These Are Some of the Last Videos of Jets Flying Low and Fast in Star Wars Canyon.
There was a place where the sound of freedom tore the sky and thundered across the landscape like nowhere else on earth. That place was Rainbow Canyon. Situated close to the western boundary of Death Valley National Park in California, the area is better known as Star Wars Canyon. Cut from the Santa Rosa Hills by lava from volcanic activity millions of years ago, the geology of the area strongly resembles that of the home planet of ‘Star Wars’ characters Luke and Anakin Skywalker- Tatooine.
The particular terrain feature, the canyon connecting the Owens and Panamint Valleys, at the end of the Sidewinder low level route is also referred to as the “Jedi Transition”. In use as a low-level training area since World War II and part of the R-2508 Training Complex, the area is restricted for use by military aircraft only and is normally administered by Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). But how the training route is flown changed after a dark day at the of July 2019.
When VFA-151 Vigilantes F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot Lieutenant Charles Z. Walker crashed in the canyon on 31 July 2019 the low-level training route was closed. Jet aircraft are still observed flying in the area, and even over the Jedi Transition into the Panamint Valley, albeit at 1,500 feet AGL, but the low-level flights were prohibited after Walker perished in the canyon. Rest in Peace Lieutenant. These HD videos (totaling well north of an hour’s worth) were shot prior to the crash and uploaded to YouTube by ManteganiPhotos.
January 2019 Part 1
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January 2019 Part 2
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January 2019 Part 3
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March 2019 Part 1
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March 2019 Part 2
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April 2019
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May 2019
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