Aircraft
Boneyards ,Yes they exists
Introduction
One of the most common questions that I get is about the huge airliner
graveyards out in the western deserts. Folks ask if they really exist,
and if so, where are they? The answer is yes, these boneyards do
exist. In fact, it is rather surreal viewing a boneyard given that
these planes are so large, and there are so many of them in one place.
Equally surreal is realizing that each plane originally cost anywhere
from a few million to hundreds of millions of dollars, and they are
just sitting there doing no productive work.
As it turns out, the airline industry goes in cycles. The boneyards
first filled up after WWII when the military downsized and converted
to jet aircraft. It took years to either sell or recycle all of the
WWII aircraft. Another wave of aircraft arrived at the boneyards in
the late 1960s and early 1970s as the classic prop airliners were sent
out to pasture in favor of the early jet passenger planes. Many of
these propliners were converted to cargo planes, carrying fish out of
Alaska or flowers from South America. The next wave of idle planes
happened during the oil crisis in 1974. These planes returned to
service after the oil supply stabilized, only to be sent back when the
airlines were deregulated in the early 1980s. Deregulation meant that
fewer planes were in service, but working longer hours. The stored
airliners mostly went back into service, only to be put back in
storage during the travel shock of the 1991 Gulf War. At that time,
thousands of airliners were sent to the desert. Many of them were the
older less efficient and noisy airplanes, so they ended up going
overseas. The boneyards were nearly empty by the mid-1990s, which were
the happy years for the airlines. The 9/11 attack ended that in a
single day. After the flight stand-down, entire fleets of airliners
were sent to the desert. With continued terrorist threats, high cost
of fuel, and passenger concern, the boneyards remain filled to the
brim with aircraft. Ironically, some aircraft that were on order as of
9/11 were rolled off of the assembly line, and flown directly to
storage in Mojave without carrying a single paying passenger.
Boneyards have again filled up with the wave of high fuel costs and
the economic crisis since 2007. Not only have airlines cut back
flights, but they are attempting to operate fewer but fuller aircraft.
This web page is an overview of the various aircraft boneyards in the
desert southwest, with information on how to visit these sites. Please
contact the author if you need additional information.
Note—I am not a scrap dealer, nor do I have any contacts with any of
the scrappers. I get a lot of E-mail from people looking for parts and
even entire aircraft. The answer is that I do not know of any sources
for airplane parts or retired aircraft other than E-Bay and magazines
such as Trade-A-Plane and Aero Trader.
Mojave
Airport
Mojave Airport is the civilian and commercial aircraft flight test
facility. It is the civilian analog to Edwards AFB, which is just down
the road a few miles. Mojave is home to number of cutting edge
aircraft companies, including Scaled Composites, which recently flew
the first civilian manned space flight. You see all kinds of odd and
interesting artifacts when driving around the airport, anything from
home-built airplanes made out of styrofoam to Russian Migs being used
to fly aggressor training missions against the USAF.
Mojave is in the high desert. It is dry because the mountains near the
ocean rob all of the rainfall, leaving central and eastern California
with almost no rainfall. The low humidity makes an ideal place to
store aircraft, and the hard desert floor is able to support these
mammoth beasts without being paved over. The result is that Mojave is
a first choice as a storage location for aircraft that you wish to use
again in the future. At the current time, there are several hundred
airliners in storage. This ranges from the puddle jumpers, small jests
like the Fokkers, up to the wide bodies and jumbos such as the L-1011
and Boeing-747. The post 9/11 aviation economy is the biggest reason
for airliners being sent to Mojave. Entire fleets have been sent here
due to airlines going bankrupt. Secondary reasons include older 727
and DC-9 that do not meet new noise guidelines, and older aircraft who
will have a second life as cargo transports.
Mojave is located north of Los Angeles on the Antelope Freeway, also
known as California CA-14. There are streets in the airport that are
open to traffic, but the storage area is not open to the public. That
isn't too much of an issue since it is clearly visible from the main
roads. The best view is from just north-east of town on CA-14 and the
new CA-58 bypass.
AMARC at
Davis Monthan Air Force Base
AMARC is the US Air Force Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration
Center. This is the central depot for all US military planes that are
pulled out of service and put into storage. The AMARC puts these
planes into long term storage, often covering them with a white
plastic coating called Spraylat to protect the aircraft from the
elements. In many cases, the stored aircraft are refurbished and sent
back into service, sometimes after being sold to foreign nations. In
other cases, useful parts are pulled off of the aircraft, and the
remains are sold to nearby scrappers.
