Edwards Air Show Features SR-71 Spy Plane, Fighter Jet

The Edwards Air Force Base open house and air show rolls around again this weekend, with one military jet making its first public flight and another taking its final bow.

Shaped like a needle and black as the midnight sky, the Lockheed SR-71 can fly to the edge of space and is fast enough to cross continents in an hour.

In retirement, the Cold War-era plane has been paying its fuel bills working as a flying laboratory for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. But for now, it’s bye-bye Blackbird, as the plane will be on operational hiatus.

Even as the spy plane takes a final pass for the crowds, aircraft aficionados can see the first public flight of Air Force’s next-generation fighter: the F-22 Raptor.

The Raptor, which flies at twice the speed of sound and can lock on a flying target at distances far beyond that of any other aircraft, is on track to replace the F-15 as the Air Force’s primary fighter jet early in the 21st Century.

The plane is built by Lockheed Martin and Boeing Aircraft and is being tested at Edwards.

Besides the Raptor, more than 90 aircraft representing nearly every type in the Air Force inventory--as well as vintage and research planes--will be displayed Saturday and Sunday, officials said.

In addition, the Thunderbirds air demonstration team and the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team will perform.

The show is part of the Air Force’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the naming of the base, which honors Capt. Glenn Edwards, who died flying the nation’s first flying-wing bomber.

It is also the 40th anniversary of the start of the X-15 research program, which contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spaceflight programs.

Temperatures Saturday are expected to be hot, in the 90s to low 100s, but slightly cooler Sunday.

There is no charge for admission or parking. All gates to the base will be open both days from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Edwards Air Force Base is on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

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Edwards Air Show

When: Tomorrow, beginning at 7 a.m.

Where: Edwards Air Force Base

Cost: No charge for admission or parking

More information: Call (805) 277-6082; or check Edwards’ Web site at www.edwards.af.mil

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TOMORROW’S EVENTS

7 a.m.: Gates open

9 a.m.: F-15 sonic boom

9:45 a.m.: Parachute demonstration

10:30 a.m.: F-16 demonstration

10:47 a.m.: NASA SR-71 Mach 3 Sonic Boom

11:40 a.m.: Golden Knights demonstration

12:55 p.m.: B-52 demonstration

1:10 a.m.: B-2 fly-by

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1:20 p.m.: B-1 demonstration

2:35 p.m.: Fighter/attack demonstration

2:40 p.m.: F-15 demonstration

3:30 p.m.: NASA reveiw

* Many military and civilian aircraft will be on display