Re: Northrop's Tejon Ranch RCS Facility


Message posted by Peter Merlin on June 15, 2020 at 9:24:32 PST:

Back in the day, everybody seemed to have their own RCS ranges. McDonnell Douglas had one at Grey Butte. Lockheed and Northrop both tested their early XST (stealth) concepts there in the mid 1970s.

Rockwell International had one near Arvin, where they tested full-scale B-1 bomber models. That was a weird thing to see materialize out of the Central Valley fog while driving along the Weed Patch Highway.

Northrop established the Tejon Test Complex in 1980, and it soon became a magnet for UFO lore, for no apparent reason. The Tejon site is visible to the general public for miles around thanks to its location in the Tehachapi foothills.

There is a lot of good info on the Internet about the Lockheed RCS range at Helendale. From the air, it is the most impressive looking of all the ranges because of the massive concert pit used for raising and lowering test articles.


In Reply to: Re: Northrop's Tejon Ranch RCS Facility posted by Duke on June 13, 2020 at 20:36:22 PST:

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