This Cockpit View Of A C-17’s Wild Ride Through Star Wars Canyon Is Bonkers

Published Mar 16, 2021 8:50 PM EDT

Rainbow Canyon, also known by its nickname “Star Wars Canyon,” or the Jedi Transition — its designation on flight maps—was a mecca for military aircraft of all types and photographers that loved capturing them in action. The steep crevasse located near Death Valley in California gave pilots an ideal and exhilarating funnel to drop down into and maneuver in before being spit out in the Panamint Valley. Over the years, before the route was restricted due to a deadly crash of a Super Hornet that slammed into the canyon’s southern wall in 2019, we saw some spectacular runs . While fighter jets got the most attention , other types also made jaw-dropping runs, including C-17 Globemaster airlifters. Case in point these crazy photographs . Now, for the first time, at least to our knowledge, we get to see what the Star Wars Canyon looked like from inside the big cargo jet’s cockpit.

The video would have been shot before the July 2019 crash that led to the low-level run being effectively shut down by lifting its minimum altitude far above the canyon walls. It shows the C-17, from a unit out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, approaching the canyon before diving into it in a steep left bank, then the pilot maneuvers hard, nearly on the knife-edge, inside the canyon’s snaking ravine. The video really does offer a new sense of just how ‘sporty’ Star Wars Canyon was. You can see how close the terrain was off the cargo hauler’s right side towards the end of the run. The continuous altitude and sink rate warnings are also an ominous touch. The same poster also provided a dramatic video shot from the ground along the canyon’s rim as the C-17 drops into it.

Most people probably don’t realize that C-17s do a lot of low-level training, but the Jedi Transition was a bit of a ‘unique’ e-ticket ride. This video is now a relic of a time gone by. While there has been some chatter that the 1,500-foot altitude restriction will be lifted over the canyon, that hasn’t come to pass and likely won’t for the foreseeable future.

At least we have awesome videos like this to remember the place by!

Hat tip to @PaintingSurfer for the heads up.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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发布于美国东部时间2021年3月16日晚上8:50

彩虹峡谷，又名“星球大战峡谷”，或飞行地图上标注的“绝地过渡地带”，曾是各类军用飞机和热衷于捕捉它们飞行瞬间的摄影师们的圣地。这条位于加州死亡谷附近的陡峭裂缝，为飞行员提供了一个理想且令人兴奋的漏斗状地形，他们可以俯冲而下，在峡谷中灵活机动，最终被“吐”到帕纳明特山谷。在2019年一架超级大黄蜂战斗机撞上峡谷南壁导致致命事故之前，这条航线曾多次被限制通行，我们也因此见证了许多精彩绝伦的飞行。虽然战斗机最引人注目，但其他机型也曾进行过令人叹为观止的飞行，例如C-17环球霸王运输机。这些令人惊叹的照片便是最好的例证。现在，至少据我们所知，我们第一次有机会从这架大型运输机的驾驶舱内一窥“星球大战峡谷”的真容。

这段视频拍摄于2019年7月那次坠机事故之前，那次事故导致低空飞行路线被大幅限制，最低飞行高度远高于峡谷壁，从而有效地停止了这项飞行活动。视频显示，这架隶属于特拉华州多佛空军基地的C-17运输机接近峡谷，然后以陡峭的左倾角俯冲入谷底。随后，飞行员在蜿蜒的峡谷内，几乎是在刀刃上进行着高难度机动。这段视频确实让人对“星球大战峡谷”飞行路线的“刺激”程度有了全新的认识。你可以看到，在飞行接近尾声时，货机右侧的地形有多么接近地面。持续不断的飞行高度和下降率警告也增添了一丝不祥之感。同一位发布者还提供了一段从峡谷边缘地面拍摄的惊险视频，记录了C-17坠入峡谷的瞬间。

大多数人可能不知道C-17运输机经常执行低空训练任务，但“绝地武士过渡”却是一次相当“独特”的飞行体验。这段视频如今已成为过往岁月的遗迹。虽然曾有传言说峡谷上空1500英尺的飞行高度限制将会解除，但这种情况尚未发生，而且在可预见的未来可能也不会发生。

至少我们还有像这样的精彩视频来记住这个地方！

感谢 @PaintingSurfer 提供的消息。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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