digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Thats a lot of friggin fighter planes

intrepidearth.com — The boneyard, imagery of the largest storage area for fighters & bombers in the world

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • Trexdacy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Does anyone know if The Boneyard is open to the general public?
    • vdubbin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22If you go to the Pima Air and Space Museum you can purchase tix for a trolley tour. Costs anywhere from $6.00 to $35.00, depending on the package. If they are nice they may let you out and walk around. Pretty neat tour. http://www.pimaair.org/
    • wmarcello, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13In case site goes down (map only, no plane descriptions):

      Coordinates: 32.16,-110.86
      Map: http://tinyurl.com/yck748

    • crgnetworks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Anyone see the little airplane circle in the right corner? they're having a meeting!
    • audioscience, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I used to live near there too and it is pretty cool to drive by.

      In the movie "Can't Buy Me Love," which was shot in Tucson, the students go hang out in the airplane graveyard.
    • BlackSheep720, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i love it how theres a freakin golf course bordering the whole thing
    • satori3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3very cool, but I expected there to be more. This isn't the only one is it? Also I love what looks to be Lightnings in the bottom left corner... not sure though.

    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Did you post this because it was on TV today? It was on the History Channel.
    • kefler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I live in Tucson, and drive past this thing every day. It is part of the Airforce base and it is not open to the public, however you can easily park on the side of the road and look at the rows of planes.

      The Pima air and space museum has some other planes (its south and a bit west of this graveyard) but it does not give you access to the huge number of planes shown.

      Also a lot more planes/helicopters and stuff are to the east of that spot.
    • rodbibeau, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I only see dollars in that map. Lots of dollars.

      We should sell these to private individuals and companies and reduce some of the tax I pay every year.
    • fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"i love it how theres a freakin golf course bordering the whole thing"
      -------
      There are freakin' golf courses *everywhere* down here... too many old people with money who have nothing to do.
    • IrwinFletcher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"I only see dollars in that map. Lots of dollars.

      We should sell these to private individuals and companies and reduce some of the tax I pay every year."

      There's a seperate boneyard for airliners, that's where Donald Trump bought his 727 for roughly the same cost of a much smaller Gulfstream. These aircraft here won't be sold off t individuals or companies, especially now that fourth generation fighters are starting to show up there. Some of the aircraft are in long-term storage. A number of F-16A/B (Block 15) aircraft were slated to be delivered to Pakistan about 15 or so years ago, but were embargoed as a result of their nuclear testing program. A couple of years back those aircraft were pulled out of AMARC and processed into service; some as chase aircraft for the USAF and others provided DACM training for the Navy as NAS Fallon. Even though the aircraft were built over a decade ago, they're still "new" in that they had very little time on them. So those two services got some new aircraft without having to pay for factory fresh models.

      Many of these aircraft are here because they have reached the end of their structural life. The airframes are rated for only so many hours. They are stripped of useful parts to keep the remaining fleet in service. Some of the fighters become target drones (currently F-4s are being converted into QF-4s, F-16s will be the next type that are converted into drones) to provide training for pilots. Those aircraft that don't meet their ultimate fate at the business end of an AIM-9 or AIM-120 are chopped up and sold for scrap. IIRC, this is the only DoD operation that actually generates revenue.

      The B-52s have to stay out there for so long before they're chopped up so they can be verified and counted by Russian satellites as part of a nuclear arms reduction treaty we signed with them a number of years back.
    • Sturmur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"...every $1 spent operating the facility, $11 is saved/produced from harvesting spare parts and selling off inventory."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_Maintenance_and_Regeneration_Center
    • bignate23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've been to this place, and it is awesome!

      The tour inside has some cool exhibits, one dealing with space flight and lunar machines.

      I was there summer '05, and took a picture next to a SR-71 Blackbird, which they kept under a hangar.

      I think the coolest part of walking around outside and observing the aircraft, is that A-10's were constantly training overhead at a base nearby.

      I recommend visiting for anyone with an interest in aviation and fighter aircraft.
    • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@IrwinFletcher

      dude you know too much about the subject, you scare me! Are you in the military?

