One last flight.

26 Nov 2014

When I got to Brian Field this was the condition....

Blasting wind and flying sand.....

But it did finally did settle down and I got one last flight.

Had to stay clear of nearby Edwards Air Force Base,

where they test many new military aircraft,

and the first Space Shuttle landed there.

These are the solar power plants now in the Antelope Valley, just north of LA.

And lots of cleared and prepared areas all around for expansion,

so some day the whole valley may be solar panels.

The largest PV solar farm in the world (550 megawatts) is on the Carissa Plains,

but I couldn't get there this trip - next time.....

An ideal place for it, with year round sunshine and the enormous market of LA nearby.

Solar power is rapidly expanding as it becomes economically competitive.

The last analysis that I found, indicates PV solar will cost less than coal by 2016!

And it figures, 

since PV is electronic technology which keeps dramatically reducing in cost,

while mining is heavy industry, which keeps increasing in cost....

It's getting exciting!

Both solar and wind power here,

and the Los Angeles Aqueduct snaking through,(underground here), 

carrying water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

California sure is a busy and high-tech place.

That's Mojave Airfield in the background,

where the Virgin Galactic airship is being developed.

The patterns of Willow Springs race tracks.

I don't know what's happening with these ponds in a very saline salt flat....

Some one here has a good water well and has made a really cozy homestead in the desert.