Another Treasure in Tucson: The Boneyard

Even last year, Fred wanted to visit the Boneyard. Greg told him he could see it from outside the fence. We looked but there was no place to pull off the road so he didn’t get a chance to see it. This year, when we saw the Aerospace Museum in the Tucson Passport Savings book, we decided to try again.
The Boneyard is actually separate from the Museum. You don’t need to pay to get into the Museum to tour the Boneyard, but you do need to access the tickets through the cashier there.
There is no doubt – the USA is totally into their military. And the AMARC (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center) – The Boneyard – is a major facility attached to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. There aircraft is stored, maintained and rejuvenated for all branches of the military.
Not interested in old airplanes?
I didn’t think I was either but this was different.
We toured around the 2600 acres (with over 4200 aircraft) on a bus with a veteran guide with an intimate knowledge and interest in many of the aircraft. Every year between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors tour the "Boneyard."
In 1946, a place was needed to store the old planes and bombers out of WWII. Tucson was the perfect place to store the equipment – it’s dry and the ground can support the weight of some of these monstrous mechanical birds.

The yard extends as far as you can see against a backdrop of Arizona mountains and deep blue sky.

When an aircraft is brought in for storage:
• All guns, ejection seat charges, and classified hardware are removed.
• The fuel system is drained, refilled with lightweight oil, and then draining it again (for protection).
• It is sealed by a variety of materials from simple garbage bags to high tech vinyl plastic spray to protect it from dust, sunlight, and high temperatures. It is then towed to its designated "storage" position.
There are four categories of storage:
• Long Term – Aircraft are kept intact for future use
• Parts Reclamation – Aircraft are kept, picked apart and used for spare parts
• Flying Hold – Aircraft are kept intact for shorter stays than Long Term
• Excess of Department of Defence needs – Aircraft are sold off whole or in parts
Not being particularly aircraft-savvy, I did catch some of the names mentioned by our Guide including the YC-14, a prototype cargo plane designed to replace the C-130 Hercules, and the F-100 Super Sabre, the first U.S. Air Force aircraft to break the sound barrier and the F-4 Phantom, the most numerous American military supersonic built (5195). They were used from 1960 to the mid 90’s.
There are all kinds of aircraft and equipment stored there:
Big and Small

Helicopters

 





And Others