      ++ for you. good read.
    • IrwinFletcher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@Justice

      Nope, just have a few friends in the service, couple who are USAF pilots, a Pararescue Jumper and an Apache pilot so I try to keep up with what's going on in those communities.
    • Locke40, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is very very similar to a part in the video game Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas... i guess this is where they got their idea! :)
  • hiopilot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is Davis-Monthan AFB located in Tucson.

    Strangely I overflew the airbase last Feb. and never even noticed the boneyard. Then again, I was trying to locate a particular road to go take some photos of a house on the north side just before the mountains. But, I immediately recognized the airbase itself.

    Stranger things have happened!
    • sharper130, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2its still there, the image on google earth is a lil older than those on Live local and yahoo maps, but this one you can better see the broken down bombers left out
  • Surreal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Old news, but still interesting...
  • Lucky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nice pics, but what's with the ads when clicking through to view the other images ???

    *ick*

    and some fairly modern kit kicking around in those photos, certainly a few A10's and some F16's (not sure on the variant though, I'm not that sad!)
    • brufleth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The A-10 has been around since the mid 70s. They aren't exactly new anymore.
    • glock22ownr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The A-10s are being "phased out" I thougth, some of the new SAM technology isn't playing so nice. Still a bad ass plane though, considering the 30mm gun on the front.
    • IrwinFletcher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5A-10s got a new lease on life and are undergoing an upgrade to the A-10C standard. Yes, the F-35 will eventually "replace" them (I use that term loosely because the best replacement for an old A-10 is a new A-10), but the A-10s are scheduled to soldier on for at least another decade.
  • rancemo, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3It's good to know our military keeps their planes handy while golfing!
  • discochew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3thats alotta warthogs
    • Autoclave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah, at least 137 of them in various places around the base.
    • greenvortex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Thank you , Raymond. And how many toothpicks fell out of the box?
    • strohs189, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1557
  • TsarDusan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6it looks kick ass!
    maybe this boneyard will scare away potential alien invaders :P
  • goonbaggins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've driven by there. It's pretty neat.
  • PeTeRZz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Been there (not that anyone gives a *****) but its Kinda cool.
  • jimbo92107, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3My god, won't they ever learn not to line up their planes in rows?
    Tora-tora, baby!
  • addakorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8They could make a killing on eBay with that junk.
    • padfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Not with ebay's recent price increase.. :)
    • SambekZX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No government in their right mind would buy junked planes with no future supply of spare parts and technical support. Would you buy a car for which you had to fabricate replacement engine parts yourself?
    • CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5FB-111A please, to go. No thank you, no fries.
  • LarianLeQuella, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7In one of my old jobs, we'd recondition old F-4s and turn them into drones for current fighter guys to test missiles on. Always fun to go there and see the state some of the planes are in, even after being in the open for so long. Soon we may even start turning F-16s into QF-16s.
    • jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Damn, I didn't realize we were to that point! QF-22 here we come.
  • obendega, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Does anyone have a google maps link?
  • skyshock21, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3"Most of these planes are a result of the massive build up in arms during the cold war."

    Thanks for wasting all that taxpayer money on this junk Reagan!!!
    • dickybrown, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I was going to comment "our tax dollars at work..." but I don't think I would have blamed Reagan...at least all these planes aren't there because the occupying force uses MIGs :)
    • PLUMCRAZY, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Most of those planes were built in the good old U.S.A.

      Thanks for all the jobs and saving the economy Reagan!!
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5[quote]"Most of these planes are a result of the massive build up in arms during the cold war."

      Thanks for wasting all that taxpayer money on this junk Reagan!!![/quote]

      The buildup of B-52s, A-10s and F-4s are the result of the Vietnam war. So blame Nixon and McNamara.
    • Vision2098, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Thanks for the ***** war on drugs Reagan!!
  • carbocalm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2google maps link:
    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=yuma+st,tucson,+arizona&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=32.151781,-110.831709&spn=0.025979,0.039697&t=k&om=1
  • davidrools, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=E+Irvington+Rd+%26+S+Kolb+Rd,+Tucson,+AZ+85730&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=32.16283,-110.84078&spn=0.027828,0.048752&t=k&om=1

    if you wanna see it in a bigger window

    edit: carbocalm was thinkin' the same thing
  • leemac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=32.174877~-110.859883&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=9288000

    even better!!! Detail is amazing, so much scrap!
  • BicBall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I'll take the following:
    1 A-10
    1 F-18
    1 AC-130
    2 B-52

