January
A pair of brand new Sikorsky S-76++s spent New Years 2008 stuck at Mojave due to weather, having taken the southern route on their way from Connecticut to British Columbia.
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A Continental 747 N14024 bites the big one, while three of Learjet's latest aircraft gather at the Test Pilot School, waiting for the arrival of a camera ship for some publicity photo flights.
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March
A Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier hovers over the numbers on Runway 8, while Al Hansen's recently-sold TV-star Antonov AN-2 made a few more patterns before leaving Mojave for a new home.
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April
After years of storage, Scaled Composites innovative and somewhat asymmetric ARES reappeared as a testbed, with a very modified belly.
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May
Death and birth: The last Continental 747 at Mojave is reduced to scrap, while Eclipse brought their newest Conceptjet to Mojave for flight testing.
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June
It was birthday time for the Brothers Rutan, as a whole lot of "fast glass" descended on the sweltering Mojave ramp to celebrate. Meanwhile, a piece of the most exotic glass of all, the XCOR Rocket Racer began blasting its way through the sky in dramatic fashion.
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July
In the most anticipated event of the year, Virgin Galactic rolled out their new WhiteKnightTwo prototype, named VMS (for VirginMotherShip) Eve.
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Below left: Sir Richard's parents...his mum, Eve, was the inspiration for the plane's name and its nose art. Right: After posing for the press, Branson and Rutan try to squeeze themselves back into WK2.
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August
The hottest month of the summer also hosted several active flight test programs, including the Seven-Q-Seven 707RE STC program to certify the Pratt JT8D-219 for the venerable 707s. Meanwhile, Project CHLOE flew an anti-anti-aircraft missile pod under WhiteKnightOne, in tests aimed at developing a system to protect airliners. In the end, the pods were shown to be impractical.
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BAE Systems' QF-4 program continues to produce target drones as planners have begun discussing the next generation of targets, which could include F-16As.
October
BAE Systems performed the initial flight testing of the Airborne Tomography using Active Electromagnetics (ATAEM) pod, a DARPA-funded project that will use electromagnetic energy to penetrate the ground in order to detect and map hidden bunkers and tunnels, adapting technologies developed by the geophysical exploration industry.
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Mojave's annual Veterans' Day celebration was a time of rememberance for all the efforts so many have given to make our country one where the innovation which takes place at Mojave is possible.