Author Topic: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)  (Read 98352 times)

Offline wolfpack

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #20 on: 06/07/2012 06:31 pm »
Is there a good reason why the shuttle arrivals aren't aimed at the weekends? 

A lot easier to get a whole lot of people outside and looking up when they don't have to be at work.

Because it would probably result in a lot of the manpower involved getting overtime pay.

Offline Jim

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #21 on: 06/07/2012 06:44 pm »

I think places like Huntsville, New Orleans, Houston, White Sands and Edwards would be very good stop off points.

Too many and why White Sands?  There is no one there.

Offline nathan.moeller

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #22 on: 06/07/2012 09:07 pm »

I think places like Huntsville, New Orleans, Houston, White Sands and Edwards would be very good stop off points.

Too many and why White Sands?  There is no one there.

Flybys for MSFC and MAF might be good ideas with a stop in Houston if they go that route at all.  Agree on WSSH.  Far too remote and no publicity opportunities.
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Offline WheelsStop

Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #23 on: 08/01/2012 08:50 am »
For those planning to see Endeavour's arrival at LAX, I dug up some useful information tonight:

From an LAX Board briefing: http://www.lax.aero/uploadedFiles/board_agenda/ManagementReports/boac120709ySpace%20Shuttle%20Endeavor%20Arrival%20Briefing.pdf

The most useful item here is that landing is planned for the south runway (25L).  There's also a diagram of the tow-out plan.

Next up, Imperial Hill is mentioned in several plane-spotting guides as the place to be for south-side operations.  It's practically right across from the United hangars where the crane operations will take place.  I haven't scoped it out personally yet but may try to in the next few weeks.

Map here: http://www.nycaviation.com/spotting-guides/lax/

An airport runway and taxiway diagram: http://155.178.201.160/d-tpp/1209/00237AD.PDF

The United hangar is the black box next to Taxiway C17.  As indicated on the chart, the south side tower frequency is 120.95 and south ground is 121.75 for those with scanners.  The typical approach frequency prior to tower handoff is 124.9, though some arrivals from the north are on 128.50.

Edit: link to taxiway diagram changes monthly on FAA chart cycle.  For future reference, the 1209 portion of the link represents a 2 digit year and a cycle number that's roughly the month or month number + 1.

« Last Edit: 09/14/2012 12:20 am by WheelsStop »

Offline jeff122670

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #24 on: 08/01/2012 04:12 pm »
arent those pics of Discovery on the back of the SCA?   ooops, he, he..
Jeff Ray

Offline Wayne Hale

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #25 on: 08/02/2012 01:50 pm »
Sadly the WSSH crew (never a large group) has been dispersed, the lakebed runways are no longer maintained, and many of the buildings (most of which were temporary) have been hauled off.  Nothing and nobody out there for a flyby. 

WSTF (White Sands Test Facility) on the other side of the Organ Mountains is still in business and its workforce would probably have  a morale boost from a flyover, however.

Offline Alpha Control

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #26 on: 08/02/2012 10:38 pm »
Hi Mr. Hale! You entered post number 105, for OV-105! (I like the symmetry!)

On a general question for all, will they tow Endeavour on her wheels through the city, or are they planning to use one of the orbiter transporters from KSC? This will be the longest towing route for any of the orbiters by a large margin.
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Offline psloss

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #27 on: 08/02/2012 11:22 pm »
On a general question for all, will they tow Endeavour on her wheels through the city, or are they planning to use one of the orbiter transporters from KSC?
Neither; they're going to use the transporter used to tow the orbiter vehicles from Palmdale to Edwards AFB.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-071112a.html

This will be the longest towing route for any of the orbiters by a large margin.
No, those transports back in the late 70s/early 80s (for all the vehicles except Endeavour) were longer.

