Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base
Characteristics
ICAO code	KEDW
IATA code	EDW
Coordinates	34 ° 54'20 "  N , 117 ° 53'1"  W Coordinates: 34 ° 54'20 "  N , 117 ° 53'1"  W.
Height above MSL	702 m (2303  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	100 km north of Los Angeles
Street	US 395 / CA 14 / CA 58
Basic data
opening	1942 (as Air Base)
operator	United States Air Force
Runways
04R / 22L	4576 m × 91 m concrete
04L / 22R	3658 m × 61 m concrete

diagram

Satellite image with the largest wind rose in the world

The Edwards Air Force Base is an air base of the United States Air Force in the Antelope Valley near Lancaster in California , about 100 km north of Los Angeles . With its extensive slopes on the parched lake Rogers Dry Lake , it achieved worldwide fame through the test flights of various types of aircraft and as the landing pad of the space shuttle .

The approximately 74 km² base is used by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA , which operates its Dryden Flight Research Center here . The USAF works in its Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) on the development and testing of manned and unmanned aircraft, including their avionics . The second important institution of the US Air Force is their test pilots -Schule (Test Pilot School) .

Standard start and runway is 4,580 meters long concrete runway (04R / 22L), but the completely flat and smooth bottom of the surrounding dry lake bed also allows landings on the entire surface. A compass rose with a diameter of 1220 meters (4000 feet) has been placed on the bottom of the lake for orientation for the pilots . In addition, around 20 different runways are marked, the longest of which, runway 17/35, measures 11,920 m × 275 m. The airbase served about 50 times as the standard landing pad for the shuttle missions . Discovery last landed here in September 2009 as part of the STS-128 mission at the air force base.

The Birk Flight Test Center is also located at Edwards Air Base, which is currently (as of August 2011) carrying out the test and entry of the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft before they are handed over to the user.

To the northwest is the Mojave Air & Space Port .

history

First as Muroc Army Air Field and later as Muroc Army Air Force Base called, she was on December 8, 1949 after the test pilot Glen Edwards named as co-pilot of the flying wing - prototype Northrop YB-49 accident on June 5, 1948 at this location crashed.

The American punk rock band NOFX and director Gore Verbinski shot the video clip for the title track of their 1989 album S&M Airlines on the runway at the airport .

Web links

Commons : Edwards Air Force Base  album with pictures, videos, and audio files

• Edwards Air Force Base website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NOFX : The hepatitis bathtub and other stories . Autobiography of the punk rock band NOFX written with co-author Jeff Alulis, Verlag Edel (Optimal Media GmbH), Röbel / Müritz , 1st edition, February 2017. pp. 140 f.