Mission to Cape Canaveral '99
Day 12 - Monday, November 15, 1999

This was the travel day back home. My flight left Columbia, SC at 6:05AM Eastern. With a two-hour stop in Atlanta, I was home by 10:30AM Pacific. It was way too early and I was exhausted. But I did manage to get photos of Groom Lake, Nevada on the return flight.

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The round dry lake visible from the plane is Groom Lake, Nevada, site of the Air Force base where the U-2, SR-71 and F117A were tested. Many rumors abound about potential new aircraft that may be under testing there today. Usually civilians are not allowed to see this base but airliners fly high enough (7-8 miles) to see it from unrestricted airspace, though not with good resolution. You'll need the large image to resolve the 4-mile-long runway on the lakebed and the parallel runway to the left just beyond the lakebed. The base itself is barely visible as a splotch just to the right of the lakebed. You can find Groom Lake on nearly any map of Nevada in the Dept of Energy's Nevada (Nuclear) Test Site north of Las Vegas. But the runways and air base are never shown on any map. :-)

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A down-the-runway view of the Groom Lake AFB. Again, you'll need the large version of the image to resolve the runways at the distance and altitude this picture was taken from.

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Copyright (c) 1999 Ian Kluft