Inyo County Visitors Guide - 12th Edition

INYO COUNTY • 12th Edition 7 This group of four C-17 Cargo jets swarm over Death Valley’s Star Wars Canyon. Photo by Jon Cassell/Panamint Springs Resort. training area since World War II. The canyon is part of a restricted military airspace that is used for air-combat training, supersonic test flights and other training and flight operations. The rise of social media has fueled the fame of Star Wars Canyon among aviation photographers and enthusiasts who enjoy the thrill of witnessing a modern flying machine moving and maneuvering at the speed of sound. The region’s numerous military bases provide a steady flow of jets. The aircraft cruising Star Wars Canyon can come from Naval Weapons Station China Lake, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Edwards Air Force Base, Fresno Air National Guard Base, and Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base. Planes from foreign allies also are known to use the canyon for training. Patience and some luck top the list of requirements for those seeking a peek at the military jets. The Air Force and Navy do not provide any indication of when their planes will be in the canyon. It is not uncommon for plane-watchers to spend the day atop the canyon and not see a single plane. But then there are days when what seems to be a steady stream of jets come over, through and around. Besides the Crowley Overlook, there are two other nearby viewing points. Plus, Panamint Springs Resort is at the end of the canyon, which makes it another spot for plane- spotting. The Air Force acknowledges the canyon’s link to the iconic Star Wars movie franchise by calling the canyon “Jedi Transition.” But almost everyone else calls it Star Wars Canyon. The canyon is on the other side of Death Valley National Park from where scenes from the first Star Wars movie were shot that portray the Skywalker family’s desert planet, Tatoonie. Instead, there is another, more specific reason pilots and plane spotters link this particular canyon to the first Star Wars movie. The most cited reference to the movie is the final sequence when Luke Skywalker and his fellow X-Wing pilots drop into the trench of the Empire’s Death Star and maneuver through the narrow “canyon.” Regardless of what plane spotters and the military call the canyon, the sight of a war plane twisting and turning through Star Wars canyon is an extraordinary, otherworldly experience. Continued from page 6 Star Wars Canyon