A Private Day Through Southern California’s Aerospace Valley
This private 8-hour Aerospace Valley space and flight-test tour from Los Angeles connects three very different chapters of aviation history: military test aircraft in Palmdale, the living experimental-flight culture of Mojave, and the public artifacts that link both places to the Space Age.
Your first stop is the paired public airparks beside U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. At Joe Davies Heritage Airpark, aircraft on display were flown, tested, designed, produced, or modified at Plant 42. Nearby Blackbird Airpark offers a rare side-by-side encounter with the SR-71 Blackbird and its A-12 predecessor—two icons of Cold War reconnaissance and high-speed flight.
Afterward, travel north to Mojave Air & Space Port at Rutan Field, a working civil airport and licensed horizontal-launch spaceport. Lunch is at the airport’s Voyager Restaurant, under the former control tower, followed by time in the public areas around Legacy Park.
The Palmdale Airparks: Aerospace History You Can Walk Around
Joe Davies Heritage Airpark holds 21 retired military aircraft plus a one-eighth-scale B-2 Spirit model, an AGM-28 Hound Dog missile, a B-52, a C-46, and aviation components. The collection is especially meaningful because it tells the story of the work done immediately nearby at Plant 42, one of Southern California’s central aerospace-production and flight-test sites.
At Blackbird Airpark, the Lockheed SR-71 and A-12 make the abstract ideas of Mach-speed reconnaissance suddenly physical. This is a superb stop for photographers, engineers, military-history enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the aircraft that helped define the Cold War.
The active Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base is not open to the general public. Its planned new public museum is a separate future project. This itinerary visits the publicly accessible Blackbird Airpark annex instead; it does not imply or provide base access.
Lunch Under the Tower at Mojave
Lunch is an optional, unhurried stop at Voyager Restaurant, 1434 Flight Line, Mojave, inside the airport terminal building beneath the old control tower. Its aviation-inspired menu includes dishes named for aircraft such as the Long-EZ, Blackbird, and SpaceShipOne. From the restaurant’s fenced public patio, guests can see the aircraft storage boneyard at a distance while enjoying the flightline setting. The boneyard itself is private property and is not entered or toured. Lunch is not included in the custom tour quotation and is paid directly to the restaurant.
Mojave: Public Artifacts at a Working Air & Space Port
Mojave Air & Space Port does not offer public airport tours, and its operations areas and aircraft storage boneyard are not visitor attractions. This tour stays strictly within approved public areas.
At Legacy Park, see a full-size SpaceShipOne model, a Voyager model, and the distinctive Rotary Rocket Roton. At the airport entrance, public gate-guardian aircraft include a Convair 990 that flew in a NASA program testing Space Shuttle wheel and brake systems, an F-4D Phantom used in flight-test work, and a Saab Draken on loan from the National Test Pilot School.
On the third Saturday of each month, Mojave hosts Plane Crazy Saturday, a public historical-aircraft display on the transient ramp. If your date aligns with the event, ask us to build the day around it; access and participating aircraft are controlled by the airport and are never guaranteed.
Nearby NASA Flight-Test Country
The high desert setting is part of the larger Edwards flight-test landscape. Nearby NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California—formerly NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center—is NASA’s primary center for high-risk atmospheric flight research and test projects. Its name changed in 2014, while the nearby Dryden Aeronautical Test Range continues to carry the Dryden name.
NASA Armstrong and Edwards Air Force Base are active, secure facilities and are not public stops on this itinerary. Their proximity supplies essential context for the experimental-flight stories encountered at the Palmdale airparks and Mojave.
Recommended Days and Important Access Notes
This itinerary is best scheduled on a Friday or Saturday. Joe Davies Heritage Airpark and Blackbird Airpark are currently open Friday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Voyager Restaurant is currently listed as open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; it is not a Sunday lunch stop.
Hours, access, special events, and aircraft availability can change. Before travel, check the official Flight Test Museum visitor information, the City of Palmdale’s Joe Davies Heritage Airpark page, and Mojave Air & Space Port visitor information.
For a different aviation chapter closer to Los Angeles, consider our private Planes of Fame Air Museum tour, featuring historic warbirds at Chino Airport. Aviation-minded guests can also pair this day with our private Ronald Reagan Presidential Library tour, where an authentic Air Force One is on display, or customize a private Los Angeles city tour around their own interests.