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Ryan Gilmore's Aerospace Photo Galleries

Mountain Wrecks Galleries

A-4 San Bernardino Mountains : On 9/8/70, the A-4E Skyhawk BuNo 150089 flown by Marine pilot Captain Patrick G. Carroll crashed into a remote canyon after experiencing a malfuction. He was flying out of El Toro on a training flight and ejected safely. This particular A-4 saw action in Vietnam. Joe Idoni and I reached this site on 5/2/09.

A-4 San Bernardino Mountains

On 9/8/70, the A-4E Skyhawk BuNo 150089 flown by Marine pilot Captain ...

Updated: May 03, 2009 4:19pm PST

Summer of 1993 visit to Baldy F6F's and C-46 : In the summer of 1993 I completed my first wreckchase which was to the Mount San Antonio (Baldy) F6F Hellcats. The following week my bestfriend Kelly and I returned to the Hellcats and located the C-46 on top of West Baldy. I give complete credit to Pat Macha for his inspiring first edition for wreckchasing in California. I poured over its contents for years and still do.

Summer of 1993 visit to Baldy F6F's and C-46

In the summer of 1993 I completed my first wreckchase which was to the ...

Updated: Apr 30, 2009 3:34pm PST

PA-28 N8253W Lytle Creek :

PA-28 N8253W Lytle Creek

Updated: Oct 03, 2008 4:42pm PST

F9F-5 Sheep Mountain Wilderness : On 2/2/57, a Navy F9F-5 #125557 crashed south of the mountain town of Wrightwood in what is today called the Sheep Mountain Wilderness of the eastern San Gabriel Mountains. On 7/27/08, I was able to locate the wreck after a two hour search in the bottom of 7000 foot canyon. It is a micro site with no large pieces remaining. The pilot did not survive the crash.

F9F-5 Sheep Mountain Wilderness

On 2/2/57, a Navy F9F-5 #125557 crashed south of the mountain town of ...

Updated: Jul 27, 2008 2:33pm PST

Blue Ridge T-34A Mentor : On 12/31/64 a T-34 Mentor flying out of Edwards Air Force Base crashed into Blue Ridge near the San Gabriel Mountain town of Wrightwood. Both occupants, Gerald Henderson and Allen Jaeger died. The aircraft was not located for over seven months. With some knowledge gained from Joe Idoni's recent visit I was able to visit this wreck myself on 5/13/08. I have wanted to visit this wreck since a teen. This also the first wreck of a type of plane that I have flown in. I can just imagine the two men getting into there plane with off work plans. The seat and the canopy lever were hard to look at.

Blue Ridge T-34A Mentor

On 12/31/64 a T-34 Mentor flying out of Edwards Air Force Base crashed ...

Updated: May 13, 2008 2:51pm PST

Palomar Mountain TB-47B : On 12/18/1957, a TB-47B Stratojet flying out of March Air Force Base crashed into Palomar Mountain in bad weather killing all three on board. The pilot of this flight was Col. Frank Ellis, co-pilot Major Thomas Esmond, and Capt. Frank Harradine. On 3/20/08, I scouted the wreck site from the highpoint of Palomar Mountain, about a mile or more from the wreck site that narrowly missed hitting the Hale Observatory. The wreck is on private property and this was just a trip to scout it out from public national forest land. The B-47 crashed just to the left and center of the two main observatories in the pictures. The next series of pictures is from my trip to the site on 4/30/08. I owe much gratitude to Scott Kardel, the Public Affairs Coordinator for the Palomar Observatory for allowing me access to the wreck site. Much to my luck a fair amount of the site was recently cleared of brush for a firebreak. With the normal dense brush being removed it was quite easy to locate significant amounts of wreckage. A lot of the wreckage was of the B-47's engines with turbine blades littering the entire site. One of the most interesting pieces was a hinge piece that was labeled Boeing. Overall this was a really impressive site and was very happy about visiting it.

Palomar Mountain TB-47B

On 12/18/1957, a TB-47B Stratojet flying out of March Air Force Base c ...

Updated: Apr 30, 2008 2:42pm PST

B-26 Keller Peak Lookout : On 1/2/42 a Martin B-26 slammed into Keller Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains killing all 9 men on board. The wreck is almost completely removed outside of the two engines and landing gear. The area is extremely brushy and has rattlesnakes. I have made two trips to find the engines both times being repelled by brush. The fire lookout tower is still in use and has some crash fragments on display. Visit in the summer time if hoping to visit the tower. Next summer, after the snow has melted I will again return to Keller.

B-26 Keller Peak Lookout

On 1/2/42 a Martin B-26 slammed into Keller Peak in the San Bernardino ...

Updated: Mar 03, 2008 3:23pm PST