which could be identi ed in the shimmering
heat haze.
NAS Point Mugu was then home to
what was called the Paci c Missile Test
Center (PMTC) and a large naval reserve
component comprising LTV A-7A Corsair IIs
of VA-305, a martime patrol squadron (VP-
65) operating the Lockheed SP-2H Neptune
and the Antarctic support unit VXE-6 with
its Lockheed LC-130R Hercules and Bell
HH-1K Hueys.
The PMTC had a mixture of US Navy
and US Marine Corps types for test
programmes. We also logged ten QT-
33Bs, a QF-4B and an ageing QTF-9. Theevaluation and trials squadron VX-4 had
F-4s and Grumman F-14 Tomcats.
From here we headed to Burbank
Municipal Airport to see what aircraft were
parked outside the Lockheed facility. They
included a P-3C Orion for Iran, 5-256, while
on the edge of the eld was the Calder
Scrap Yard, which still had a Boeing B-47
Stratojet nose at its entrance.
Van Nuys Airport was home to two
Air National Guard (ANG) Hercules units
operating C-130As and C-130Bs. Among
the numerous Cessna and Pipers were also
a dozen North American Texans, a couple
of Mustangs and B-25 Mitchells as well as a
Douglas A-26 Invader.
Long Beach Municipal Airport was
home to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10
production line. We saw 17 with examples
for Aeromexico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air
Siam, Iberia, Laker Airways and Philippines
Airlines, as well as some US carriers.
There were also some big pistons dotted
around the eld that included Douglas
C-133A Cargomaster N200AR, Boeing C-97
Stratocruiser N227AR, Lockheed L-188Electra XC-GIA, Martin 4-0-4 N40432 and a
pair of Grumman G-21 Gooses.
Next stop was the US Army’s 40th
Infantry Division, California National Guard
at Los Alamitos Army Reserve Center,
where there were 28 Bell OH-58A Kiowas
and 20 UH-1 Iroquois. This was followed
by a quick look from the fence at MCAS
Santa Ana, dominated by the huge airship
hangars, where we identi ed 11 Sikorsky
CH-53A Sea Stallions and 23 Vertol CH-
46F Sea Knights. There was a Sikorsky
CH-34A Seabat on the gate and two
further examples on the dump, one in a red
scheme and the other dark grey and red.
None have yet been identi ed.
MCAS El Toro was viewed from the
outside, but we still managed to read
off plenty of aircraft which included 23
Douglas A-4C/M/TA-4F Skyhawks, 22 F-4B/
Ns, eight Douglas C-117 Skytrains of the
Headquarters & Maintenance Squadron
37 and 12 Lockheed KC-130F Hercules of
VMGR-352.
No visit to the south side of Los Angeles
would be complete without a few hourshttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 59TALES FROM THE LOGBOOK
...
Left: Two F-102A Delta Daggers of the 196th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron taking off from
Ontario – this was only one of a handful
of units to still operate the type in 1974. It
received the Delta Dagger in 1965 and ew it
for ten years. All photos Peter Foster
Right: US Navy OV-10A Bronco 155499 at NAS
Point Mugu. The base had a wide variety of
types with the resident test squadrons.
Below right: In 1974, MCAS El Toro was the
US Marine Corps’ west coast frontline xed
wing air station, hosting squadrons of A-4
Skyhawks, A-6A Intruders and Phantoms. In
support of these assets were a number of
transport aircraft operated by Headquarters
& Maintenance Squadron 37 including this
Douglas C-117D Skytrain.An F-4J of VF-21 at NAS Miramar
assigned to the USS Ranger.58-63_tales_part2_1974DC.mfDC.mfDCDC.indd 59 05/02/2018 16:23