About

Since the 1940s the town of Boron has served as the approach corridor for experimental and military aircraft landing on the runways of Edwards Air Force Base. Our unique geographic location has earned Boron the title of the “Northern Gateway to the Aerospace Valley” and over the years we have witnessed thousands of experimental test flights being conducted by NACA, NASA, the United States Air Force and private industry.

Several milestones in flight history have taken place in the skies over Boron over the last six decades. One-of-a-kind experimental aircraft, commonly referred to as X-Planes, have continuously flown their high-speed, high-altitude, record-breaking missions in the skies over Boron and the surrounding Aerospace Valley. Some of the historical events that have taken place or originated in the Aerospace Valley include, the breaking the sound barrier (X-1), the first hypersonic flight (X-15), the setting of a world speed record for a winged aircraft (X-15A), the first landing of a NASA Space Shuttle orbiter (Enterprise), and recently the setting of a new world speed record by an air breathing aircraft (X-43A).

The rich aeronautics history of Boron and the Aerospace Valley inspired the Boron Chamber of Commerce to seek a way to preserve as many of these milestones in flight history as possible. In 1997, the Chamber decided to build a lasting tribute to the flight research history our town had been witness to for so many decades.