Watch a U.S. C-17 Globemaster III cargo fly through the famous Star Wars Canyon in Death Valley

Something you don’t see too often: a giant U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft flying through the famous Star Wars Canyon.

The following footage was shot by The Aviationist’s contributor Eric Bowen.

Along with some pretty common Super Hornets, it shows a Thunderbirds dual seater F-16 (with smoke) and, above all, a C-17 Globemaster III airlifter, using radio callsign “Slam 19” flying at low altitude through the famous Rainbow Canyon, located adjacent to Death Valley.

The flight through the canyon out into the expanse of Death Valley is referred to as the “Jedi Transition” (and the canyon itself is also dubbed “Star Wars Canyon”) and the location from where Eric filmed the aircraft has become very popular with photographers from around the world: even though not as popular as the Mach Loop in the UK, the canyon is one of the few locations in the U.S. where photographers can catch military fighters training at low level.

The frequency of the passes can vary but usually 4 to 8 combat planes fly through the “Star Wars Canyon” on any given day: rarely you will have a chance to see a C-17 performing three passes there, as happened to Eric, though!

Image credit: Eric Bowen

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About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.