The most recent fleet to arrive at AMARC is the F-14 Tomcat, the
former front-line Navy carrier plane, which was retired in 2006. Other
aircraft that are arriving in quantity are the C-141 Starlifter and
the A-10 Warthog. Beyond that, you will see just about every kind of
airplane that the military has flown since WWII. One project is to
convert former fighters into drone aircraft to be used as missile
targets. All of the stored F-106 were used for this testing, and now
F-4 are being used as drones. Even some very new aircraft are in
storage. For example, a few B-1 bombers have been pulled from
front-line duty, some went to the Air National Guard while others are
stored at AMARC. Congress is now considering pulling those B-1 back
into front-line service.
The most dramatic use of AMARC was the B-52 fleet reduction to meet
the terms of the SALT treaties. Hundreds of the giant B-52 bombers
were set out in the desert. A huge guillotine was used to chop off the
wings, then chop the fuselage into pieces. The parts were then piled
up neatly and left in place for months to allow Soviet satellites to
verify the destruction of these strategic bombers.
AMARC is located on the grounds of Davis Monthan Air Force Base on the
south-east side of Tucson, Arizona. The base itself is not open to the
general public. There is, however, a perimeter road that circles the
base, allowing a fairly close view of the stored aircraft. There is
also a highway that crosses the base which allows for a good view.
The Pima Air & Space Museum is located just south of the base. This
museum has a large collection of historic aircraft that were rescued
from AMARC. The museum offers a weekly tour of the AMARC storage area.
Contact the museum for hours and reservations since the tour times and
rules change with the terrorism threat level.
Kingman
Airport
Kingman Airport was once a large US Army Air Force (later US Air
Force) aircraft storage facility. The USAF abandoned Kingman and moved
the storage facility to Tucson in the 1950s. The airport remains an
active aircraft storage facility, again, due to the dry climate. There
are currently a number of passenger planes in storage. While there are
few large aircraft, there seems to be large number of puddle jumper
sized passenger planes in storage. I also saw a variety of former
military cargo planes, some in storage, others look like they are
active.
Kingman Airport is located north-east of Kingman, Arizona. Kingman is
south of the Grand Canyon, and about 90 minutes from Las Vegas via
Hoover Dam. The aircraft storage areas are on the far side of the
runways from the streets that are open to the public. As a result,
field glasses and telephoto lenses are handy tools for tail spotters.
Tucson
International Airport
The main airport in Tucson was once a moderate sized aircraft boneyard.
In recent years, the airport has required more room as traffic into
and out of Tucson has grown. The result is that aircraft storage has
become less of a business at Tucson International. There are still a
few older retired military aircraft as well as a few retired airliners
stored at Tucson International. The vast majority are on the west side
of the airport in the area of the WWII-era Consolidated factory. Like
the old Consolidated buildings, the aircraft are mostly just rotting
away.
Tucson International is located south of Tucson, and south of I-10.
There is a perimeter road around much of the airport that gives good
views of most everything. The old storage area and Consolidated
factory are located on the west side of the airport, whereas the
passenger terminal is on the east side of the airport. I visited
pre-9/11, and everything was pretty much open to auto traffic except
for the active aircraft areas. Things may have changed post-9/11.
Pinal Airpark
Pinal Airpark is a former CIA airfield. It was the headquarters for
CIA air cargo operations during the cold war and Vietnam. This
included airline names such as Air America and Southern Air Transport.
Rumor has it that several other cargo lines were used to the CIA’s
advantage, such as the Flying Tigers (the cargo version, not the
fighter plane group).
The CIA eventually phased out much of its covert air operations. The
huge international cargo company Evergreen stepped in and leased the
Pinal Airpark. They use it as their maintenance and repair base. They
also store many airliners on the airfield for future use as air cargo
transports. This includes a number of Boeing 747 aircraft.
Pinal Airpark is still a very secretive place. In several attempts, I
was not able to gain access to the facility. The roads on the airport
are closed to traffic and are fenced off. There is a high dirt berm
around the airport, making it impossible to see anything from the
road. The area is home to lots of nasty desert wildlife, which makes
going cross-country on foot something that a novice should not
attempt.
Pinal Airpark is just north of Marana, Arizona. Take exit 232 from
Interstate-10, and follow Marana Air Park Road. As a heads up, Pinal
Airpark was once called Marana Air Park. Just south about 10 miles is
an airport currently called Marana Field, which is the former Avra
Valley Airport.
As an easter egg, follow the frontage road from exit 232 north a mile
or two from exit 232, and notice a road heading off to the east called
Missile Base Road. Follow it to the end, and you will find an
abandoned Titan II missile silo and communications center.