    Thank you.
    • jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'd settle for a ride in an AC-130 (and gun/cannon privileges for 3 hours).
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'll take the B-52. Armed with nuclear cruise missiles.
    • Cimlite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There will be at least a 2 day waiting period for those. Yeah, I know... it's crazy.
  • coldfusion055, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Well there's one reason our gov't is in so much debt.
    • matsayz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1actually keeping those planes around and taking parts from them or bringing them back gives the US military a savings of over a Billion dollars. its a fraction of it would cost to buy/build the original from the maker. most of which don't exist anymore. im a supply troop on DM i know this maaaaaaan!
  • MrSunshine, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Marked as lame for use of "friggin".
  • phuture84, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2anyone take the time to count them? i am way too lazy to do it myself, but am hoping that someone in the digg community is compulsive enough to have an answer for me.
  • ejsocom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I love how it's right next to a residential area.
    • matsayz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it wasnt always. but Tucson is sprawling out of control....
    • fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I love how the base (and boneyard) were there first... residential areas pop up next door after a number of years... then those residents complain about the noise.
    • CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"...then those residents complain about the noise."

      Twas ever thus.

      Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, California, has been the target of the local politicians for a decade and more. It's the last private plane strip, and was built way outside of town.

      Oh, but the town sprawled, and people moved in around the airport because it was cheap, then they elected city government that promised to "do something" about the noise (even though those same residents had to sign paperwork when they bought the property saying the _knew_ they were moving in near an airport), etc etc etc.

      It's too bad that damned fools gravitate to government. If only Plato's "Philosopher Kings", the perfect enlightened rulers, actually existed. Then they would say, "The airport was here first, idiots. Shut up."

  • JFBP4991, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I saw this on googlesightseeing.com a while back. It is really shocking how many planes there are. And in the NE corner there is a huge scrap-pile of various airplane parts.

    Pretty shocking stuff.
  • DeFex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3saw the boneyard on some TV show. it was one of the first things i looked for on google earth.

    each one of those fighter planes helped some politician to get a mansion and a ranch. so don't say they are a total waste :)
  • rghai6, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1friggin unreal .
  • Benjin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1this makes me wonder if anyone has ever tried to find area 51 with google earth.
  • jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anyone notice the ass-ton of F4's they seem to have?
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They're being used as target drones to test new weapons against them.
  • Brickster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2this looks great on good earth
  • xSEED, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0dismantle them and reuse the materials
  • Buga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I drive by this everyday when I go to work. Lived across the street from it since I was 9 years old
  • tweak13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://www.birdseyetourist.com/?p=1482

    Site identifying the various types of aircraft stored there.
  • Ndiggnation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I could be wrong, but aren't many of those Grumman Intruders and F-4's?
  • xSEED, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0so we still need 50-60's planes?

    just sell them to mexico
  • diggstech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you look carefully you will notice that many of the B52's have been chopped up and left in place. This was required by the last disarmament treaty with the FSU. The chunks were left in place so the Russians can verify destruction via satellite. Looks like they are gradually stripping the planes (mostly B52E and F models I think) to keep the remaining G's and H's flying. Interesting how vegetation is present wherever a B52 is located. Must get condensation off the bottom of the planes at night. I wonder when this image was taken. The copyright was 2006 but as I have seen with many Google images they can be several years old regardless of the copyright date. This one seems to have A6 Intruders and F-111's there as well so maybe more recent. Wasn't the last Intruder retired just recently?
    • mattyparanoid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No B-52G models left flying. It was my first jet as a young airman. All the G models were retired and NASA even traded thier last remaining G model for an H as well....
    • Kale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We have a disarmament treaty with Florida State University?
  • sandbird, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0What's also interesting is the aircraft recycling yards that ring the boneyard. It's not exactly cost-effective to transport these planes once they're sold as scrap. Many of these scrapyards don't do anything with these planes for quite a while after they buy them at auction; in many cases there are planes that have been sitting in scrapyards for years. Makes for a sort of an aviation time capsule. Some of these planes sit there so long you almost expect them to be up on cinder blocks with a few hounds nearby.

