Jim Baker Posted January 4, 2009 Share #1 Posted January 4, 2009 The Bone Yard near Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson , Arizona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted January 4, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted January 4, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted January 4, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted January 4, 2009 We've got the planes, do we have the pilots?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2vault Posted January 4, 2009 Share #6 Posted January 4, 2009 Wow, that is simply amazing. That is A LOT of planes! Do you know how much money in constructed planes is sitting there? Are those planes still in service or is their fate to be a rusty death? - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwnorma Posted January 4, 2009 Share #7 Posted January 4, 2009 Jeff, They are technically still in service, but none of them are immediately airworthy. The reason they sit in the Arizona desert is because that environment is ideal for long-term storage of aircraft. Because it is so dry, they don't "rust" http://www.dm.af.mil/units/amarc.asp Before being put in long term storage, the aircraft are carefully prepared. Certain parts/fluids are removed, and certain elements are covered with "spraylat" which is a latex paint that protects photo-sensitive surfaces. The Aircraft are essentially sealed so that no environmental debris can enter the system and damage them. The whole reason this is done is because it is far cheaper to store older aircraft for spares than to purchase brand new ones. For example, the Air Force recently announced that it would stand up several new B-52 Wings. The Aircraft for those new wings will come from the boneyard. They will be pulled from storage, brought up to current spec, all for far less than it would have cost to have Boeing re-create the B-52 production line. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLK Posted January 4, 2009 Share #8 Posted January 4, 2009 You can also see pictures of Davis-Monthan by doing a Google Map and see satellite views: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=davis-montha...sa=N&tab=wl I have no idea how to tell how old the sat photos are. Interesting stuff! JLK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted January 4, 2009 Share #9 Posted January 4, 2009 I was in Tucson earlier this year and took a few "drive by" shots. You can take a tour of the facility and they will point out some of the more intersting/historical aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Meatcan Posted January 5, 2009 Share #10 Posted January 5, 2009 if you ever find yourself near Tucson, definitely take the tour! It is very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Andrews Posted January 5, 2009 Share #11 Posted January 5, 2009 And do NOT miss the Pima air museum nearby (not on Davis-Monthan AFB). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Ragan Posted January 5, 2009 Share #12 Posted January 5, 2009 Jeff, For example, the Air Force recently announced that it would stand up several new B-52 Wings. The Aircraft for those new wings will come from the boneyard. They will be pulled from storage, brought up to current spec, all for far less than it would have cost to have Boeing re-create the B-52 production line. Chris Where did you get this information? I have read on another website that one new bomb squadron (not a Wing), will be activated at Minot. The Air Force just within the last year or so, cut the active B-52 fleet back even more, but whatever number is reactivated, those will be B-52H airplanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custermen Posted January 6, 2009 Share #13 Posted January 6, 2009 Is there a "Buy Now" bid for the F-4's?? This reminds me of an article I read. The Gov't took a ship load of scrapped A-6 Intruders and dropped them into the Atlantic Ocean so that the fishes would have a home. Some little 7 year old wrote a letter to the editor and asked "Why am I re-cycling my Coke cans when the Gov't is dumping a fleet of aircraft in the ocean?" Out of the mouths of babes. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Bibliotecario Posted January 6, 2009 Share #14 Posted January 6, 2009 I live near DM AFB, and heard that at least a portion of the F4 inventory is being refitted for use as drone targets. It's interesting to see what's beyond the fence--but as the original poster shows, its more convenient to use the free on line eye in the sky. Coincidentaly I was doing this last night--I don't think there are too many B52s left, but there seem to be a good quantity of either T38s or F5s--couldn't tell which. Several months ago I was obliged to go down to the end of the base near the storage facility, and from the ground saw a couple B1s. The unit that runs the junkyard--I think its called AMARC or some such--claims to save the govt millions of dollars by recycling parts from scrapped aircraft. I'm sure they generate a great many useful parts--just as I'm sure that if they didn't, that like any good govt organization they would still claim they did, to justify their existence. At one time I was puzzled by a collection of older jet transports at DM with civilian airline markings--I was told these were purchased specifically for recycling the parts. (This is also done by a commercial facility, the Pinal Air Park, north of Tucson, so apparently it's cost effective.) My favorite DM anecdote happened in the '50s, when the B36 fleet was scrapped. I understand a contractor was allowed to set up a smelter on base, and the B36s which landed left shortly thereafter as aluminum ingots. The bizarre thing was that the last B36s to arrive were flown directly from the factory where they had just come off the assembly line. For anyone interested in old airplanes, I'd second the previous poster's suggestion to visit the Pima Air Museum--their collection includes many examples of stuff that DM long ago scrapped. Also, one can get much closer to the parked aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewA74 Posted January 7, 2009 Share #15 Posted January 7, 2009 Hi, Nice planes! The flying target F-4 is designated the QF-4. