After receiving a call at the FBI Office in Philadelphia in Twin Peaks Part 3 on Showtime, FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole, Agent Albert Rosenfield and Agent Tammy Preston fly to the Black Hills of South Dakota to meet Agent Cooper at the Yankton Federal Prison. The airport appears twice in Part 4, yet it was located very far from the Mount Rushmore State.
LOCATION OF THE AIRPORT IN TWIN PEAKS PART 4
The two scenes were shot at 4555 W Ave G in Lancaster, California which is home to General William J. Fox Airfield (WJF is the airport code).
According to Los Angeles County Airports website, “The airport was originally constructed by the County of Los Angeles and open for business in 1959. Today the airport is still owned and operated by the County, is publicly available to general aviation aircraft 24-hours a day seven days a week, and is home to over 200 based aircraft, a restaurant, and several aviation-related businesses.”
The airfield was dedicated on November 14, 1959 with an aerial show attended by an anticipated 20,000 spectators, government officials and industry professionals.
FBI TEAM ARRIVES AT THE SOUTH DAKOTA PRIVATE AIRFIELD
Gordon Cole arranged a meeting with Cooper at 9:00 a.m. sharp. He told Albert and Tammy that they would “fly at dawn.” After the FBI team arrives, they are greeted by two agents outside the terminal. The map above shows where some of the scenes took place in front of the Administration Building.
The scene opens with the agents leaving the administration building.
I found the above photo taken by Frank Holbert on the 160Knots.com website. The site hasn’t been updated in more than 10 years, yet the location appears similar to the episode. The only change is the white sign above the open door.
It looks like the airport name was changed to “General Guy T. [Something] Regional Airport.” Despite multiple searches, I didn’t find a match. The last name could be “Bograc,” which is a Slovenian stew. The crew did a fantastic job matching the font style and sign placement for the scene.
The FBI team are greeted by another two FBI Agents in black suits.
You can see the building where the scene took place on Google Maps Street View.
You can get a better look at this spot with these two location scouting photos from LocoScout.com.
FBI AGENTS GET INTO A CAR AT SOUTH DAKOTA PRIVATE AIRFIELD
The Agents get into a black vehicle with a U.S. Government license plate (59NR01) and leave the area.
The car appears to be a similar to the one Mr. C gets from the storage unit in Part 2 – a 2003 Lincoln Town Car.
The LocoScout.com website had another image from the location.
Street View on Google Maps offered this look at the radio tower from the site.
GORDON COLE SPEAKS WITH ALBERT AT SOUTH DAKOTA PRIVATE AIRFIELD
The second appearance of the airport is found later in Part 4 after the FBI team interviews Mr. C. Bathed in a blue hue, they are seen discussing behind the administration building.
Agent Preston speaks with Rosenfield and Cole about how people who encounter Mr. C get violently sick.
Frank Holbert from 160Knots.com took this photograph of the area which is located behind the building and adjacent to Foxy’s Landing and Restaurant.
Albert Rosenfield responds to Tammy that he feels “fine.”
There was an official publicity photo by on-set still photographer Suzanne Tenner released by Showtime. The image gives a different angle of the trio than what appears in the episode.
A photo from RunwayOneTwo, a blog for Southern California pilots, offered this view of the film location.
That website also contained one of my favorite new things I discovered when writing about the private Portland Airport in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – POV landing videos (as seen above from YouTube user NarbonneGauchoBoingo).
WATCHING AGENT TAMMY PRESTON LEAVE
Agent Preston leaves after Gordon Coles tells her to wait in the restaurant.
Albert remarks that he is “feeling better now” after watching Agent Preston leave.
Another publicity photo by Suzanne Tenner for Showtime shows an alternate angle for this scene.
Albert and Gordon wait until Tammy is inside the building before they continue their conversation.
AGENT COLE AND AGENT ROSENFIELD’S INTENSE CONVERSATION
When first watching this episode when it premiered on May 23, 2017, I remember geeking out at this scene. There were references made to Phillip Jeffries and Blue Rose cases, both of which appeared in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Here are a few images from their intense conversation to close out this story.
It doesn’t get any bluer than this.
