Airfields of Agents of SHIELD – Season 1 | MCU: Location Scout

SHIELD vehicles and "The Bus" in airfield hangar.

You’re really just asking me to drive the bus?

In early seasons of Agents of SHIELD, specifically Season 1, the team traveled in The Bus, a modified Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airplane. Various footage, both real and digitally enhanced, was utilized to make it seem that Coulson’s crew was traversing the world. In reality, only a few airfields in the Los Angeles area are designed to handle both the size of this craft and the needs of a film crew. Many shots of The Bus were reused in different episodes, with the footage being flopped left to right or darkened.

Scenes where the rear cargo ramp of The Bus is deployed are shot in the soundstage with backgrounds inserted via visual effects.

Episode 1 “Pilot”

For the premiere episode, the shots of the Globemaster in and around the hangar were all filmed at the UNICAL Hangar at the San Bernardino International Airport, which is East of Los Angeles.

  • SHIELD vehicles and "The Bus" in airfield hangar.
  • Grant Ward looking at interior of The Bus via loading ramp.
  • Melinda May in The Bus pilot seat, with airport outside windows.
  • The Bus pulling out of airport hangar.
  • The Bus lifting off from runway.
  • The Bus parked on tarmac and agents walking up rear ramp.

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Episode 2 “0-8-4”

Two airfields were featured in this episode: a Peruvian landing strip and the SHIELD Classified location, The Slingshot. Both scenes appear to use heavy visual effects and digital assets of The Bus to make it appear that the Agents are in an exotic location. The buildings of The Slingshot might be based on rearranged elements from the San Bernardino airport, put onto a desert landscape.

  • The Bus landing on a Peruvian airfield.
  • The Slingshot: A desert airfield. Text: The Slingshot, Location: Classified.
  • The Slingshot: A desert airfield.
  • The Bus parked at The Slingshot, a desert airfield.
  • The Agents watching a rocket blast off from The Slingshot.

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Episode 4 “Eye Spy”

The team makes their way overseas to Belarus, where Coulson orders May to find a place to “park” the Bus. The image below represents a Belarusian Hangar, but looks a bit more like stock footage of one stateside.

  • Nighttime shot of The Bus parked in a large Belarus hangar.

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Episode 5 “Girl in the Flower Dress”

After stopping one of Project Centipede’s labs, the action returns to The Bus, parked on a dark airfield outside Hong Kong. There are a lot of visual effects in this shot, adding in Hong Kong lights in the background, so it’s unclear if this is a doctored image of a real airfield or fully digital.

  • Nighttime view of The Bus on Hong Kong Airfield.

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Episode 6 “FZZT”

The end of this episode features The Bus flying to “a SHIELD research facility across the Atlantic,” called The Sandbox, to drop off the potentially hazardous Chitauri metal. The background plate for this shot looks a lot like the Namib Desert, a coastal desert of Southern Africa, but it is unclear which footage was used to create this scene.

  • The Bus parked in the middle of sand dunes. Text: The Sandbox, Location: Classified.

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Episode 7 “The Hub”

The Agents visit one of SHIELD’s most prolific bases, The Hub. It’s second only to the Triskelion, and has a hangar built into its space. While both shots of The Bus below contain visual effects, some elements of the Pacific Design Center, the location used for most of The Hub interiors, were included, such as the balconies. This first shot below was utilized again in episodes 16 and 18.

  • The Bus parked in a hangar at The Hub.
  • Interior of airplane hangar in The Hub.

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Episode 8 “The Well”

The Bus flies from Seville, Spain, to Ireland with Professor Randolph to find the final piece of the berserker staff in a Monastery.

  • Th Bus makes its approach to an Irish Airfield.

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Episode 9 “Repairs”

The Agents take Hannah Hutchins out of Utah to a SHIELD safe location. The Bus launches from this runway, which uses an unknown background plate or stock shot. It appears to be a flopped shot (left to right) of the same footage that was used in the Pilot episode above, but digitally edited with a new mountainous background.

  • The Bus departing a runway in Utah.
  • The Bus departing a runway in Utah.

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Episode 10 “The Bridge”

This episode’s shot of The Bus, on an Oakland, California airfield at night, is a flopped shot (left to right) of the same footage used in episode 5. The background of this shot appears to be the original footage, and not edited to add a different cityscape, as with the previous episode.

  • Nighttime shot of The Bus on an Oakland airfield.

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Episode 11 “The Magical Place”

The Agents are back in the Los Angeles area this episode to arrest VanChat and try to discover where the kidnapped Coulson is being hidden. The hangar seen in this episode is once again the San Bernardino International Airport, but this time, the AeroPro hangar, which is on the opposite side of the hangar seen in the Pilot episode.

  • Aerial of The Bus exiting an airport hangar.

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Episode 13 “T.R.A.C.K.S.”

The Agents are tracking stolen Cybertek parts in Italy and parked at this Italian airfield. This is filmed on The Bus set on a soundstage, but the background appears to be a stock image from some unidentified airport.

  • The view from the loading ramp of The Bus showing an Italian airport.

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Episode 14 “T.A.H.I.T.I.”

A brief shot of a Swiss airfield is shown as the medpod containing Skye is loaded onto The Bus. As with the previous Italian airfield, this appears to be a stock photo of some real (yet unknown) airport.

  • Medpod being loaded on The Bus at a Swiss airfield.

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Episode 15 “Yes Men”

The Agents travel to Las Vegas, landing at a Nevada airfield in this episode. The first shot of The Bus is the same footage from episode 11. There is a new full shot of The Bus turning on a runway, which appears to also be from San Bernardino International Airport. The shot of the Globemaster taking off is the same footage as seen in the Pilot and episodes 2 & 9 (above,) but this time without any additional visual effects in the background. The final nighttime shot is again a flopped shot from episode 10 without digital manipulation of the background.

  • Aerial view of The Bus coming out of a hangar.
  • The Bus on a Nevada runway.
  • The Bus takes off from a Nevada airstrip.
  • Nighttime shot of The Bus on a Nevada airfield.

Episode 16 “End of the Beginning”

In this episode, The Bus lands on its first movable airfield, that of the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis (CVN-74). This is stock footage that had the Globemaster added to it. Additionally, the team returns to The Hub (from episode 7), which is a digital shot as well, but made up of elements from the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood.

  • The Bus lands on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
  • The Bus parked in an interior hangar. Text: The Hub, Location: Classified.

Episode 18 “Providence”

Once again, the team returns to The Hub (from episode 7), which is a digital shot as well, but made up of elements from the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood.

  • The Bus parked in the Hub hangar.

Episode 20 “Nothing Personal”

In this episode, the team follows Ward (who has stolen The Bus) back to Los Angeles in order to rescue Skye. The San Bernardino International Airport seems to have been used for these few shots of The Bus confronting the SHIELD Jump Jet.

  • The Bus on a airport runway.
  • POV of Ward inside The Bus looking at a runway.
  • A smaller plane pointing towards The Bus on an airport runway.
  • POV from inside smaller plane looking at The Bus.

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Episode 21 “Ragtag”

Fitz and Simmons observe the hijacked Bus on the Cuban airfield of Abel Santamaria. While there’s no question that these images use extensive visual effects, it’s uncertain if the background plates are based on real locations.

  • The Bus parked on a runway at Abel Santamaria.

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(Agents of SHIELD S01E01-E02, E04-E11, E13-E16, E18 & E20-E21, 2013–2014)