1 1 Vol. 13, No. 4 Newsletter of the China Lake Museum Foundation Fall 2007 PROJECT RAINHAT by Anthony L. Tambini II, Commander, USN (Ret.) High in the northern Mojave Desert of California, in what is known as the Indian Wells Valley, sits Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake. Bordered by the High Sierras on the west, Death Valley to the east, Mount Whitney to the north, and Edwards Air Force Base on the south, N.O.T.S., as it was then known, shares with Ed- wards Air Force Base a huge chunk of California air space reserved for military flight testing. China Lake, the dry lakebed for which the station is named, held water just once in the four years that we were stationed there. The wa- ter lasted for a little over two weeks before it once again dried up. I had spent weeks preparing my wife, Angie, for her first look at the upper desert we would be calling home for the next four years. Crossing the Sierras from Bakersfield and driving north from the town of Mojave, the landscape was everything that I had promised her the sandy, dry desert would be. We crossed through Red Rock Canyon and over the rise that was the El Paso Mountains south of the base. As the valley spread out below us, she got her first glimpse of China Lake and the little town of Ridgecrest just outside the gate. The base is a lush, green oasis amid the sand and rocks of the desert. Deep, artesian wells provide an abun- dant source of water. Homes, laboratories, and recreation facilities are all furnished with underground sprinkler systems. In the desert it seems that, with water, you can grow pretty much anything. Above it all that day, was a huge thunderstorm pouring buckets of rain down on everything below. It was a surprise that neither of us expected. I don't remember it raining again for the whole four years we lived there. But boy did it snow once. That's another story. For me, my first shore duty was as close to heaven as an aviator can get, especially if you were flying "Projects." The naval ordnance test station had been commissioned during World War Two to design and test new weapons for use in naval and air warfare. Unlike any other military base that I had ever seen, it consisted of labora- tories, engineering spaces, manufacturing facilities, and test ranges. More like a college campus than a military base, the scientists and engineers outnumbered naval personnel by a factor of more than ten to one. Also within the confines of this sprawling complex in the middle of nowhere was a naval air facility, which existed for the sole purpose of supporting the scientists and engineers in putting their ideas and contraptions into use on board actual aircraft. At the time, the station's most noteworthy accomplishment was the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile, a heat seeking, guided missile with a deadly, expanding-rod warhead. Versions of this missile are still in use by our military and our allies; and every nation, friend, or potential foe all over the world copies them. Page 1 Note: This article was written for the 50th Anniversary Reunion of AOC 10-56 in 2006, and appeared in the Journal of the SKYHAWK ASSOCIATION, fall 2007 issue. About the Author: CDR Tony Tambini entered the Navy through the NAVCAD program in 1956, then flew the F-9F Cougar and FJ- 4 Fury prior to transitioning to A4D-2s in VA-56. He deployed in Skyhawks on Ticonderoga and later on Coral Sea with VA-153 before his assignment to China Lake. Following the China Lake tour, he served with the ship’s company on Coral Sea, flew A-7s with VA-37, and completed Navy Command and Staff a Newport, R.I. His final assignments were in nuclear weapons safety and readiness at COMNAVAIRLANT and OPNAV. , OCR Text: 1 1 Vol. 13, No. 4 Newsletter of the China Lake Museum Foundation Fall 2007 PROJECT RAINHAT by Anthony L. Tambini II, Commander, USN (Ret.) High in the northern Mojave Desert of California, in what is known as the Indian Wells Valley, sits Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake. Bordered by the High Sierras on the west, Death Valley to the east, Mount Whitney to the north, and Edwards Air Force Base on the south, N.O.T.S., as it was then known, shares with Ed- wards Air Force Base a huge chunk of California air space reserved for military flight testing. China Lake, the dry lakebed for which the station is named, held water just once in the four years that we were stationed there. The wa- ter lasted for a little over two weeks before it once again dried up. I had spent weeks preparing my wife, Angie, for her first look at the upper desert we would be calling home for the next four years. Crossing the Sierras from Bakersfield and driving north from the town of Mojave, the landscape was everything that I had promised her the sandy, dry desert would be. We crossed through Red Rock Canyon and over the rise that was the El Paso Mountains south of the base. As the valley spread out below us, she got her first glimpse of China Lake and the little town of Ridgecrest just outside the gate. The base is a lush, green oasis amid the sand and rocks of the desert. Deep, artesian wells provide an abun- dant source of water. Homes, laboratories, and recreation facilities are all furnished with underground sprinkler systems. In the desert it seems that, with water, you can grow pretty much anything. Above it all that day, was a huge thunderstorm pouring buckets of rain down on everything below. It was a surprise that neither of us expected. I don't remember it raining again for the whole four years we lived there. But boy did it snow once. That's another story. For me, my first shore duty was as close to heaven as an aviator can get, especially if you were flying "Projects." The naval ordnance test station had been commissioned during World War Two to design and test new weapons for use in naval and air warfare. Unlike any other military base that I had ever seen, it consisted of labora- tories, engineering spaces, manufacturing facilities, and test ranges. More like a college campus than a military base, the scientists and engineers outnumbered naval personnel by a factor of more than ten to one. Also within the confines of this sprawling complex in the middle of nowhere was a naval air facility, which existed for the sole purpose of supporting the scientists and engineers in putting their ideas and contraptions into use on board actual aircraft. At the time, the station's most noteworthy accomplishment was the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile, a heat seeking, guided missile with a deadly, expanding-rod warhead. Versions of this missile are still in use by our military and our allies; and every nation, friend, or potential foe all over the world copies them. Page 1 Note: This article was written for the 50th Anniversary Reunion of AOC 10-56 in 2006, and appeared in the Journal of the SKYHAWK ASSOCIATION, fall 2007 issue. About the Author: CDR Tony Tambini entered the Navy through the NAVCAD program in 1956, then flew the F-9F Cougar and FJ- 4 Fury prior to transitioning to A4D-2s in VA-56. He deployed in Skyhawks on Ticonderoga and later on Coral Sea with VA-153 before his assignment to China Lake. Following the China Lake tour, he served with the ship’s company on Coral Sea, flew A-7s with VA-37, and completed Navy Command and Staff a Newport, R.I. His final assignments were in nuclear weapons safety and readiness at COMNAVAIRLANT and OPNAV. , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 2000s,China Laker 2007,Vol+13+No+4+Fall++2007.pdf,Vol+13+No+4+Fall++2007.pdf Page 1, Vol+13+No+4+Fall++2007.pdf Page 1