History
Cuddeback Dry Lake was named after Leon D. Cuddeback, who was an early desert aviator & contemporary of Pancho Barnes. It is sometimes misspelled as "Cuddleback". Cuddeback Airfield was built between 1932-33 in the middle of Cuddeback Dry Lake, serving as an auxiliary airfield. By 1937, it operated both as an auxiliary airfield and civil airport, with a 15,840 x 5,280 feet long clay landing area. It was used by the United States Army as an artillery range. Between 1940-41, the airfield was abandoned. In 1955, the United States Air Force (USAF) acquired Cuddeback range, and purchased an additional 37.82 acres of adjacent land. Beginning in 1959, the Cuddeback Dry Lake Air Strip was used as an emergency landing site in preparation of the North American X-15 program. Subsequently, NASA designated the airfield and the adjacent dry lake as a launch site and drop-zone, named Cuddeback Dry Lake and Cuddeback Dry Lake Drop Zone. In June 1963, Cuddeback Airfield was converted to the Cuddeback Lake Air Force Range, also known as the Cuddeback Air-to-Ground Gunner Range (Cuddeback AGGR). [1] [2]
Cuddeback Airfield began operating as a drop-zone for air-launched rockets, with runway 01/19 mainly serving emergency landings. Cuddeback Dry Lake additionally operated a range for low-level simulated nuke targeting, which was facilitated by NAS China Lake. On the 500-knot run in, Navy pilots would drop practice bombs as big as 25-lb. Cuddeback Airfield was equipped with strafe lanes, two dive bomb circles, and two target circles. It was also equipped with three asphalt camera targets for the X-15 program, several landfills, ammunition burial pits, and four underground storage tanks. Infrastructure for stationed personnel included two scoring towers, a motor pool barn, a small mess hall, and a small operations building. Weather personnel from Detachment 12 of the 25th Weather Squadron provided meteorological support and forecasts, while range crews scored strafing, bombing, and missile accuracy from the two scoring towers. Due to the remoteness of the airfield, access was done by Huey helicopters. During exercises, Cuddeback Airfield was temporarily staffed with personnel. [2] [3]
On 3 November, 1965, an X-15A-2 External Tank Test was conducted from Edwards AFB, serving as the first flight with empty external tanks. It took off from launch platform NB-52 003, with a maximum altitude around 21,520 meters and maximum speeds at 2,414 kilometres per hour. It airdropped over Cuddeback Dry Lake, with the ammonia tank being recovered while the lox tank was destroyed. [4]
1970s - 1998
From 1975 to 1979, small detachments of 6 men stayed for one week per rotation. Cuddeback Airfield was now under operation by George AFB. F-105 Wild Weasel squadrons recently returned from Southeast Asia conducted range training, along with F-4E Phantom II units. Occasionally, Convair F-106 Delta Darts of the Air Defense Command and Lockheed F-104 Starfighters of the German Air Force training detachments utilized Cuddeback. Bombing & strafing training were also done by the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, with regular visits by O-2s from Ontario AF Reserve for Forward Air Control operations, marking targets for Thuds & F-4s. By the late 1970s, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs from George AFB experimented with a new video guided missile over Cuddeback. Due to the constant activities, landing at Cuddeback Airfield was unsuitable. [2]
In June 1983, a glider involved in an event lost altitude and conducted an emergency landing at Cuddeback Airfield, almost hitting a guy-wire in the process. The glider landed on a Saturday, while the range was closed, and the aircraft was shortly dismantled and loaded into a vehicle. [2] In 1983, Cuddeback AGGR ceased operations. A clean-up was launched, and ordnance items used and found within the range were 20 MM TP & High Explosive Incendiary, BDU-33 & MK-76 (25-lb practice bombs), MK-106 (5 pound practice bomb), and Napalm fire bombs. [1]
Closure
Between January-February in 1998, Cuddeback Dry Lake was used for the filming of Madonna’s music video for the song "Frozen". [5] Eventually, Cuddeback Airfield was surplus to the USAF’s needs. On 13 April, 1992, the USAF officially removed Cuddeback Dry Lake from George AFB and Edwards AFB property holdings, ending the Air Force ownership of the land. In 2012, the Air Force transferred ownership of the 2,800 acre gunnery range was given to the Bureau of Land Management. The former buildings at Cuddeback Airfield were dismantled and removed. [6]
Present
In April 2015, eight members from American anarchist group Indecline spent six days spray painting the mural “THIS LAND WAS OUR LAND” on the disused runway of Cuddeback Airfield. The graffiti encompasses the full length and width of the runway, and is claimed to be one of the largest in the world by the group. Today, the runway remains intact, with all buildings being removed. It is occasionally used for UAV training. [7]
In 2015 and 2016, congressional actions allowed the transfer of public lands to the Navy to support the expansion of operations at China Lake's land range complex by 25%. In October 2019, the Navy acquired 33,096 acres of public lands, including the former Cuddeback AGGR, which encompassed 2,800 acres at the time. Navy Region Southwest official determined that there were no environmental impacts, diminishing the need for a full Environmental Impact Statement. Proposed activities included the testing and evaluation of drones, expeditionary warfare training, and ground troop training. New infrastructure upgrades including perimeter fencing, a new access road, portable structures, power generators, and communications systems were also planned. [8]
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