All you airplane guys! Where were you when John decided we should visit this place? It was an all day event including a walk around 75 acres of the museum and hangars with exhibits, and a huge yard full of all kinds of planes and helicopters from all eras. Then a bus tour of 2100 acres of thousands of stored planes and parts in varying states. It is mind boggling. I can't imagine the money tied up here. When we go out to play golf, to tour or just to get groceries we have been driving by all the planes so it was nice to get in there and see what it is all about. It was right up there with Pima Mine Tour and Titan Missile Site in terms of a testosterone day. RRRRRR!
Believe it or not I actually enjoyed it. Once I realized I was in for the long haul I just gave in and made the most of it. What was really impressive was the sheer size of some planes and the massive number of them. In the museum many historic examples of famous planes are kept in immaculate condition. Nose art was interesting and something I had never known about. It was neat to see the drawings and names of wives, girlfriends and mascots on the bombers. It's a bit disturbing to see the cartoonish drawings and propaganda on the planes that took VERY young people to destroy or be destroyed. There was a B-29 well preserved and pictures of the young and innocent crew. The pilot was 19 and most of the crew in their teens or early 20's. They dropped nuclear bombs.
Some planes are here to be refurbished, used for parts or waiting to be recommissioned. Some are for sale for parts or in whole to private or international buyers. Few have their paint jobs intact. Storage involves applying coats of protection from the desert sun. The bottom is left untouched to allow airflow. Why here? I am sure you can guess that the dry heat prevents corrosion. Another interesting feature of the desert is the density of the alkaline soil. It is so hard that even the heaviest planes do not sink at all! They do not need pads or anything. This is amazing when I think about the RV and how easily it can sink down into the ground. The boneyard is part of an active airforce base so it is neat to see warthogs and other planes flying above all of this in training exercises. Check out Airplane Graveyards or the website below.
http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/apr/airplane.html
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