The very first airfield appeared in Mojave in 1935 for the needs of local mines, where they mined silver and gold. During World War II, the airfield was nationalized and turned into an auxiliary airbase, where pilots from the Marine Corps practiced cannon firing techniques. After the Marines liberated the area in 1961, the airfield would most likely have turned into a desert were it not for Dan Sabovich, a rancher with a passion for aviation. He took off in his Beechcraft Bonanza from his personal airstrip near Bakersfield, California. Sabovich became seriously interested in this empty object. He believed that a civil aviation test center should be created in Mojave, which would serve experimental aviation. The center should be run by an elected council that could protect the airfield from political pressure and maintain a healthy spirit of adventurism. Sabovich possessed a political wisdom that matched his remarkable ambitions. In 1972, after years of difficult negotiations, the state authorities decided to create a "special area of the Mojave airport".
In the northern part of the city, a mesh fence marks the border of the Mojave Air and Space Port, which covers 13 km2 of desert. The flight control tower rises above three runways, the longest of which stretches at 3200 m.
Time-worn hangars, partly built during World War II, line the main runway.
What is happening inside the hangars and in the skies above them makes the Mojave a developing world center for aerospace research. In these buildings, sheathed with sheets of aluminum, unusual planes and private spaceships are being created, as well as work on the secret programs of the Pentagon. Almost all hangar doors are tightly closed. Through those few doors that are open, you can see large gas cylinders, technicians in oiled overalls and the flowing outlines of white fuselages with black "experimental" "tattoos", as required by the federal aviation authorities. Sabovich ran the airport until 2002, and died in 2005. But the concept of combining private business and public administration continues to live on. Most directors these days are tenants and pilots (or pilot tenants). Mojave Aviation Center, also known as the Civil Aerospace Center, is located in Mojave, California, 35 ° 03'34 "N 118 ° 09'06" W, at an altitude of 2791 feet (851 m). It is the first facility licensed in the United States for horizontal space shuttle launches, being certified as a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration on June 17, 2004. The Mojave Aviation Center has three main areas of activity: flight tests, development of the space industry, repair and maintenance of various types of aircraft, including up to the largest aircraft. As well as storage and disposal of civil and military aircraft. As a storage base, the Mojave is much inferior to the Davis-Monton air base in terms of the number of aircraft units located.
And unlike him, mostly civilian aircraft are stored and disposed of here.
But there are exceptions, so until recently, EA-3 electronic warfare aircraft based on the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior attack aircraft were stored here. There are still several F-100 Super Saber fighters, transport C-131s, and some other machines in single copies.
The Aviation Center has a rich history of air racing. Here races are held on restored and modernized piston aircraft from the Second World War. In 1970, the first 1000 mile race took place. Twenty aircraft took part in it. The race was won by Sherm Cooper in a heavily modified Hawker Sea Fury. The following year the race was shortened to 1000 km and the Hawker Sea Fury won again, this time being won by Frank Sanders. From 1973 to 1979, biplane races were held. In 1983, Frank Taylor set a speed record of 517 mph, on a 15 km route, in an upgraded P-51 Mustang.
The Mojave race was often hampered by constant winds and extreme temperatures. In the 2000s, the route was extended to bypass the city of Mojave in order to eliminate possible unpleasant consequences. Over the years, several famous teams have been founded in Mojave. The two current racing teams are currently based in Mojave. Aircraft of various projects, including sports, experimental and record ones, are being built in the hangars adjacent to the airfield. Including such unique ones as the record-breaking Voyager by Burt Rutan.
Voyager Model 76 was the first aircraft to fly nonstop around the globe without refueling. The aircraft was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The plane took off from the 4600-meter runway at Edwards Air Force Base in Mojave on December 14, 1986 and landed safely there after 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds on December 23. During the flight, the aircraft covered 42,432 km (the FAI accounted for a distance of 40,212 km), at an average altitude of 3.4 km.
This record finally broke the previous one set by the US Air Force crew.
piloted the B-52 and covered 12,532 miles (20168 km) in 1962.
Also, on the territory of the Aerospace Center, a variety of aircraft that are in private collections, including Soviet-made combat MiGs, are being restored and modernized.
Flight tests
Flight testing has been concentrated in the Mojave since the early 1970s, due to the lack of populated areas adjacent to the airport. It also favors this goal due to its proximity to Edwards Air Force Base. In Mojave, at different times, various tests and trials took place: SR-71, Boeing X-37, F-22 and many other machines. Aircraft launched from this airfield set about 30 world records. The headquarters of the National Test Pilot School is based in Mojave.
