NAVAL WEAPONS CENTER & CHINA LAKE & CALIFORNIA

F8U-1 144430 equipped with a Del-Mar tow rig consisting of a wing mounted black target housing and a fuselage mounted sliver wind-driven cable reel. As with 145443, 144430's lower forward fuselage, tail and outer wings were da-glo red. (William Swisher 11.18-61)

The Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, formerly Naval Ord¬nance Test Center (NOTS), is responsible for research, develop¬ment, lest and evaluation of naval air launched weapons and weapon systems. Over the years the center has also been called on to take part in underwater programs such as ASROC. The center has developed and tested the following weapons; 5" WAR, Tiny Tim, Mighty Mouse, Zu¬ni, Shrike, and Sidewinder.

F8U-1 (F-8A) 145331 with CHINA LAKE painted on its tail, fires a red-bodied Sidewinder from its fuselage missile rail during ongoing testing of improved Sidewinders. (USN via Barry Miller)

China Lake-based F8U-1 145443 con-ducting an aerial pick-up or extraction of a ground object, probably a target. The lower fuselage, outer wings, and tail were da-glo red. (R. Harrison, Candid Aero)

DF-8F 143699 with red tail and outer wings and with the last three digits of the BuNo on the nose on 1-28-67. (Jansson)

DF-8F 143813 awaiting scrapping in 1971. Colors were drone director col¬ors, see page 26 for description. (via Burger)

DF-8F 145351 at China Lake on 5-9-70 with red outer wings and tail. (G. Liang via Fred Roos)

F-8H 147057 at China Lake on 11-17-70 with Agile AAM missile mock-ups on the lower "V" fuselage mounts and the wing pylons. (USN)

Three China Lake test aircraft from above, which shows off the location of CHINA LAKE on the upper wings in 1958. Top to bot¬tom; Vought F8U-1 Crusader, McDonnell F311-2 Demon, and Douglas F3D-2 SkyKnight. All three aircraft were armed with two Sidewinders. (USN)

China Lake-based F-8E 150284 on 3-16-67. Tail and outer wings were once again red. Notice how a border of white was painted around the stars-and-bars to help them stand out against the red of the wing. (Clay Jansson)