In May 2010, we stopped by Ibex on our way home from the inaugural Caveman Fly-in. As we flew overhead, we saw what we thought was a runway that had been marked off on the north side of the island. We thought it strange since we knew that the UBCP fly-in had been on the south side of the island. But, since there were tracks where others had landed, we landed there too. As we rolled out, there was a kid in a truck and a couple of storage containers, along with some other stuff around.

Ends up we had just landed on the marked off "road" to a movie set! The kid was the security guard and they were to start filming in the next couple of days. The path to drive on was marked off to limit the number of tracks on the lakebed. You see, in the movie, this was to be the surface of an alien planet. They had one big green screen "tub" set up as well as another container/structure on the east side of the island. See the pics below.

The markd runway/roadway.


The green screen tub in the distance. The containers were behind the plane.


Structure on the east side of the island. I forget what he said it was to be.



Well, ends up the movie, "John Carter", premiers in on March 9th. Looks like it could be pretty good.

Any activity was a suprise to see out there. At first I thought, OK, they are making some kind of campy SciFi Mad Max sort of movie, then they mentioned Disney and William Dafoe. The previews look interesting, I think I will go and see it now on the big screeen, if only to try and recognize the Ibex terrain. Could be tough though, considering all the CGI available these days.

I came through on the 4th of May, then again on the 7th, 2010. On the 7th, there was a flock of Utah pilots and airplanes on the south side of the island.

I recognized Ibex on the clip but its all covered in cyber-slime!

Also recognized Caineville and Factory Butte which means I'm gonna have to see John Carter now

I flew down there a week after the UBCP fly in last year. I was landing and just as I touched down I noticed there was about 30 people and a camera truck on the South side of the lakebed. I decided I better make it a touch and go since I don't think they have C150's in space (yet).

Just a head's up... All the books of the John Carter series are free on Kindle.

Gump

Saw the movie the other night. Easy to watch. The lakebed and surrounding hills are early in the movie, unmistakable. It is where John wakes up on Barsoon (Mars to us earthlings). The crew had built a small structure on the south side of the island, watching the movie, you'll see why for.

2 new pics in my album

Is this Ibex hardpan in the western deserts of Utah?

Yeah it is. Sounds like the movie is a flop, but I'd still like to see it. Sounds like a good movie to catch while commuting to work on Delta one of these days.