Note—as of mid-2005, I have heard stories that Pinal Park is more or
less open for General Aviation business. While you still cannot drive
into the airport, you can fly in. There is a small cafe, and fuel is
available at a reasonable price. Please double check before you
attempt to land there, however.
Litchfield
Park
The US Navy operated a Naval Air Station in Litchfield Park, Arizona
from the WWII era into the late 1960s. After WWII, thousands of
surplus aircraft were stored at the NAS Litchfield Park. Many of these
planes were put back into service to meet the demands of the Korean
War. Those that were not put back in service simply sat out in the dry
hot climate for many years. A decision was made to close the NAS in
the 1967. The aircraft that remained were either sold off, moved to
AMARC, or were smelted on-site.
Today, NAS Litchfield Park is called the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport, and
it is located just south of I-10 on the far west side of Phoenix.
There is nothing left from the US Navy days. Goodyear still has a
large plant located on the airfield. I include Litchfield Park in this
field guide since so many of the remaining Navy warbirds passed
through Litchfield Park at some point in their history, and folks are
still curious about where Litchfield Park was, and if there are still
any Navy warbirds remaining in storage at Litchfield Park.
There is actually a longer history of aviation in Litchfield Park. An
airbase was built in Litchfield Park early in WWII. That airbase was
later named Luke Field. It closed after WWII, but was activated again
in the cold war as Luke Air Force Base. Since both Litchfield Park
Field and NAS Litchfield Park have changed names, it can be confusing
which location is being discussed.
Hawkins &
Powers
Hawkins and Powers is a major operator of aerial fire-fighting
aircraft. Most of the aircraft that they operate are WWII vintage and
early post WWII era propeller aircraft. They have some more modern
turbine aircraft such as the C-130, but the ramp is littered with the
round engine transports such as the KC-97, C-119, C-82, and the
Harpoon. Since Hawkins and Powers actively uses many of these
aircraft, they are either active and airworthy, they are awaiting
future use, or are used as a source of spare parts.
Many of the former WWII aircraft have now been grounded from active
fire-fighting use following a series of fatal accidents. As a result,
Hawkins and Powers is finding a new market in converting these planes
back to military configurations for museums and private warbird
operators. Hawkins and Powers also makes a business of restoring and
maintaining these types of aircraft on a commercial basis.
Hawkins and Powers is located in Grey Bull, Wyoming. This is a place
that you would really have to want to go to. It is hundreds of miles
from anywhere in far north-central Wyoming, east of the east entrance
to Yellowstone. Once you get there, you can ask for permission at the
H&P office, and they will give you a map for a self-guided tour of the
storage area and museum aircraft.
Note—a recent US Forest Service ruling has ended the business of using
vintage aircraft as air tankers for fighting fires. As a result, H&P
has closed. The remaining aircraft were either sold or scrapped
following an auction in 2006. If you have any interest in this
operation, get there while you still can since everything will be gone
by mid-2007.
Miscellaneous
Sites
China Lake Naval Weapons Lab: A number of WWII aircraft were located
on the gunnery range at China Lake being used as targets. These planes
were never intended to be flown again. A commercial pilot spotted
these planes from the air, which began a series of recovery efforts to
pull historic WWII airplanes out of the range and restore them to
flight. The CAF B-29 Fi-Fi was the first plane out. Another B-29 was
recovered a few years ago, and is undergoing restoration to flight
status. The China Lake base is closed to the public. They recently
opened a museum, and there is a small privately owned museum in
Inyokern, California, just outside of the base.
Edwards Air Force Base:
This site is the primary location for flight
testing of military aircraft, and the home of the NASA Dryden Flight
Research Center. While not a formal storage facility, there are a
number of rare aircraft in storage for the opening of the eventual
flight test museum. In addition, there is a junkyard that contains the
remains of many test aircraft, and a few rare aircraft rotting away on
the photo range (notably a B-47 and a B-58). Edwards is no longer open
to the general public since 9/11. The base is very big, and little can
be seen from off-base locations.
Fox Field:
Is the airport located in Lancaster, California, in the heart of the
Antelope Valley. Fox Field is home of the CA state fire bomber fleet
of aircraft. They have a mix of operating fire bomber aircraft, plus
some aircraft that are scavenged for parts.
George AFB:
The site of the former George Air Force Base is located in
Victorville, CA, between US-395 and I-15. This area has been used to
store airliners, especially MD-11s that are awaiting conversion to be
air freighters. Note that this area is full of abandoned housing that
is host to squatters, gangs, and other marginal people. It is
extremely dangerous, and you should not visit this area unless you are
prepared to handle these kinds of people.
Falcon Field:
Is the
airport in Mesa, Arizona, which is an eastern suburb of Phoenix.