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted January 7, 2009 Share #16 Posted January 7, 2009 The USAF is indeed refitting F-4's out of DM as QF-4 drones. Here are a couple of links that detail that. The pilots for the drones reportedly hate to see their birds shot down, but state that it is a better end then seeing them rust in the desert. As you will note, some of them have been repainted in Southeast Asia colors and have been flown as part of a Heritage Flight at airshows. http://www.fencecheck.com/photography/The_..._Target_Drones/ If you click on the small pictures on the above link, they expand to full screen. http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123026634 On the top of the tail of #643 it says "Team Target" and features a victory mark near the front intake that looks like a Buffalo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steindaddie Posted January 7, 2009 Share #17 Posted January 7, 2009 The USAF is indeed refitting F-4's out of DM as QF-4 drones. On the top of the tail of #643 it says "Team Target"... #643 is 74-1643 and at one time it was MY plane ! I was it's crew chief at Seymour Johnson AFB 1987-89. It was a sweet flying machine too. Not for anything I did; it was just a good aircraft and never gave me or anyone else much trouble. This is why it initially ended up in the AF Reserve instead of retirement. The Reserves, 924th TFG in Texas, gave it that funky paint job. (There's actually the state of Texas on there, if you know where to look) Given it's low maintenance back then, I'm not surprised it still flies today. I knew 1643 was in the drone program and I hope she bites some F-16 lawn dart in the butt before it takes it's last flight. ~Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper704 Posted January 7, 2009 Share #18 Posted January 7, 2009 Pima has a beautiful B-17 too. I saw it when there in 1992. Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted January 7, 2009 Share #19 Posted January 7, 2009 #643 is 74-1643 and at one time it was MY plane ! I was it's crew chief at Seymour Johnson AFB 1987-89. It was a sweet flying machine too. Not for anything I did; it was just a good aircraft and never gave me or anyone else much trouble. This is why it initially ended up in the AF Reserve instead of retirement. The Reserves, 924th TFG in Texas, gave it that funky paint job. (There's actually the state of Texas on there, if you know where to look) Given it's low maintenance back then, I'm not surprised it still flies today. I knew 1643 was in the drone program and I hope she bites some F-16 lawn dart in the butt before it takes it's last flight. ~Will "F-16 lawn dart" - too funny! I had not heard that one before. I lived in Hawaii in the mid 1980's. Everyday around 11:10 a formation of four Hawaii Air National Guard F-4's would come in for a landing at Hickam. The HANG actually had an active duty mission of maintaining air alert for the Hawaiian islands. Depending on where you were standing on the island, you most definitely could hear those engines roaring overhead. You could almost set your watch by when these guys came over. All I could figure was that if they parked their ships by 11:30 they would be in time for the buffet lunch at the Hickam Officer's Club by noon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FW12 Posted January 7, 2009 Share #20 Posted January 7, 2009 Look at all them tax dollars! As a pilot, this makes me cry and salivate at the same time. Beau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100kid Posted January 10, 2009 Share #21 Posted January 10, 2009 Joining the AF in 1954 there is no telling how many old birds I worked on in my 12 yrs that were turned into beer cans out of DM. Those include F86s, F94s, Maybe a few F100s, B47s, C141s, C124s, C121s, C54s, C118s, C130A models, C135 A and B models and C133s. I was stationed at Hickam from Aug '62 to Aug '65 in transient maintenance and we actually did work on jets, turbo props and recips. I did more block plug changes than I care to remember! As stated before, the HANG was, in the '60s the only Air Guard unit on full alert. At the time they flew 102s. The story was, that if they took off and turned out over the ocean it meant bogey. If they turned left over the mountains, it was a training flight. Their alert hanger(more like an aluminum garage you'd build for your extra vehicle, open on both ends) was at the end of the main runway of Honolulu Int'l and very close to what we called the boonies. This was where we parked the VN bound cargo's full of ammo, etc, or where we could do full power engine runs. Altho the 10th Puka, a nine hole golf course usually complained about having dust blown in their beer. I guess life is tough all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapwater Posted January 14, 2009 Share #22 Posted January 14, 2009 If you can find a copy at a bookstore or library, Look for "50 Years of the Desert Boneyard", by Philip D. Chinnery. My copy is dated 1995 by Motorbooks International. It has great pics of everything from Skyraiders to Phantoms to O-2A Skymasters. The book is only about 100 or so pages long, but it's heavy on color pictures. Enough to make me cry, knowing that most of what you see has already been melted down. My copy had a slight flaw in the binding, so I got it for about $10 at a gun show. I wouldn't sell it for ten times that much. It's that good!.........Maybe check ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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