VOL 22 NO 4 THE CHINA LAKER Business Name Special points of interest:  NOTS-The Early Days, Naval Air Facility In- yokern  President Gerald R. Ford  Groundbreaking Ceremony NOTS - The Early Days 1 President’s Message 1 Presidential Timeline 3 Groundbreaking Invitation 4 Inside this issue: Needed: A Place to Test Aircraft Rockets. How did the Naval Air Facility Inyokern, the original headquarters of the Naval Ordnance Test Station (now the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division) come to exist? The easy answer is that Dr. Charles Lauritsen of the Cal- ifornia Institute of Technology (CalTech) Pasadena—who was in charge of an air- craft rocket program for the Navy during World War II—was looking for a remote area in which to test aircraft rockets. The Navy began rocket testing at an Army facility at Goldstone Lake near Barstow, California. There were two problems with the Goldstone test site: CalTech had to get permission from the Army to test there and the area could only accommo- date rockets with less than 8 miles range. As each new rocket kept increasing in range, Lauritsen went looking for an area where the Navy could test on its own facilities and which had greater range capability with little population nearby. While flying in a small aircraft scouting out possible locations in the northern Mojave Desert, they flew over the remote Indian Wells Valley NOTS - The Early Days: Naval Air Facility Inyokern by Jack Latimer, Director Emeritus October 2016 President’s Message by Alice Campbell The Big Day has come!! Come to our Groundbreaking Ceremony Oct 14 for our Phase 1 Building, followed by refreshments and our Annual Membership Meeting. Founders who have made a pledge and are able to complete their pledges now are encouraged to do so. As we complete the Phase 1 building and Phase 1 and 2 infrastructure (parking lot, utilities) we plan to work quickly to move to the Phase 2 building. We also need those funds and more pledges for additional grants which require matching funds. In order to save funds we also have several projects that need “in-house labor”, assuming you are “strong and able people” and can make yourselves available. Please call the office at 760-939-3530 if you would like to help or need information about starting or completing your pledge. The Navy Ball is the evening of the Groundbreaking, if you want to make the day a full “Navy Day”. Call RP2 Benjamin Sheets at 760-939-3506 for tickets, the public is welcome; the speaker will be Navy leader, RADM Michael Manazir. Be aware, Retiree Appreci- ation Day Nov 10, email EvaBien@aol.com for info. Airfield at Inyokern 1943 Inyokern Airport, 1943, detail and much to their surprise the area contained a paved airfield with no apparent activity nearby, and in much the same spirit as Brigham Young ex- claimed on seeing the Salt Lake, Utah (con’t page 2) Newsletter Editor - Bettye Moody , OCR Text: VOL 22 NO 4 THE CHINA LAKER Business Name Special points of interest:  NOTS-The Early Days, Naval Air Facility In- yokern  President Gerald R. Ford  Groundbreaking Ceremony NOTS - The Early Days 1 President’s Message 1 Presidential Timeline 3 Groundbreaking Invitation 4 Inside this issue: Needed: A Place to Test Aircraft Rockets. How did the Naval Air Facility Inyokern, the original headquarters of the Naval Ordnance Test Station (now the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division) come to exist? The easy answer is that Dr. Charles Lauritsen of the Cal- ifornia Institute of Technology (CalTech) Pasadena—who was in charge of an air- craft rocket program for the Navy during World War II—was looking for a remote area in which to test aircraft rockets. The Navy began rocket testing at an Army facility at Goldstone Lake near Barstow, California. There were two problems with the Goldstone test site: CalTech had to get permission from the Army to test there and the area could only accommo- date rockets with less than 8 miles range. As each new rocket kept increasing in range, Lauritsen went looking for an area where the Navy could test on its own facilities and which had greater range capability with little population nearby. While flying in a small aircraft scouting out possible locations in the northern Mojave Desert, they flew over the remote Indian Wells Valley NOTS - The Early Days: Naval Air Facility Inyokern by Jack Latimer, Director Emeritus October 2016 President’s Message by Alice Campbell The Big Day has come!! Come to our Groundbreaking Ceremony Oct 14 for our Phase 1 Building, followed by refreshments and our Annual Membership Meeting. Founders who have made a pledge and are able to complete their pledges now are encouraged to do so. As we complete the Phase 1 building and Phase 1 and 2 infrastructure (parking lot, utilities) we plan to work quickly to move to the Phase 2 building. We also need those funds and more pledges for additional grants which require matching funds. In order to save funds we also have several projects that need “in-house labor”, assuming you are “strong and able people” and can make yourselves available. Please call the office at 760-939-3530 if you would like to help or need information about starting or completing your pledge. The Navy Ball is the evening of the Groundbreaking, if you want to make the day a full “Navy Day”. Call RP2 Benjamin Sheets at 760-939-3506 for tickets, the public is welcome; the speaker will be Navy leader, RADM Michael Manazir. Be aware, Retiree Appreci- ation Day Nov 10, email EvaBien@aol.com for info. Airfield at Inyokern 1943 Inyokern Airport, 1943, detail and much to their surprise the area contained a paved airfield with no apparent activity nearby, and in much the same spirit as Brigham Young ex- claimed on seeing the Salt Lake, Utah (con’t page 2) Newsletter Editor - Bettye Moody , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 2010s,China Laker 2016,Newsletter Oct 2016.pdf,Newsletter Oct 2016.pdf Page 1, Newsletter Oct 2016.pdf Page 1