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Where old planes go when they "die"
- Thread starter nfo2b
- Start date
The guys that handled the induction gave us a tour of the place after all the paperwork was done; didn't seem like any pre-coordination was required and they bent over backwards to help us out.
Pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/mark.xue/AMARC?feat=directlink
As mmx1 mentioned, they'll probably work it out for you anyway, but I did ask ahead of time if they could give us the tour. I got the "if we don't have other stuff going on..." reply, but when we actually got there, we were about 4 hours late, right before quitting time (see above about non-starting engine) and one of the Chiefs still have us the whole tour. We didn't have quite as much time to fondle all the lost airframes, but he still let us hop out when we wanted and snap look something over...as long as it wasn't the F-4 right next to the guard shack.
I have a pic or two of the oldest aircraft on site, but I still can't get the site to let me upload pics as attachments.
No kidding. C'mon nobody really expects to have to ever pull old PBY's or P-2V's out of storage in the boneyard. They should start a program where people can pick out a plane, make modest payments on it for a period of 10 years or so, and after that time (if the plane hasn't moved) let you take it home. They'd get more money then the scrap metal values of them and it'd be a way to keep the old warbirds flying.
Or maybe make it a part of the new retirement/ incentive plan being discussed in the other thread?
Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Or use it for severance pay..
"You can have 10% of monthly Base Pay times months of service OR you can go to the boneyard and pick any airplane you are rated for"
"You can have 10% of monthly Base Pay times months of service OR you can go to the boneyard and pick any airplane you are rated for"
Wow, the stealth fighter must get better with age, because I can't even see it behind its identifying sign in that one picture.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
Just got back from dropping off a C-12 at the boneyard. Getting the tour ended up being no big deal at all, and basically a de facto part of the process.
There's simply too much to see in a two to three hour tour. I could wander around there for two weeks and not get bored. It's almost overwhelming if you like history and aircraft.
I have a cockpit recce picture for all of you later (if I can figure out how to post it), but most of the aircraft is about what you'd expect, albeit in much higher numbers.
I was astounded by how many P-3s there were. I didn't know we ever had that many, period. Same for T-37s and F-16s. TONS of them. There are also 19 C-5s, which I didn't expect. They take up a ton of space.
I must have flown several dozen of them over the years (T-34, T-2, TA-4J), but the best part was seeing the TA-4J that I CQ'd in back in flight school. I signed it and took a picture.
Awesome experience.
There's simply too much to see in a two to three hour tour. I could wander around there for two weeks and not get bored. It's almost overwhelming if you like history and aircraft.
I have a cockpit recce picture for all of you later (if I can figure out how to post it), but most of the aircraft is about what you'd expect, albeit in much higher numbers.
I was astounded by how many P-3s there were. I didn't know we ever had that many, period. Same for T-37s and F-16s. TONS of them. There are also 19 C-5s, which I didn't expect. They take up a ton of space.
I must have flown several dozen of them over the years (T-34, T-2, TA-4J), but the best part was seeing the TA-4J that I CQ'd in back in flight school. I signed it and took a picture.
Awesome experience.
Wow. I remember flying those when they had that "new car" smell. Now the first ship I deployed on (CG 51 Thomas S Gates) is in the Philly shipyards and the aircraft are being sent to the boneyard. Kind of weird seeing as I am currently deployed with HH-60Ms that are barely 1-2 years old. Of course they lost their "new car" smell the moment we hit Ft.Hood, TX before deployment.
Any bunos on those? 162113 is the lowest buno Seahawk I flew. I deloyed with 162981, an early block 1 I believe. In contrast, I picked up ser.no. 09-20227 from the factory in February of 2010.
Any bunos on those? 162113 is the lowest buno Seahawk I flew. I deloyed with 162981, an early block 1 I believe. In contrast, I picked up ser.no. 09-20227 from the factory in February of 2010.
Back when "our" bone yard was Litchfield Park, as a fresh caught ensign I got to ferry an AD-5Q there from NORIS. As far as equipment, the only requirement was that "all the holes be filled". The UHF and most of the engine instruments worked and little else. It was an IFR (I follow roads) flight as the maintenance guys had swapped all their inoperable junk into the bird.
I know the new C-12s are being phased in, but are the station C-12s really that old/broken? Or are they just obsolete? I guess I'm just amazed that the old ones are being sent to the boneyard...it seems that in this age of supposed penny-pinching, DoN could strike 'em and sell 'em. (Unless, of course, we're just keeping them prepped for a future, sudden influx of flag officers that need a ride.)
Either way, I know Tucson isn't a good-deal cross-country from Yuma, but did The Bobs give you enough time to at least destroy your liver on campus? Frog & Firkin was always a mandatory check in the box for us...for obvious reasons.
That particular bird in the picture is/was 162136 BUT... it's still a Block 0 that never got modded. -44 owned it for a while before we got it. 162981 must have been one of the first Block Is. I did two cruises as a JO with 162118, but she was a .75 (and is the bird in my avatar).
Fun fact: We still have 161556 in our possession. She's the 9th -60B made and the FIRST production model. She's also the last living -60B that still has the canted wings that everyone reads about in Natops and ignores. She's getting upgraded to a .75...why is more political than anything else, but she'll fly for about a year or so and then go away forever.