Palmdale Air Park and Blackbird Air Park, July 2021

[Paul Bradley]

On our way home from California, we stopped in Palmdale for a quick visit to the Palmdale Airpark and Blackbird Airpark. These are located on the edge of Palmdale Regional Airport and the famous Plant 42.  The Palmdale Airpark (it isn't a museum yet) is run by the City of Palmdale and currently has 20 airframes on outside display in a landscaped setting. There are no facilities, but the adjacent Blackbird Airpark has a small gift shop and restrooms, and has three airframes on outside display. Entrance to both is free.  

 

Here are some photos of selected airframes. While quite open, space is cramped and there are some very solid and a little too high concrete bollards in front of the aircraft. Luckily, there were no other visitors when I was there.

 

Canadair Sabre Mk.5, N91FS, formerly BAE Systems:

 

IMG_3172 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

 

Curtiss C-46, 44-78019:

 

IMG_3170 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

Lockheed C-140 Jetstar, N814NA, ex-NASA:

 

IMG_3163 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

T-38A, 63-8182:

 

IMG_3157 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

A-4C 145067:

 

IMG_3155 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

Rutan Triumph N143SC:

 

IMG_3135 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

B747 N911NA ex-NASA and B-52F 57-0038

 

IMG_3121 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

X-55A ACCA (converted  Fairchild-Dornier 328)  N807LM:

 

IMG_3116 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

F-14A 164350:

 

IMG_3114 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

F-4D 65-0696:

 

IMG_3103 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

F-104C  57-0915:

 

IMG_3102 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

F-100D   54-2299, ex-Thunderbirds:

 

IMG_3100 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

 

F-101F  58-0324:

 

IMG_3098 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

 

And at the Blackbird Airpark just next door, the SR-71 and A-12:

 

IMG_3083 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

U-2

 

IMG_3081 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

 

 

Yours truly....

 

IMG_3176 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr

[SAT69]

That entrance to both is free explains why the planes look like they've lacked attention for some time. Do you have an idea who's responsible for upkeep of the park and the planes? Before I forget, thanks very much for the photos!

[Bertie McBoatface]

I know I'm way behind the times, but seeing a Tomcat left out in the open in a museum like that is rather shocking! I must be really old...

[darthspud]

Some great pics. Shame a few are looking a tad worse for weather wear.

[Paul Bradley]

The park is owned by the City of Palmdale and there appear to be volunteers to help with upkeep. Tours have been suspended due to The Pandemic and I assume there has also been limited ability to maintain the airframes. Some of them appear to have been re-painted fairly recently and I would presume they are done on a rotating basis. The grounds appear to be well kept, but that's another matter - I presume City Parks does that.

 

One must also remember that this is a very dry climate, and the aircraft are no worse than those at Pima in Tucson, which has a very similar climate. While it does mean airframes aren't water damaged, the sun is quite brutal. 

 

Incidentally, here's a link to the Airpark webpage at the City of Palmdale website:

 

https://www.cityofpalmdale.org/205/Joe-Davies-Heritage-Airpark

 

...and their brochure:

 

https://www.cityofpalmdale.org/DocumentCenter/View/265/Joe-Davies-Heritage-Airpark-Brochure-PDF?bidId=

Edited August 19, 2021 by Paul Bradley

[dnl42]

Dang, I just passed by there Tuesday Noon. I need to put this on the Want To Go list. 

 

The airframes are getting baked and sand-blasted. The sun is a little less brutal than Pima, but not much; at least the heat advisory has expired. The wind gets very heavy in the Antelope Valley and up through the Eastern Sierras when there's a high pressure zone over the 4-corners region.

[Paul Bradley]

Worth a visit if you are in the area, as we were. I should mention that it's only open on the weekends at the moment. Check the website while planning. 

[canberraman]

A terrific set of images Paul. I too had the pleasure of a visit back in 2017 and it doesn't look like much has changed, (although the dusty sand has got thicker!)  The US really does have a lot of aviation history museums in virtually every state.  Sounds like you had a good tour.

 

Mark

[exdraken]

Wow, great, thanks for sharing!

Seem to be in a rather good shape to me!

A A-12 and a SR-71 next yo each other!

[SAT69]

On 8/19/2021 at 2:36 PM, Paul Bradley said:

One must also remember that this is a very dry climate, and the aircraft are no worse than those at Pima in Tucson, which has a very similar climate. While it does mean airframes aren't water damaged, the sun is quite brutal. 

An F-105 I worked on is displayed at the Pima museum. During one visit, one side of the airplane was pristinely painted while the other side was totally sun bleached. I feel for the folks who work so hard to try to keep those airplanes presentable.