Desert Boneyard
March 27th 2007 09:26
Hi everyone
The other day I was sent this email and thought I would share it with my readers. Now I have actually heard of this place before and its quite possible that you might have done too, but the photos are still quite impressive.
----- The bone yard
For those of you that have never seen this, it is something to see.
The precision in the way they are parked is impressive. It is difficult to
comprehend the size of the "Bone yard" and
the number of aircraft stored there. Of course the important thing to
remember is that they are all capable of being returned to flying
condition if the need ever arises. If you are ever in the Tucson area,
the weekly tours of the bone yard is still given through the Tucson Air
Museum, located just south of Davis Montham AFB. Both the museum and the bone yard
are very popular attractions in the Arizona desert.
It is difficult to comprehend the number of military aircraft in dead
storage until you see these photographs! Even if you have seen this before, look again.
1- The 3rd largest Air Force in the world is sitting on the ground here.
2- It's the only unit in the U.S. Air Force that actually makes a profit.
Tucson is home to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center (AMARC) as well as several private aircraft scrapyards. Surplus and retired aircraft from all branches of the military are stored here due to the ideal climate (warm and dry). Aircraft sent to AMARC are processed for long-term storage in the Arizona desert. Sensitive instruments and high-value items are removed for safekeeping, and the airframes are drained and purged of fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid. Windows, doors, and hatches are sealed with protective material, but vents and aircraft undersides are left open to avoid condensation. Most aircraft transferred to this facility are "cannibalized" (stripped for spare parts) and eventually scrapped, but some of the transport aircraft such as the older C-130s are made available to other federal agencies for nonmilitary purposes such as firefighting. In the past some of these aircraft were offered for sale to private parties. However, concerns that this would provide a cheap source of transportation for drug smugglers have resulted in most of the older transports being scrapped instead.
The Pima Air & Space Museum,, is located one mile southwest of the base,and is worth investigating as well, having an extensive selection of military (primarily USAF) aircraft in varying stages of restoration, including examples of the B-52, B-57, C-46, C-119 and F-102 (net sourced)
The recycling of flyable aircraft is the facility's first priority. (AMARC's symbol is a phoenix rising from the ashes.) In fiscal year 2002, for instance, the organization regenerated 18 F-16A Fighting Falcons for return to active service. Many aircraft stored at Davis-Monthan today are given entirely new, non-military assignments, such as dropping water on forest fires in the American West, aiding drug interdiction in South America, or hunting big-game poachers in Africa.
AMARC's return on investment is impressive. In FY02, the facility gave 99 aircraft valued at $520 million a new life, and it reclaimed $732.5 million worth of spare parts and placed them back into the active inventory. Thus, on an annual budget of $47 million, AMARC returned a total of $1.25 billion worth of equipment to the Department of Defense.
All told, AMARC today hosts over 4,300 aircraft. Roughly a quarter of them are in flyable storage, meaning they could be readied for takeoff in short order. Current residents include several top-of-the-line models. Some, such as F-4E Phantom fighters, the most abundant aircraft in the inventory at nearly 700 airframes, will serve as remotely piloted drones that fighter pilots will shoot out of the sky with air-to-air missiles during training exercises. Others, including F-14 and F-15 fighters and KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers, could see action again—just as their predecessors, the C-47 "Gooney Birds," did half a century ago in Korea
Well pretty interesting place I should imagine and it would be pretty cool to have a wander around too.
Anyway, spent the night editing chapter 4, nearly finished although hit bit of a snag when I have changed some of the plotting and now have to make it all flow nicely, hmmmmm always the way when you change stuff but all good.
Catch you later
Hal
The other day I was sent this email and thought I would share it with my readers. Now I have actually heard of this place before and its quite possible that you might have done too, but the photos are still quite impressive.
----- The bone yard
For those of you that have never seen this, it is something to see.
The precision in the way they are parked is impressive. It is difficult to
comprehend the size of the "Bone yard" and
the number of aircraft stored there. Of course the important thing to
remember is that they are all capable of being returned to flying
the weekly tours of the bone yard is still given through the Tucson Air
Museum, located just south of Davis Montham AFB. Both the museum and the bone yard
are very popular attractions in the Arizona desert.
It is difficult to comprehend the number of military aircraft in dead
storage until you see these photographs! Even if you have seen this before, look again.
1- The 3rd largest Air Force in the world is sitting on the ground here.
2- It's the only unit in the U.S. Air Force that actually makes a profit.
Tucson is home to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center (AMARC) as well as several private aircraft scrapyards. Surplus and retired aircraft from all branches of the military are stored here due to the ideal climate (warm and dry). Aircraft sent to AMARC are processed for long-term storage in the Arizona desert. Sensitive instruments and high-value items are removed for safekeeping, and the airframes are drained and purged of fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid. Windows, doors, and hatches are sealed with protective material, but vents and aircraft undersides are left open to avoid condensation. Most aircraft transferred to this facility are "cannibalized" (stripped for spare parts) and eventually scrapped, but some of the transport aircraft such as the older C-130s are made available to other federal agencies for nonmilitary purposes such as firefighting. In the past some of these aircraft were offered for sale to private parties. However, concerns that this would provide a cheap source of transportation for drug smugglers have resulted in most of the older transports being scrapped instead.
The Pima Air & Space Museum,, is located one mile southwest of the base,and is worth investigating as well, having an extensive selection of military (primarily USAF) aircraft in varying stages of restoration, including examples of the B-52, B-57, C-46, C-119 and F-102 (net sourced)
The recycling of flyable aircraft is the facility's first priority. (AMARC's symbol is a phoenix rising from the ashes.) In fiscal year 2002, for instance, the organization regenerated 18 F-16A Fighting Falcons for return to active service. Many aircraft stored at Davis-Monthan today are given entirely new, non-military assignments, such as dropping water on forest fires in the American West, aiding drug interdiction in South America, or hunting big-game poachers in Africa.
AMARC's return on investment is impressive. In FY02, the facility gave 99 aircraft valued at $520 million a new life, and it reclaimed $732.5 million worth of spare parts and placed them back into the active inventory. Thus, on an annual budget of $47 million, AMARC returned a total of $1.25 billion worth of equipment to the Department of Defense.
All told, AMARC today hosts over 4,300 aircraft. Roughly a quarter of them are in flyable storage, meaning they could be readied for takeoff in short order. Current residents include several top-of-the-line models. Some, such as F-4E Phantom fighters, the most abundant aircraft in the inventory at nearly 700 airframes, will serve as remotely piloted drones that fighter pilots will shoot out of the sky with air-to-air missiles during training exercises. Others, including F-14 and F-15 fighters and KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers, could see action again—just as their predecessors, the C-47 "Gooney Birds," did half a century ago in Korea
Well pretty interesting place I should imagine and it would be pretty cool to have a wander around too.
Anyway, spent the night editing chapter 4, nearly finished although hit bit of a snag when I have changed some of the plotting and now have to make it all flow nicely, hmmmmm always the way when you change stuff but all good.
Catch you later
Hal
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Comment by Anonymous
How many chapters of a book do you have to have completed before you start sending it off to publishers ?
Comment by www.kiwiauthor.com
It would be pretty cool to just wander around all the old warbirds. Hmm as to how many chapters to have completed? All depends on the publisher I guess, as some like just a synopsis and first chapter, sometimes it could be the first three chapters, stll learning about this myself but when I find out, I post details on my blog regarding my getting published endeavours.
Thanks for the comment
Hal
Comment by Paul
Surreal Short Stories