Carlw66

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Exits Star Wars Canyon

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Exits Star Wars Canyon

Taken on an historic day early in December 2016 when we had 2 Dutch F-35A's and US Navy F-35C fly Star Wars Canyon (The Jedi Transition) in Death Valley Na...
Read more

Taken on an historic day early in December 2016 when we had 2 Dutch F-35A's and US Navy F-35C fly Star Wars Canyon (The Jedi Transition) in Death Valley National park for us to photograph them whilst we were in radio comms with them. Strung out along a ridge towards the valley exit (that's Panamint Valley behind) you can see a couple of the other photographers, the furthest of whom is the crew chief who was up with his team fixing one of the Dutch jets till 11:30pm the night before so they could do this sortie. Along with the F-15 Eagles of the California Air National Guard, there were 84 passes in both directions along the canyon that day. Never to be repeated, including an F-35A going over my head at 30ft-500kts (shots on my website to prove it!) as the pilot shouted "smile!" over the radio. I will never forget that day!
Read less