VMA131Marine Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) I just love Google Earth. This is a tiny part of Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona. There are nearly 100 complete-ish F4 Phantoms in this shot. I didn't try to count the T-38's. There's also an RB-57F and a slightly mutilated KC-135. Here's the overhead view of the whole base: The civilian equivalent to Davis Monthan - Pinal Airpark - has relatively few aircraft in comparison: Edited November 25, 2015 by VMA131Marine 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) ...and a few of them Phantoms from ground level, last April: An amazing place. Another place to see commercial a/c at rest is Kingman, AZ. Started as a D-M equivalent post-WWII, but has been storing civvie a/c for about 20 years now. Edited November 25, 2015 by Paul Bradley 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Cheers for those pics,........the whole place seems to be smaller than it used to be,......but still very interesting. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 It makes you wonder at what point do a bunch of out-dated, time ravaged airframes from the 60s & 70s on which most if not all of the flight & maintenance skillset has retired or died becomes a bit of a white elephant that is just taking up space (of which AZ has lots). It also makes you realise where all the money goes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOUGHNUT Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Many millions of Dollar are saved / made by AMARC every year. Lots of information on the net, just Google it. A B-52 was recently returned to service after many years of storage, so the system does work. Parts reclaimed and returned to service save the US military in the purchase of new parts for types still in front line use. Airframes are also held past their US service retirement for sale to foreign military and other government agencies. Its not just a scrap yard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 From this perspective my stash is quite reasonable... 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm pretty sure all the F-4's have gone now, the last two drones were this year.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I presume that the skeleton`s of British Harrier fleet are amongst that lot somewhere? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Didn't they return to flight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Bought for spares Mike I believe.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Oh I know they said that, but I'm sure I heard they'd gone and formed a new squadron using them, or was that the usual rumour & supposition that surrounds anything these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 The bus trip/tour is supposed to be good, on my bucket list for one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 The bus trip/tour is supposed to be good, on my bucket list for one day. wonder what you can get at the gift shop ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 The bus trip is good, but it isn't like the old days when you were allowed to get off the bus at some points. Now, it's a bit like a non-stop tour of London - "Coming up on your right..." done in air-conditioned comfort in a standard tour bus. Still impressive and worth the time, though. D-M doesn't have a gift shop - it is an active base and you cannot get off the bus, but there's a gift shop at the Pima Air & Space Museum, which is where the bus tours now operate from. The shop has your standard kiddy toys, t-shirts and knick-knacks, a few models and books, but there is also a small collection of parts from various aircraft. The issue was that most were not identified, so you didn't know if the instrument or electronic box was from a T-37 or F-14, and their prices were a bit much, I thought. Some more shots of how the Boneyard was in April. This first shot shows the RB-57 and mutilated KC-135 from the original post! More shots - can you spot all the types? As you can tell, there are lots of internal reflections from the tour bus windows, and we were often moving at about 50mph...... not ideal of good photography. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgeek Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 wonder what you can get at the gift shop ?? More importantly could you sneak it past SWMBO ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 The biggest aircraft parts for sale were some drinks/food trolleys from old airliners! A snip at around $300 a piece. The wife of one of my friends was seriously looking at one for use at parties! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 No F-4 for the front garden then Saves someone saying that you got the shape wrong, too many rivets, that the colour is not quite the right shade and in any event it was unbuildable I suppose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Foster60 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I think I could just fit a F4 in the front garden, we could always park down the road. Imagine what a talking point it would be when she who will be obayed has her friends round. They would all love it! Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Look at all those Orions, enough to cover the GIUK gap no problem! Duncan B (who drove right past DM but never got the chance to stop for a look ) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm quite surprised to see there still seems to be a lot of B-57s parked. Thought this type was long gone. Also surprised to see a few Tomcats, IIRC the Navy was thinking of destroying all the ones not in museums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) The harriers are all there sitting as they were shipped. On pallets with the wings off tucked down the side. Edited November 25, 2015 by snapper_city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonhoff Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm quite surprised to see there still seems to be a lot of B-57s parked. Thought this type was long gone. Also surprised to see a few Tomcats, IIRC the Navy was thinking of destroying all the ones not in museums Perhaps they're saving them as spare parts donors for Iran..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Perhaps they're saving them as spare parts donors for Iran..... The reason for destroying them was actually to prevent any part from falling in Iranian hands, particularly after a couple of attempts to smuggle F-14 spare parts into Iran were discovered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Neu- Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I'm quite surprised to see there still seems to be a lot of B-57s parked. Thought this type was long gone. Likely WB-57 fleet support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 (edited) Likely WB-57 fleet support. NASA operates three WB-57F's. NASA 927 (RB-57F 63-13295) was reactivated and turned over to NASA in 2013 after being in storage at D-M for 41 years. I guess that demonstrates how effective the preservation process is, aided of course by the very low humidity and minimal rainfall that Tucson gets. Edited November 26, 2015 by VMA131Marine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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