Page 9 - Aerotech News and Review, June 29 2018

The 1970s and 1980s
Air Force photograph
On Dec. 23, 1974, the Rockwell International B-1A Lancer made its first flight from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., landing at Edwards AFB. The aircraft commander was Rockwell test pilot and retired Air Force Col. Charles Bock, Jr. He was accompanied by Air Force pilot and B-1 Joint Test Force director Col. Emil “Ted” Sturmthal, and flight test engineer Richard Abrams. The 70-minute, 250-mile flight path was within reach of the Rogers Dry Lake runways during which basic flight evaluation was conducted.
Air Force photograph
On Jan. 31, 1977, the first space shuttle orbiter, Enterprise, arrived. As many in the Antelope Valley witnessed, it was conveyed at 3 mph from Rockwell International’s assembly facility at Palmdale aboard a 90-wheel transporter. The unpowered version of the shuttle was housed at Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in preparation for a series of ground, captive- and free-flight tests prior to the space launch program.
Air Force photograph
Above: On July 4, 1982, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia landed on the main runway in front of President Ronald and Mrs. Nancy Reagan and some 500,000 visitors and guests. After the shuttle’s fourth orbital flight was its first landing on a concrete runway and marked the end of its formal flight test program. The space vehicle was flown by Navy Capt. Thomas K. Mattingly II (U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Class 65B) and Col. Henry W. Hartsfield (TPS Class 64C). On this flight (STS-4), the Columbia established a U.S. record altitude for spacecraft in a circular orbit. Left: On Oct. 14, 1984, the Grumman X-29A made its first flight, piloted by company test pilot Charles A. Sewell. This was the first time in more than a decade that an X-series research plane got underway at Edwards.
On Aug. 26, 1975 the McDonnell Douglas YC- 15 flew from Long Beach, Calif., to Edwards on its first flight. The high- wing, four-engine aircraft utilized an innovative externally blown flap, propulsive-lift concept. It was the McDonnell Douglas entry into the Air Force’s Advanced Medium STOL Transport program to develop an aircraft capable of carrying troops and equipment into short, unimproved airfields in combat areas. Today this aircraft is on static display in the Century Circle outside the west gate entry point.
Air Force photograph
June 29, 2018
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NASA photograph