    On the far east of the boneyard, the Air Force base has an area for ground combat training for the airmen. Just past this area, where the Air Force property ends, is a very popular mountain biking area. I can tell you from experience that having gunfire suddenly erupt when you're carving a trail is just a tad un-nerving...
  • dmpayton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hah! If you travel due South on that map, past the railroad tracks and before the freeway, there's housing development that's mostly dirt in the bottom-left area. I live in that community, and I go by the boneyard every day.

    The planes are neat to look at, but the thing I hate about Davis-Monthan is that it's smack-dab in the middle of Tucson., and to get to the other side of town you have to drive all the way around it. Pain in the ass.
  • burgerboy06, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Been there, I stuck my head in many a engines.
  • Thex1138, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1there's a heck of a lot of B52's!
  • Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That looks roughly equivalent to Africa's debt.
    • Gurubanks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2actually, that looks like the equivalent of America's debt...
  • Gurubanks, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3And to think, each plane is equal to the total federal budget for education...

    Just a thought.
    • salinemist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2a) Why don't you provide some proof of that statement?

      b) The Federal government has no mandate to provide education, look at the Constitution.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The federal education budget is $56 billion. The JSF will cost at most $35 million. So no that wasn't "just a thought" as no thought was put into you statement.
  • RHPieces, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are also a ton of helicopters sitting around. I don't know models or anything, but it looks like there are several Apaches there.
  • Jasper84, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Are they all real? Some of them dont seem to have any features and have no shadows, and they are on the same picture! I am not sure, could be they are covered in dust and lying on the ground. I am no expert in identifying things in satelite photos..
    • Chesterfield, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Same reaction initially, but I had a closer look.
      Like all Google satellite images, this may be stitched from different times of day, or even days apart. If you go to major cities on Google Earth, the building images are often at *****-eyed angles to each other with differing shadows. Looks like direct overhead sun on some parts of this image.
  • Sub7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The US GDP is around $12,500,000Millon per year. That's the largest GDP in the world.

    There is easily that amount of money sitting there when you look at R&D costs too. Probably an equal amount or more the munitions they carried.

    Pretty sick really when you look at the state of some of the rest of the world...
    • knixon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But not all of the planes in there are from the same year, most of them seem to be spanning 40+ years, so the costs would be spread out. And its not like there's anything we can do about it now.
  • google_bot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Boneyard? Why don't they sell them "Mad Rush for 10,000$ planes"
  • erikpemberton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My mom used to live in Tucson and we went there when I visited her. It is insane. These pics don't fully do it justice.
  • Fanboy88, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At Davis-Monthan AFB, they have A-10 Warthogs. I was there a couple years ago to run the Tucson Marathon. The "boneyard" has many planes, but from the looks of them, they are junk. But, maybe if there was a big war, with some work they could be brought into service again.
  • JesusIsSatan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does anyone have a Google aerial map of Area 51? I lost a .how do you say,...er,...."vehicle" there a few decades ago, and I need it to get home. Thanks.
  • flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 AMARC, the Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center, is doing a lot to preserve the taxpayer's dollar. Other countries buy spare parts, USA recycles spare parts, and there are enough Huey choppers in storage for lots more Vietnam movies, if Hollywood wants to write the check.

    The large collection of pieces in the north east corner is all the production tooling for the B-2, just in case we decide to make more...

    Along a road on the west side, there are many single examples of different models, this is 'Celebrity Row', and there are a number of historic and unique planes, including a 1960's unmanned hypersonic recon drone, the D-21.

    Sometimes, formerly top secret stuff like the D-21 just show up, with no explanation...

    Unofficial site: http://www.amarcexperience.com/

    Official site: http://www.dm.af.mil/units/amarc.asp
  • kkDonut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1These don't have engines, and are no where near airworthy......I'd still buy a B52 flight yoke tho
  • IareKEVLAR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Leaving something like this open to the public satellite viewing pleasure is like americas way of saying... dont ***** with us?
    • sharper130, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1it also tells people where money on things like providing decent health care and better school goes to, making planes for a war that never happened and fated to sit out in a dusty boneyard.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 52 of 52 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.