Mojave Airport

Besides being a general-use public airport, Mojave has three main areas of activity: flight testing, space industry development, and aircraft heavy maintenance and storage.

Flight testing

Flight testing activities have been centered at Mojave since the early 1970s, due to the lack of populated areas surrounding the airport. It is also favored for this purpose due to its proximity to the Edwards Air Force Base, where the airspace is restricted from ground level to an unlimited height, and where there is a supersonic corridor. Mojave is also the home of the National Test Pilot School

Space industry development

Beginning with the Rotary Rocket program, Mojave became a focus for small companies seeking a place to develop space access technologies. Mojave Spaceport has been a test site for several teams in the Ansari X Prize, most notably SpaceShipOne, which conducted the first privately funded human sub-orbital flight on June 21, 2004. Other groups based at the Mojave Spaceport include XCOR Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Interorbital Systems.

On December 6, 2007, the Antelope Valley Press reported that Mojave Spaceport was in danger of losing the "spaceport" designation by the end of 2007. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave notice to spaceport officials of its intention to suspend or revoke the space launch site operator's license on December 31. The FAA's actions are a result of concerns of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation regarding the storage and handling of the related chemicals and explosives at the airport.^[2]

Aircraft heavy maintenance and storage

The Mojave airport is also known as a storage location for commercial airliners. Numerous large Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, and Airbus aircraft owned by major airlines are stored at Mojave. Some aircraft reach the end of their useful lifetime and are scrapped at Mojave, while others are refurbished and returned to active service.

History

The Mojave Airport was first opened in 1935 as a small, rural airfield serving the local gold and silver mining industry.

In July, 1942, the U.S. Marine Corps took over the field and vastly expanded it as the Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station (MCAAS) Mojave. Many of the Corps' World War II aces received their gunnery training at Mojave. With the end of World War II, MCAAS was disestablished in 1946, and became instead a U.S. Navy airfield. At the end of 1953, the USMC reopened MCAAS Mojave as an auxiliary field to MCAS El Toro.

In 1961, after the USMC transferred operations to MCAS El Centro, Kern County obtained title to the airport. In February, 1972, the East Kern Airport District was formed to administer the airport; EKAD maintains the airport to this day. To a great extent EKAD was the brainchild of Dan Sabovich who heavily lobbied the state for the airport district's creation and ran EKAD until 2002.

First flights and significant events

Notable flight test programs to use the Civilian Aerospace Test Center

World records set at Mojave

Notable pilots and engineers based at Mojave

Movie/television location credits

Due to the Mojave Spaceport's unique location and facilities, a number of movies, TV shows and commercials have been filmed on location here. The Airport Administration actively promotes the facility as a set. The airport has facilities dedicated for filming, a large supply of aircraft to use as props and two large film pads that can be flooded for water scenes. Action movies and car commercials make up the bulk of the filming at the airport.

References

^ "Mojave Airport". Geographic Names Information System. U.S. Geological Survey.
^ "Mojave Air and Space Port in danger of losing designation", Antelope Valley Press, December 6, 2007
^ ^a ^b ^c Hansen, Cathy; Settle, Glen A. (1996). Mojave: A Rich History of Rails, Flight, Mining. Kern-Antelope Historical Society.
^ "Edward Shaw - VMF-213". Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
^ "AIRCRAFT WRECKS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA". Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
^ "Mojave Airport: Voyager". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "First Flights - XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
^ ^a ^b "Mojave First Flights". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
^ "Virgin's GlobalFlyer Makes Successful First Flight!". Mojave Airport Weblog. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
^ ^a ^b Deaver, Bill (2005-12-22). "XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity", Mojave Desert News. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
^ "Third person dies in Mojave Airport explosion, names released". KGET (July 27, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
^ MD-90-30 flight test at The Mojave Virtual Museum Photo Library, Mojave Airport, Flight Test and Development
^ "Orenda Recip Engines performs final air tractor tests", Aerotech News and Review, 2001-01-26
^ "SinoSwearingen Tests SJ30-2 at Mojave". Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
^ Scott, William B, "Morphing Wings", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
^ Scott, William B, "White Knight Back in Action", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed July 30, 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
^ ^a ^b FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed July 30, 2008
^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008

Contents

Activities