, and it was beautiful.'' In that interview, MacWhirter explained the attraction of his corner: ``It's all about camaraderie, coming together, people enjoying people. It's the love of airplanes and America.'' Friends said MacWhirter had a knack for bringing people together. ``I wasn't really a people-type person. I'd come out and observe and not make much conversation. He would grab me by the arm and introduce me to people,'' said Palmdale resident Tom Ashton, who has been dropping by the corner since 1987. ``He loved everybody out here,'' Troy MacWhirter said. ``He really looked forward to being out here and being a part of everybody else's lives.'' CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1--color) Friends of B.J. MacWhirter wave at an airplane taking off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale during Saturday's memorial service for the popular aircraft lover. (2--color) Son Troy MacWhirter, above, gets a hug from a well wisher at the memorial service for his father, whose favorite plane-watching spot is known as ``B.J.'s Corner.'' At left, B.J. MacWhirter in 1995, after 15 years of gazing at aircraft from his beloved vantage point. (3--color) B.J. MacWHIRTER Loved airplanes (4) The flag is lowered to half-staff as the American Legion Post 311 color guard fires a 21-gun salute to B.J. MacWhirter. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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