Space industry development
The aerodrome, due to its unique location, has become a base and test center for small companies looking for a place to develop space technologies. Primarily Scaled Composites Space Ship One, which conducted its first privately funded sub-orbital flight on June 21, 2004. Other groups based at the Mojave Cosmodrome include XCOR Aerospace and Orbital Sciences.
Space Ship One is a private suborbital manned reusable spacecraft, the second ever suborbital manned hypersonic aircraft after the North American X-15.
Manufactured by Scaled Composites LLC (USA), which has been manufacturing experimental aircraft since 1982. One of the goals of the creation was participation in the Ansari X Prize competition, where the main condition was the creation of a spacecraft capable of going into outer space twice within two weeks with three people on board. The winner was to receive a prize of $ 10 million. At the beginning of the flight, the ship rises to an altitude of about 14 km above sea level using a special White Knight aircraft.
It then undocks, the Space Ship One aligns for about 10 seconds, and then the rocket engine is fired. He brings the ship to an almost vertical position, the acceleration lasts a little more than one minute, while the pilot experiences an overload of up to 3g. At this stage, the ship reaches an altitude of about 50 km. The maximum speed of the spacecraft at this moment reaches 3,500 km / h (M 3, 09), which is significantly less than the first space speed (28,400 km / h, 7, 9 km / s), which is necessary to enter a near-earth orbit.
Further travel to the border of the atmosphere (another 50 km) occurs under the action of inertia along a parabolic trajectory, like a thrown stone. Space Ship One is in space for about three minutes. A little, before reaching the apogee of the trajectory, the ship raises its wings and tail up in order to simultaneously stabilize the ship when it falls back and enter the dense layers of the atmosphere and quickly bring it out of a dive into a gliding flight. In this case, overloads can reach 6g, but the peak of overloads lasts no more than 10 seconds. In this form, he
descends to an altitude of about 17 km, where it again takes the original position of the wings and flies to the airfield like a glider. When designing the aircraft, a number of original solutions were applied. Chief among them was the use of a specially designed hybrid engine running on polybutadiene and nitric oxide (N2O).
The cockpit is a sealed chamber where the required pressure is created. Numerous portholes are made of double-layer glass, each layer must withstand possible pressure drops. The air inside the cabin is created by a triple system using oxygen cylinders, and carbon dioxide is removed by a special absorption system.
A separate system controls the humidity in the air. All this allows you to do without space suits.
In total, the device made 17 flights, the first was unmanned, and the last three were suborbital space flights according to the FAI, that is, above 100 km.
The first unmanned test flight to an altitude of 14.63 km took place on May 20, 2003. The first manned flight to an altitude of 14 km - July 29, 2003, pilot - Mike Melville. He also lifted the device for the first time 100, 124 km on June 21, 2004, and then made the first test flight to an altitude of 102, 93 km.
September 29. 5 days later, on October 4, 2004, the Space Ship One made its second successful test flight (the last, 17th). Pilot Brian Binney climbed to an altitude of over 112 kilometers and then safely landed on Earth.
The flight passed without any failures, the altitude record for manned aircraft was broken, which was held for 41 years (in August 1963, Joe Walker lifted the X-15 by 107, 9 km). Thus, according to the rules of the competition, the creator of "Scaled Composites" became the winner of the "X Prize" program and received an award of $ 10 million. One of the main creators, Burt Rutan, told the people gathered outside his house that he was confident in the success of today's flight. The success of SpaceShipOne, according to the creators, opened up space for private flights.
As Rutan said: "I feel very well that our program will begin the renaissance of the human era in space." Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Richard Branson announced the creation of a new space venture, Virgin Galactic. The project will acquire a license for Space Ship One technology for commercial orbital flights, with tickets for tourists starting at $ 200,000. It is estimated that in the next 5 years about 3,000 people will be able to fly into space.
The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, has granted the eastern area of the Mojave airfield, the status of a cosmodrome for spacecraft flights with horizontal launch.
Storage, maintenance and re-equipment of aircraft
In addition to futuristic spacecraft, experimental and racing samples, you can see aircraft from the Vietnam War on the runway. In a huge hangar at the far end of the airfield, BAE Flight System is converting F-4 Phantom II aircraft into QF-4 radio-controlled targets that will serve as unmanned targets for testing air-to-air missiles at the Florida proving ground. In fact, "Phantoms" are being prepared for their last journey.
Mojave Airport is also known as a storage location for commercial airliners, due to its vast area and dry desert conditions.
Many large aircraft from Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed and Airbus, owned by major airlines, are kept in Mojave.
Some aircraft are stored until scrapped or disassembled for spare parts and parts, while others are repaired here and returned to active service.
