Old R.O. Picture(s) of the Day for late 11 June 2008
For those of you who have operated out of MCAS/NAS Miramar (NKX), you're probably familiar with the SEAWOLF departure to Warning area W-291 over the Pacific Ocean. The departure is used when runway 24 is in effect, usually about 98 percent of the year. When the Santa Ana winds come up, they came up with the VITKO departure where you take off from RWY 6 and do an almost unlimited climb and then turn left and pick up the SEAWOLF path somewhere west/southwest of Miramar.
In the olden days, the RWY 6 SEAWOLF consisted of a VFR left turn and a low flyover of the then-new Scripps Ranch and picking up the regular SEAWOLF just west of the field.
With that setup, here are two pictures. The first is one of those VFR takeoffs of a VF-21 F-4J in mid-1973. Note the lack of houses north of Miramar. And the four-lane US 395 where 10-12 lanes of I-15 are now.
Now... a look at what Google Earth sees in a 2008 view of the same area.
Note the buildings in the areas that were dirt 35 years ago...