And don't forget that the transporter at KSC was originally intended to move orbiters from North Vandenberg to the South Vandenberg Shuttle pad.  Enterprise made the trip once (a round trip) on that transporter..that route was a similar distance to the one planned for October.
« Last Edit: 08/02/2012 11:24 pm by psloss »

Offline yorky10

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #28 on: 08/24/2012 01:39 pm »
Tickets bought and confirmed for the Flyout :) WoooooHooooooo
Launches - STS-115, STS-117, STS-123, STS-125, STS-132, STS-135, WGS3, Kepler, MSL
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Offline Naito

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #29 on: 08/24/2012 01:51 pm »
I'll be LAX on Sept 21st and Oct 5th, think there's any chance I could see her at the airport? I know the move isn't until the week after.
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Offline scotty125

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #30 on: 08/28/2012 07:07 pm »
I haven't seen a time for arrival at LAX on the 20th...only "mid-day."  I need to book plane fare this weekend, has anyone seen a more specific time?  My flight of choice lands around 9AM.  Just trying to figure out if that leaves enough time to get to a decent vantage point...
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Offline WheelsStop

Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #31 on: 08/30/2012 08:24 am »
I haven't seen a time for arrival at LAX on the 20th...only "mid-day."  I need to book plane fare this weekend, has anyone seen a more specific time?  My flight of choice lands around 9AM.  Just trying to figure out if that leaves enough time to get to a decent vantage point...

A really awesome vantage point would be on an aircraft taxiing by the SCA!

They're overnighting at Edwards, so an early morning start could put them over LA as early as 8AM.  Total speculation on my part, but I'll guess the LA tour will be around the late-morning hours (10A-noon).  Early morning hours won't work well if the marine layer is present; late-morning matches the DC flyover timing (although the flight time from KSC was probably the driving factor there).  The NASA recon flight this past weekend was up around 1:30P (presumably they'd want to do photo recon under similar lighting conditions as the actual flight), but that was later than scheduled due to the low clouds in the area.

I'll be LAX on Sept 21st and Oct 5th, think there's any chance I could see her at the airport? I know the move isn't until the week after.

I'd guess probably on the 21st.  If things go according to schedule, she should be out on the ramp in front of the UAL hangar for demating that day.  I assume once demated she'll be hidden in the hangar until the transfer parade.

I don't believe there's an angle from the terminal area to that ramp.  Possibly from the south end of the Tom Bradley International Terminal.  Off-airport, Imperial Hill looks to be the place to be.  There's a good writeup about it here:

http://taxiwayalpha.blogspot.com/2008/04/imperial-hill.html

In the panorama photo, the United hangar is the one farthest to the left.  I'm planning on checking the location out this weekend.

Offline WheelsStop

Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #32 on: 09/04/2012 01:21 am »
Here's the results of the site surveys I did this weekend.

First, Imperial Ave. at Hillcrest St.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.930939,-118.426601&num=1&t=h&z=19

This is off the departure end of Rwy 25.  There is a reasonably unobstructed view of the United hangar, just a small hill in the foreground.  While I was there, a China Airlines 747 taxied in front of the hangar, so it provided a good sense of scale.  The touchdown zone is two miles down-field and obscured by trees and power lines, so this is really a spot to see Endeavour once the SCA is on the ramp and during de-mating operations.

The following three photos were taken at 28mm, 100mm, and 200mm focal lengths with a 1.6x crop sensor, so the effective full frame focal lengths are 44mm, 160mm, and 320mm respectively.


Offline WheelsStop

Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #33 on: 09/04/2012 01:39 am »
Imperial Hill (Imperial Ave. at Sheldon St.) is about 1 mile east from the above location.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.931004,-118.411579&num=1&t=h&z=19

Aircraft on approach are visible, but the touchdown zone is about a mile downfield from here and obscured by some hangars.  The view from rollout to the United hangar is unobstructed.

The two photos are shot at 28mm and 210mm on a 1.6x crop sensor (full frame 44mm, 335mm), respectively.  Rwy 25L is the first hunk of concrete in the foreground.

