 The Consolidated Vultee XP-81 single seat, long range escort fighter and Republic XP-84 Thunderjet fighter arrived at the base in early 1946 for flight testing.It was obvious even at this embryonic stage of base development that the Army Air Force desert station was destined to become a proving ground for aircraft and a testing site for experimental airplanes.The success of these programs attracted a new type of research activity to the base in late 1946.