Lead: TomS KI6FHA
Tail Gunner: TBD
Comms Designee: TomS
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Meeting Time: 8:00 am
Meeting Place: Butterfield Ranch Resort Group Campsite
Departure Time: 8:30 am
FRS/GMRS Channel: 4 (PL: 4 i.e. 77.0)
2M Simplex: 146.460
2M Repeater: Monument 147.240+ (PL: 103.5)
There will be 12 rig maximum for this run.
Format for sign up
Name, Vehicle (FJ, JK, TJ, Land Cruiser …), Tire size, OAUSA Screen Name, Ham ID
Signed Up:
1. Tom; Land Cruiser; 35”, TomS, KI6FHA
2. Andy; 273; Wintermute, KK6ANO
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The sand has taken over the old Naval Sea Base and creaded some nice sized dunes.
"The Navy's first Salton Sea seaplane base was established in 1939 and located in the northeast corner of the sea.
The facility was later moved to this location in 1942. The base was initially equipped with PBY Catalina twin-engine seaplanes, and was used for seaplane training & as a seaplane ferry stop. In order to support the new mission of air-to-ground rocket training for carrier-based aircraft, a landplane airfield was built in 1944 one mile to the south of the seaplane base.
Tests were also conducted of Jet Assisted Takeoff rockets (JATO) in 1944. In that same year, the 509th Composite Squadron from Wendover AAF, UT made over 150 drops of prototype atomic bomb shapes at Salton Sea.
NAAS Salton Sea was disestablished in 1946. However, it was maintained & manned at a lower level as a emergency seaplane facility until 1967, when seaplanes left the naval inventory.
After WW2, most of the facilities of the seaplane base were taken over by the Atomic Energy Commission, which renamed the facility the Salton Sea Test Base. They used it to conduct test drops of inert nuclear weapons from 1946-1961.
The Salton Sea facility was later taken over by NAF El Centro, which conducted parachute drop tests for the manned space program & other military systems until 1979. In the postwar period, the continuing rise of the waters of the Salton Sea were a perpetual problem, and a series of dikes were built to prevent the Test Base from being flooded. As the water level of the Salton Sea has risen, the shoreline has moved about a thousand feet toward the west from 1944-1992. As a result, much of the eastern portion of the former seaplane base (including the 2,100' parking apron) has been submerged.
The Marines & Navy SEALs have also used the isolated location for exercises. Contractors have demolished what little was left."
- About 54 miles from camp to the Sand dunes and plan 10 miles off-road in the dunes. We can drive to the AM/PM about 5 miles away and gas up for the return trip.
- Butterfield to Sand Dunes_page1_image1.jpg (193.25 KiB) Viewed 5256 times
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- SAM_1797m.jpg (163.78 KiB) Viewed 5256 times
- SAM_1800m.jpg (234.5 KiB) Viewed 5256 times
- GoodPictures03m.jpg (235.16 KiB) Viewed 5256 times
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