From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #117 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Monday, 27 June 1994 Volume 05 : Number 117 In this issue: Re: Groom Lake in the New York Times trip report-Lockheed RCS facility See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Regus Date: Sun, 26 Jun 1994 12:35:08 -0500 (CST) Subject: Re: Groom Lake in the New York Times Can anyone shed some light on who George Lazar is and whether he is regarded as a credible source? John F. Regus | (713) 960-0045 | SYS/370/390 SYSTEM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING WUI:REGUSHOU | ------------------------------ From: TRADER@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 26 Jun 94 12:57:57 PDT Subject: trip report-Lockheed RCS facility Trip report-Lockheed RCS facility-June 25, 1994 _______________________________________________ I knew that Lockheed Corp. has a classified facility for testing the radar cross sections (RCS) of Stealth aircraft, in California's high desert, near Helendale, CA, so I went looking for this facility. My first challenge was that I didn't know where this facility was and my topographic atlas (DeLorme's "Southern California Atlas & Gazetteer") showed 2 possible choices that were reasonably close to the town of Helendale. The two possible choices were Hawes Auxillary Airport and Helendale Airport. I decided to check out Hawes first because the map showed a small area south of the airport as a U.S. Military Reservation. I also found that the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5 minute topographic maps of Hawes (Twelve Gauge Lake, 34117-H3-TF-024-00) and Helendale (Wild Crossing, 34117-G3-TF-024-00) were last changed in 1973, so they are of limited use. After wandering around the desert in 105 deg. Fahrenheit heat (40.5 deg. Celsius) studying the Hawes facility with my 10x50 binoculars, I'm forced to conclude that Hawes is not used at the present time. This meant that the facility was at Helendale Airport. Maps show a "light duty" road, Helendale Road, going south from Highway 58, past Helendale Airport. Light duty in this case means a dirt road. TIP: this dirt road is not as well maintained as the road going to Groom Lake. To be able to see the rocks on the road and avoid them, you probably don't want to drive any faster than 35 MPH (56 kilometers per hour) on this road. A good viewing spot is about 6.5 miles south (10.4 km) of Highway 58. Helendale Airport is definitely the location of the RCS facility, which is east of the dirt road. You will see signs stating "Private Property - Lockheed Corp." and a low barbed wire fence. My estimate is that you are less than 2 km. (1 1/4 miles) from the facility. It looks like the main runway is the one that runs roughly North-South. You will see a small collection of beige buildings. The main hangar is not very large -- it looks like it could hold one large airplane at a time. When I was there, everything was "buttoned up" so I didn't see any unusual aircraft. Also, they were not using the test pylon that test aircraft are placed on. Some people have estimated that the pylon can lift an aircraft 195 feet (60 m) in the air, so it can be bathed in radar signals, so that the aircraft's stealth characteristics can be understood. I've seen photos of the pylon in operation, and it appears to be similar to the pylon at the radar test RAMS facility in New Mexico. (For an illustration of the New Mexico pylon, see the June 13, 1994 issue of "Aviation Week") Apparently, aircraft are "mated" to the pylon, just below the surface of the ground. When I left Helendale Airport around 7 PM on a Saturday night, there were a number of cars in the parking lot, possibly indicating that some sort of test would be conducted late in the evening, when reconnaissance satellites would not be able to "image" the facility. I had no encounters with Lockheed security or local law enforcement. I can also report that after a day out in the desert heat, a couple of ice cold Bohemia beers taste like the nectar of the gods! Radio monitoring: _________________ I picked up one non-security transmission on my scanner, which had Lockheed channels programmed in it. Unfortunately, the radio was sitting on the ground, and I was holding binoculars, so I didn't catch the frequency. Here's a list of Lockheed channels that I used (extracted from FCC records) (frequencies are in Mhz, and FM unless otherwise stated): Helendale area: 153.2, 158.295 Palmdale area (Plant 42): 153.2, 158.295, 334.7 (AM), 462.425 California: 33.4, 121.9 (AM), 123.25 (AM), 123.325 (AM), 123.425 (AM), 123.5 (AM), 123.9 (AM), 451.3875, 462.2125, 462.2625, 462.3125, 462.3625, 462.4375, 463.2875 anywhere in the US: 122.9 (AM), 123.125 (AM) , 123.15 (AM), 123.175 (AM), 123.4 (AM), 123.575 (AM), 151.625, 154.57, 154.6, 464.5, 464.55 How to get to the Helendale RCS facility: _________________________________________ I assume that you will want to stay on paved roads as much as possible - some travel on a dirt road is still required though. Go north on Highway 395, from Interstate 15 (towards Bishop and Adelanto). About 13 miles (20.8 km) north of Adelanto, there will be a turn-off for Shadow Mountain Road, on the right. When you get near highway callbox 395-262, slow down, because you will be getting near Shadow Mountain Road. If you get to Kramer Road or Highway 58, you've gone too far north. Go east on Shadow Mountain Road for about 6 miles (9.6 km) and the road will run into the Helendale Road (on the left hand side). Go north on Helendale Road on the part that is paved. Eventually, the paved road will end and Helendale Road will become a dirt road. Keep going north on the dirt road. Good viewing spots are in the area about 3 to 3 1/2 miles (4.8 to 5.6 km) north of where the paved road ends. Helendale Road has some parts in there where you will have to slow down, because the road has ruts and rocks in your path. This road is not designed to be driven at high speed!! Interested visitors can also follow the signs in Adelanto towards George Air Force Base. George AFB is being closed though as part of the nationwide base closures, so there isn't much to see at George AFB. Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #117 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. 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