Falcon is an interesting airport to visit since public streets run
through much of the airfield hangar area (at least pre-9/11). There
are several aircraft parts recycling firms located at Falcon Field.
Ryan Field:
Is an airport
about a dozen miles west of Tucson. It is home to ARDCO, a major fire
bomber operator. Ryan Field is their maintenance base. They have both
operating fire bombers as well as a small fleet of planes in storage
for future conversion as fire bombers.
Roswell, NM:
I visited Roswell in the mid-1990s, and there was nothing there to
speak of (as far as stored aircraft go). I happened to see an episode
of Wing Nuts on The Discovery Channel a while back, and they had some
footage of the Roswell airport. There were several dozen aircraft
located on the field, mostly DC-9s and Boeing-727s. It appeared that
most of these planes were slated to be chopped up given that they were
missing engines. Roswell is located in the south-east corner of New
Mexico.
Update — Roswell has become a major aviation boneyard. A recent report
indicates that hundreds of aircraft are in storage at the Roswell
airport. As of the summer of 2009, this includes 10 UPS 747s, older
UPS aircraft, a dozen American Airlines 737, several 747s, and a
Jetstar once owned by Elvis Presley. The field has had as many as 500
aircraft in storage at one time.
Ardmore, OK : Was once the home of a small scrapper. They had a B-727
and B-747 that were being parted out, the 747 having taken a hard
landing and was written off. The scrapper closed up shop, and nothing
was left of the operation when I visited in 2006. The airfield itself
was interesting in that it is a closed down SAC airbase.
Anchorage, Alaska: Alaska was a booming location for air transports in
the 1960s and 1970s both to fly seafood to the lower 48 states, and to
support the building of the pipeline. As these activities ramped down,
the aircraft were simply abandoned in place rather than flying them
back down south for storage. Given that much of Alaska is like a cold,
dry desert, the planes aged surprising well in that climate. The
Anchorage Airport is home to many such aircraft. Some will never fly
again, others see action every few years. As an example, one of the
remaining C-133 Cargomasters is located at Anchorage, and it recently
flew after sitting on the ground nearly a decade.
Update — The C-133 has since been retired and flown to McChord AFB
near Tacoma, Washington, for display in the base airpark.
South Florida:
South Florida, including Miami and Ft. Lauderdale were
once hotbeds of action as the older prop planes were retired in the US
and were put to work in the Caribbean and South America. Some of these
projects were legal, others were a little more shady. The wet climate,
salt air, and hurricanes meant for a short life for anything that sat
around on the ground. As a result, you find few aircraft in long term
storage in that area. You do see all kinds of unusual and elderly
aircraft cycle through South Florida, often there to get new logos
painted on, but they do not tend to remain long.
Maxton
Airport:
Maxton Airport is located near Laurinburg in south-central North
Carolina. It currently is home to several dozen retired Northwest
Airlines 727, 747, and DC-10 that are being parted out and scrapped.
Maxton is a civil airport that is open to the general public. I have
not visited Maxton, but I have been told that you can walk to and
around some of the airliners. I would suggest getting permission from
airport management first to avoid any homeland security issues.
Update — I received an update from a tail spotter who visited Maxton
in October, 2008. He found two 747, two DC-10, and eight 727. In
addition, rather than entering the airport, he says to follow the dirt
road heading to Charlotte Aircraft Corporation, and that will lead
right to the storage ramp. If they are not too busy, they might even
allow you to walk out to the airplanes and look around.
Aircraft
Boneyards In Popular Culture
Art and
Furniture:
MotoArt — Based in Torrance, California, MotoArt makes high value art
and furniture using recycled airplane parts. Examples of their work
can be found at the MotoArt website.
Movie: Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man — This 1991 movie features
Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson. Two fringe characters decide to help
out a friend and bar owner by holding up an armored car. When the
armored car turns out to contain drugs, every bad guy in Southern
California is on their trail. The final showdown was filmed at the
USAF Boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB.
Music Video:
Tom Petty, Learning To Fly — The USAF Boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB in
Tucson, Arizona, was used as the backdrop for a music video featuring
rock music legend Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band was shown
performing while standing in, on, and under various aircraft hulks.
The band reportedly went to Tucson looking for clouds for the backdrop
similar to those seen in old John Ford movies. The video is available
online at YouTube and VH1.
TV Series:
WingNuts — A
reality TV show based on the staff at the MotoArt Company as they
struggle to create expensive artwork using recycled aircraft parts
while running a business that is short on funds and at risk of
closing. In the end, they do manage to make each of their deliveries,
but not without problems and delays. The show ran during 2005 on the
Discovery Channel.
