PHANTOM RETURNS FIGHTER HAS HONORED SPOT.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - A Vietnam-era fighter jet going up as a monument on Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor The Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California, USA, is a continually-growing venue for honoring test pilots who have significantly contributed to aviation and space research and development. has special meaning: It's a former 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. test craft, probably flown by many of the walk's honorees. Boeing employees volunteered to restore the F-4 Phantom II, and local contractors donated labor and material for the steel and concrete pedestal that will hold it aloft in its final resting place on Lancaster Boulevard at 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 . ``We've been trying for several years to get an airplane. We finally got one, and it's been worked on for more than a year,'' city spokeswoman Anne Aldrich said. ``The whole operation is a community effort ... which makes it so much more meaningful that way.'' City officials expect to lift the jet onto its pedestal next weekend, in time for the 12th annual Aerospace Walk of Honor ceremony on Sept. 28, when five test pilots will be inducted. At 63 feet long - seven feet longer than the F/A-18 jet mounted in front of Lancaster Municipal Stadium - the Phantom is so big that finding a route for trucking it between Air Force Plant 42 and downtown Lancaster has been tricky, Aldrich said. It will make the trip late at night atop a trailer and will be lifted into place by a crane. The Air Force donated the jet, which was one of more than 5,000 F-4s built between 1959 and 1979 by Douglas and McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. , now a part of Boeing. It was picked up at Avtel at Mojave Airport and trucked to U.S. Air Force Plant 42. That trip was easier than the trip up from Palmdale to Lancaster will be, because the wingtips could be folded for the first trip. The wings had to be bolted permanently extended for display. Volunteers at Boeing's Palmdale plant did the restoration and reinforcement work necessary for display, painting the plane in Edwards colors of white and orange. ``What we love about it is that plane was likely flown by many of our honorees,'' Aldrich said. ``I've unsuccessfully tried to find out who flew it. It was likely flown by many of our honorees.'' Volunteers also restored and mounted the F/A-18 jet, painted in NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. colors, that was erected in 1997 outside the Municipal Stadium. Services or materials were donated for the project by a number of individuals and companies, Aldrich said. The donors include designer Renato De Guia, Integrity Concrete, Arrow Ready Mix Concrete, United Rental, Hanes and Associates, Jeffry Silverman and Co., Ranco Construction Group, Boeing Co., Lancaster Moving and Storage, NASA, Robert F. Chapman Sheet Metal and QC Consultants. This year's Aerospace Walk of Honor ceremony will be part of a aerospace street fair that will start at 10 a.m. Sept. 28 on Lancaster Boulevard between Sierra Highway and 10th Street West. Granite monuments will be unveiled at 11:30 a.m. to 2002 honorees Doug Benefield, killed in the 1984 crash of a B-1A bomber; SR-71 Blackbird “SR-71” redirects here. For other uses, see SR-71 (disambiguation). The Lockheed SR-71 was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed YF-12A and A-12 aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. pilots Robert Gilliland and Robert Riedenauer; YF-23 test pilot Paul Metz Paul Metz (born December 6, 1973 - was a Columbus Ohio Bike Courier player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He used to care about things, now he dosen't External links
There will be live music, food booths, and a variety of rocket-engine and aircraft displays at the free fair. The latest mural mural Painting applied to and made integral with the surface of a wall or ceiling. Its roots can be found in the universal desire that led prehistoric peoples to create cave paintings—the desire to decorate their surroundings and express their ideas and beliefs. commissioned by a downtown business organization, the Lancaster Old Town Site, will be unveiled at 2 p.m. This year's mural depicts Joe Engle, an X-15 rocket test pilot and one of the first space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. astronauts. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Volunteers from Ranco Construction Group remove the molding from a concrete pedestal that will support an F-4 Phantom II jet fighter Jet fighter may refer to:
Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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