Offline WheelsStop

Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #34 on: 09/04/2012 02:19 am »
A few other places I checked out:

- Flight Path Museum at Imperial Terminal.  This place is right on the south edge of the field.  From the parking lot, there are tall fences in the way.  My understanding is there's a DC-3 on exhibit on the ramp behind the building, along with a good view of the midfield section of Rwy 25, but I didn't have time to go in and check it out.

- Douglas St. at the DHL terminal.  (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.935296,-118.383481&num=1&t=h&z=19)  The good news is you're maybe 500 feet from the Rwy 25L numbers.  The bad news is there's tall fences in the way (of course).  Aircraft on approach are visible, until they drop below the fence line.  The touchdown zone is visible through the fence, but you lose sight of aircraft pretty soon during rollout.  If you don't mind looking through a fence, this might be an interesting spot.

- The Proud Bird Restaurant.  I didn't stop here, but it's just south of the Rwy 25L approach path about 1/4 mile from the runway and has a park / aircraft display adjoining it.

- The In-N-Out at Sepulveda and PCH.  (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.952624,-118.396735&num=1&t=h&z=18)  I had lunch here.  I probably won't do that again.  The parking lot was essentially impassable what with folks trying to park; trying to go through the drive through, etc.  However, if you can find a parking spot, or are willing to pay for garage parking next door ($4/half-hour or $15/day), it's a good place to watch aircraft landing on Rwy 24R up close...  You can stand on the sidewalk about 1500 feet away from the runway threshold, directly under the flight path next to one of the approach light stands.

There's no good reason to be here for the Endeavour arrival, since it's on the north side of the field.  However, there's a chance the SCA could do a low approach on 24R (The NASA photo-survey flight last week did low approaches on both 24R and 25L). 

The two photos below:
- A320 on approach to Rwy 25L from the Douglas St. site.  (400mm)
- A380 on approach to Rwy 24R from the sidewalk in front of the In-N-Out.  I understand aerodynamics and all, but it's mind boggling something that huge can manage to stay in the air!  (35mm)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #35 on: 09/04/2012 04:23 pm »
Tree removal for space shuttle arrival tempers excitement

For some South L.A. residents, the excitement of Endeavour rumbling through their neighborhoods en route to the California Science Center faded when they learned that 400 trees had to be cut down.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shuttle-trees-20120904,0,5463653.story
Jacques :-)

Offline TheFallen

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #36 on: 09/04/2012 09:11 pm »
Tree-huggin' hippies. Go to Angeles National Forest if you want to see some nice shrubbery. And wildfires.

Thanks for the recon, WheelsStop... Looking forward to driving to LAX on September 20 to at least get a glimpse of Endeavour/SCA airborne before they land at the airport.
« Last Edit: 09/04/2012 09:15 pm by TheFallen »

Offline Negative Return

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #37 on: 09/05/2012 03:19 am »
Back here on the departure side...anyone heard details about the KSC flyout?

Are they planning a victory lap along the beaches like they did for Discovery?

KSCVC is touting a Rocket Garden viewpoint package, but if it's anything like Discovery, the beaches will have a better view.

Offline Rocket Guy

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #38 on: 09/05/2012 03:56 am »
As long as weather permits, it is likely to be the same as Discovery, yes.

Offline yorky10

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Re: OV-105 Final Flight: Viewing (Going to Los Angeles)
« Reply #39 on: 09/05/2012 08:07 pm »
Back here on the departure side...anyone heard details about the KSC flyout?

Are they planning a victory lap along the beaches like they did for Discovery?

KSCVC is touting a Rocket Garden viewpoint package, but if it's anything like Discovery, the beaches will have a better view.
I got my tickets for departure last week.
Launches - STS-115, STS-117, STS-123, STS-125, STS-132, STS-135, WGS3, Kepler, MSL
Endeavour Flyout From SLF
Scrubs - STS-122, STS-133

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