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Photographers train their cameras on an F-18 fighter jet from Lemoore Naval Air Station, California, diving into Rainbow Canyon. Air Force and Navy planes train in Rainbow Canyon, known to many as "Star Wars Canyon," near the western border of Death Valley National Park.

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The fighter jet was flying low over the desert valley and crashed into a ravine. Within the ancient walls, it rattled like a giant marble sliding across a wooden floor. The noise, in stark contrast to the tranquility of the desert, is part of the draw for military veterans, aviation enthusiasts and photographers who flock to the top of the "Star Wars Canyon" at the western edge of Death Valley National Park. .

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To come is to envision mechanical birds tearing through the sky - and US Air Force and Navy pilots maneuvering them like X-Wing Starfighters.

When he heard the sound, Evert Van Koningsveld grabbed his camera and ran to the edge of the canyon. He followed with his Canon 80D, snapping 14 photos in as many seconds. He stopped, lowered the camera, and watched the jet disappear into a string of clouds that looked like cotton candy. The sky trembled.

The photos were clear and sharp, but none of them were taken from an angle that showed the F/A-18 Super Hornet's delicate body: the trapezoidal wings, cockpit, strakes, or tail. There were no wing deflectors or spark plugs to convey the motion and power of an aircraft capable of traveling faster than the speed of sound.

Koningsveld returned to his car, sat on the edge of the open trunk and held his camera close to him. He looked up at the sky and waited for another chance.

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More than four years ago, Candy and Richard Campbell pulled into the parking lot of the Father Crowley Overlook and saw a burned-out fighter jet in the driveway. (Video by Jackeline Luna/Los Angeles Times)

The canyon — more than 5 miles long and about 5,000 feet wide — is about a three-hour drive northeast of Los Angeles off Interstate 190. On paper, it's known as Rainbow Canyon because of its colors of gray, orange and red. The US Air Force calls it "Jedi Transition," but almost everyone else calls it "Star Wars Canyon."

For newbies, it may seem like a strange place to stop. The desolate landscape offers little beyond steep mountains, rocks and clusters of delicate flora that seem like monthly rains could never revive them. But the canyon is part of a restricted military airspace known as Complex R-2508, used for air combat training, supersonic flight tests and other military operations, and has been a magnet for plane spotters for several years.

There is only one condition to join the scholarship: "You have to be a flying banana," says Koningsveld.

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Aeronauts interviewed over a two-day period in March spoke of the power and speed of planes flying over the area at speeds of up to 500 mph. That brief moment when engineering skills destroy old ideas about aircraft and weight When a fighter jet transcends its role and becomes a testament to the technological achievements of mankind.

Wearing a backwards orange hat, Candace "Candy" Campbell of Pacific Grove, California, tried to catch her breath as she explained the excitement she gets from watching.

Some pilots dive directly into the hole, with the fire extinguishers lit. Others change course mid-stream, flying to eye level with spectators before landing. Some pilots fly straight like a bullet.

"Sometimes they'll come down and turn around so you can see their face and take their picture," said Campbell, 68. "We saw one come in, swing and walk over us." Some of the pictures on social media seem like the pilots are really aware of their audience when they show a thumbs up or a rock 'n' roll sign.

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Campbell and her husband stayed at a beautiful place called Father Crowley Overlook, named after a Catholic priest (Father John C. Crowley) who served in the desert in the 1920s and 1930s. There are at least two other points nearby, but Crowley's is the plane's value point.

For Campbell, each step is different from the next. In addition to fighter jets, he saw helicopters flying over the same area, and once saw a C-17, a large four-engine cargo plane, descending like a Slinky into the valley. , and then – as one eyewitness described it – saunter” above the desert floor.

DEETH VALLEY, CA, MARCH 18, 2019 --- For more than six years, Richard, 71, and Candace Campbell of Pacific Cove have made the eight-hour trip, in a 2001 Dodge 2500 van converted to an RV, to Rainbow Canyon to watch fighter jets explode in the valley. United Air Force and Navy fighter jets train in Rainbow Canyon, also known as Star Wars Canyon, near the western edge of Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California. The entrance to the Father Crowley Overlook off California State Route 190 offers visitors a place to witness and photograph airplanes flying below. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

DEATH VALLEY, CA, MARCH 18, 2019 --- Richard, 71, and Candace Campbell, 68, of Pacific Cove, searched for a military plane with their eyes open in the sky and their ears focused on the in-flight chatter from two photographers. carrier hanging from it. the entrance to the camp. The Campbells, parked at the Father Crowley lot on I-90, made the eight-hour drive, in a 2001 Dodge 2500 van converted into an RV, to Rainbow Canyon to watch the fighter jets blast through the canyon. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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DEATH VALLEY, CA, MARCH 18, 2019 -- Candace, 68, and Richard Campbell, 71, of Pacific Cove, are looking for military aircraft with their eyes open in the sky and ears focused on the flight story from two photographers from hanging. the entrance to the camp. The Campbells, parked at the Father Crowley lot on I-90, made the eight-hour drive, in a 2001 Dodge 2500 van converted into an RV, to Rainbow Canyon to watch the fighter jets blast through the canyon. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Richard, 71, and Candy Campbell, 68, of Pacific Grove, Calif., look for military aircraft with their eyes open in the sky and ears focused on the flight story from two cameras hanging from the RV. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

The Air Force and Navy have used Star Wars Canyon as a training ground since World War II, long before it became a national park in 1994, according to Patrick Taylor of the US National Park Service.

Most of the flights come from nearby bases such as Naval Air Station China Lake, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Edwards Air Force Base, Fresno Air Guard Base and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Allied foreign forces have also been known to fly closely.

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In recent years, Taylor said the number of people who have seen the plane has increased, in part because of social media. In 2010, the National Park Service installed a parking lot, rails along the canyon rim, and restrooms at Crowley Overlook to accommodate the growing number of visitors.

Larry Grace, a former Air Force veteran and president of the International Association of Aviation Photographers, said Mach Loop, a high-speed flight training area in the UK, and 'Star Wars Canyon' in Death Valley National Park are the two most. Advertised flights that see places around the world.

"When the pictures came out," he said, "people asked where they were taken, and that's how those places became famous."

Ten years ago, Koningsveld drove to the side of the canal and waited for half an hour hoping to see a plane.

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The hoarse voice of the Dutchman, who was obsessed with airplanes as a child, was unsuccessful in his search. But he and his wife, Jose (pronounced Josae), were already regular visitors to the United States, attending air shows in Nevada and California, when four years ago, 61-year-old Koningsveld decided to give "Star" is another. Wars Canyon". This time he saw a fighter jet, and he and his wife have been making annual trips to the desert ever since.

"I'm more patient now. I could sit here all day, old," she said, laughing.

The success of "Star Wars Canyon" is mostly a matter of luck. Some days the only thing in the air is crow (or as some regulars call it: "B1-RD").

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