Vandenberg Launch, April 17

Hey guys,

I'm a student pilot (7.1 hours, woohoo!) flying out of Long Beach,
California. I'm also a first year aerospace engineering major with a keen
interest in anything that flies. That being the case, I would love to see
the next launch out of Vandenberg, scheduled for Saturday the 17th. The
drive is almost worth it, but a flight up there would be great. I brought it
up to my instructor this afternoon after my lesson and he agreed to it. It
would be a good introductory cross country and would be a fun trip.

But I've got a few questions here. For one thing, he suggested heading into
Lompoc, which is about the closest airport to Vandenberg. The launch is from
SLC-2 on the north side of the facility, so might Santa Maria be better?
Would the view be better from one or the other based on terrain? For that
matter, viewing the launch from the air would be great. Has anyone done this
and, if so, where's the best vantage point? Is this a popular thing to do,
and is traffic likely to be busy in the area? Finally, it seems that June
gloom hit us a few months early. What can I expect in the way of weather
around Vandenberg for this time of year, generally? It's a 10:00am launch,
so I'm concerned the haze might not have time to burn off between LGB and
VBG.

For those interested, here's a launch listing and the homepage of the
project being launched:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html
http://einstein.stanford.edu

Thanks for any input!

-Tony
Student Pilot
7.1 Hours