Wierd, check out the comments.

https://gizmodo.com/5859081/why-is-china-building-these-gigantic-structures-in-the-middle-of-the-desert

85-569 is going to be the first QF-16 I think.

That's what they told me when we dropped them off. Too bad too, it was a good jet and only had a little over 4000 hours on it

Sledy

I don't know about Mojave, however I do know that final assembly and flight test, etc. is being done here in Jacksonville. Boeing has the contract and is doing it at their facility at Cecil Field. It's kinda nice to see lawn darts in the area again, given we gave ours up in '94 for Eagles. Kinda nostalgic..........

My completely bullshit hypothesis is that the patterns are used to callibrate satellite imaging sensors, focus the cameras.

Well gearpig, when you ride your bike over there and figure out what those things are, hop on the closest free Wi-Fi and post on this American military forum what you discovered in the back corner of their test range...good luck.

Ummmm....They are not the only ones doing it....

https://maps.google.c...=h&z=18&vpsrc=6

You will be surprised when you scroll out and see where it is.

Edited November 15, 201114 yr by ClearedHot

Does anyone know what this is?

https://maps.google.c...psrc=6&t=h&z=18

Looks like a weapons effects testing arena. Detonate the bomb in the middle and look for fragmentation distribution, velocity, etc. Eglin uses something similar.

Wierd, check out the comments.

https://gizmodo.com/5...e-of-the-desert

Mimic city streets?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8888909/China-Google-Earth-spots-huge-unidentified-structures-in-Gobi-desert.html

Mimic city streets?

https://www.telegraph...obi-desert.html

Hah, what city (Besides Boston) would have such weird streets?

Hah, what city (Besides Boston) would have such weird streets?

Saint Paul

Hah, what city (Besides Boston) would have such weird streets?

Every city in Europe that wasn't absolutely destroyed in WWII.

Hah, what city (Besides Boston) would have such weird streets?

I'm guessing "mimic" in the sense of randomness or unique patterns in most cities, such that a system of interest can be tested to see how well it can track/identify a specific section.

Found out what the patterns were, from Cracked.com of all places.

https://www.cracked.c...-investigation/

Edited November 23, 201114 yr by spudsmac

Found out what the patterns were, from Cracked.com of all places. https://www.cracked.c...-investigation/

haha that cracked me up!

Quite a few Wurtsmith BUFFs still sitting there. The resolution is amazing though, the MI ANG F-4s I watched growing up by KMTC are still sitting there with their kick ass paint job. As a kid I never thought I would see C-model Vipers in the Boneyard.

Or the E-model -135s.

Took a bit of panning and patience to find the Special Ks from WAFB.

Bleedin’ Govt’ network connection just sucks…

Edited December 1, 201114 yr by MadMac

Thread revival...

For the DM/Tucson locals; Haveco apparently was a private company located roughly at Kolb/Irvington (just across Kolb from AMARC) that used to have literally a shit ton of airframes, engines, glass and every type of aviation scrap imaginable. For years I've driven by this place and seen 70% of a 707 airframe, the cockpit of a -141, hulks of F-86s, ancient helo parts I didn't recognize and oddly enough about 30 taped up nose pieces of F-4s.

After seeing literally no activity on this roughly 20 acre piece of land for several years, in the past month just about everything (I mean everything) has been cleaned off the lot.

Does anyone have any idea what happened? Although it may be too late, since it is private can you go buy odd and cool crap from them? I googled the company and found a number but got no answer when I tried to call.

here's the link to the Google map link if you're curious, its the triangular piece of land just east of all the -130s. About 95% of the stuff in this picture is now gone.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=32.165605,-110.837932&spn=0.008183,0.016469&t=h&z=17

Edited March 13, 201213 yr by Catbox

Thread revival...

For the DM/Tucson locals; Haveco apparently was a private company located roughly at Kolb/Irvington (just across Kolb from AMARC) that used to have literally a shit ton of airframes, engines, glass and every type of aviation scrap imaginable. For years I've driven by this place and seen 70% of a 707 airframe, the cockpit of a -141, hulks of F-86s, ancient helo parts I didn't recognize and oddly enough about 30 taped up nose pieces of F-4s.

After seeing literally no activity on this roughly 20 acre piece of land for several years, in the past month just about everything (I mean everything) has been cleaned off the lot.

Does anyone have any idea what happened? Although it may be too late, since it is private can you go buy odd and cool crap from them? I googled the company and found a number but got no answer when I tried to call.

here's the link to the Google map link if you're curious, its the triangular piece of land just east of all the -130s. About 95% of the stuff in this picture is now gone.

https://maps.google.c...016469&t=h&z=17

I'm probably flying that 707 that was there, or at least most of it.

Does anyone have any idea what happened?

Edited March 15, 201213 yr by Rainman A-10

Does anyone have any idea what happened? Although it may be too late, since it is private can you go buy odd and cool crap from them?

Making room for A-10's.

Making room for A-10's.

Bullshit, they're making room for the U-2's replacement.

Any opinions/thoughts on what the AF does would do with "off the shelf" civilian aircraft like the BE-350s and PC-12s? Remove the mil gear and sell or just scrap? I'm guessing scrap due to liability concerns etc...but maybe not. Thoughts?

historically, they have been de-mil'd and sold. Alot mil surplus aircraft working today. Dynamic has a good fleet of C90 Kingairs, Airscan was/is using C337 mixmasters, CalFire using OV-10 Broncos AH-1 Cobra's, lots of plice dept's using OH-6's, Lots of fire-bombing S-2's, just to name a few off the top of my skull.. Some will no doubt go to foreign airforces (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.).

I would ordinarily say you are correct, but this clean up looks more like "Holy shit, the EPA will be here any day..."

Great feed for stalkers and suspicious wives.

Something about the voice on that video and how it presents the content really creeps me out.

How many of us will find out when the ISS will be overhead base x, and make sure we're rolling off the perch at exactly that time?

How many of us will find out when the ISS will be overhead base x, and make sure we're rolling off the perch at exactly that time?

... And then the OG will call you wondering why your gear wasn't down when you perched.

Bullshit, they're making room for the U-2's replacement.

You keep telling yourself that...