mrmadcap

OK, and this is random, I've regularly seen images of obsolete aircraft, military and commercial in the desert somewhere in the US.

My question is, bearing in mind the value of scrap metal these days, particularly aluminium, why don't they weigh them in for scrap?

They must be worth millions in scrap value alone.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

.........just either waiting for the economic situation to improve so can be sold, waiting for scrap / spare parts or fodder for the next massive conflict.

Shaun

mrmadcap

They will obviously never fly again because everything will have seized (electrolytic corrosion and all that stuff).

Therefore thinking about the economic situation worldwide i would have thought they would be selling for scrap and recoup some cosher ASAP.

If i lived next door to that lot it would be new cars and multiple holidays abroad every year for the price of a few abrasive wheels for my portable cut-off saw.

jef

iTrader: (13)

sure they use some for spares, salvageable parts, that can be overhauled and put into service?

Oldun

Here you are..

http://www.johnweeks.com/boneyard/

CrisPDuk

Still current aircraft (in third world dictatorship terms) are very thoroughly protected before being put into storage. Because these storage fields are normally in places with 0% humidity, corrosion is not an issue, and most can usually be returned to operational condition within days. The A4 Skyhawk & F4 Phantom are prime examples of this type.

Other aircraft, usually types that are still in use by major Air Forces, including the USAF & RAF, may either currently be surplus to operational requirements, or have life expired airframes. They will still contain many valuable spare parts that can keep others of the same type operational for many years. The Boeing B52 & KC-135, or the Lockheed C130 being examples.

Airframes that have been stripped of all usable parts, or alternatively were part of arms reduction treaties in the '80s, like a vast number of B52s, are indeed cut up and recycled back into the refined metals industry.

For more information look up AMARC on Wikipedia

mrmadcap

Thanks oldun, that's very interesting

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We were passing Mojave Airport in the summer and I have always wanted to visit a Boneyard, we did a bit of a drive around but you cant get close enough for a really good luck, a security truck intercepted us and very politely told us to do one, asked if we had any cameras, I just said my phone but I had a proper camera stuck in the door bin, apparently they have loads of air/space projects going on there that are very secret.

It was on my list for visiting the states so it was the nearest I am ever goign to get, 115 degrees on that day.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

There was a prog on this last year.
Apparently they have to work on the aircraft at night, since the aircon no longer works and daytime temperatures INSIDE the planes can reach 150 degrees F

Oldun

I wonder where this was filmed?

Alan Jeffery

Great link there, I just spent my entire lunch hour sighing over pictures of B17's.

Leslie

I have done quite a bit of low flying over the desert when we were on detachment to Tripoli. I was flying the Canberra.

Its a bit awe inspiring at first-vast areas of empty space with all those sand dunes. I saw an object in the distance and when we went to look it was a human skeleton! That made me listen carefully to how the engines were behaving!

We also saw quite a bit of WW2 wreckage just left where it stood, lorries and jeeps etc. They all looked very well preserved in the very dry heat. They all looked repairable but the cost of recovery would be enormous.

The most impressive sight was a bloke striding out across the sand all by himself many many miles from any kind of civilisation. He looked as though he knew where is was going-but there was nowhere in reach for miles and miles,not even an oasis!

We also saw a camel train of several animals being led by one bloke. We could not help wondering how on earth they survived so far from anywhere in a place like that.

I found even more respect for my father who was captured in the western desert and was a pow for 4 years.

Les

Funkii Munkii

Nice link

There was mention of the Gimli Glider being parked in one of the boneyards, which led me to this article, not a bad read of airmanship

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-gimli-glider/

Oldun

Funkii, that was a very interesting read.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Les.

My Dad fought in the Western Desert and was also part of the Salerno landings........then got caught and ended up a POW in Dussledorf.

Shaun

CrisPDuk

Just a further note on my previous post regarding AMARC;

The two AH-1 attack helicopters used in the film Con Air were assembled entirely from spare parts bought from AMARC by a commercial helicopter operator in California. Up until the film's release, the US military hadn't realised there were people about both willing and capable of doing this, and subsequently tightened the rules about what could be sold onto the open market

There were rumours too, at about that time, that they had also been selling crucial F14 spares, obviously forgetting that the Irainians still had several that were still frontline operational

vindaloo

How much have they learned then, from the time of the green monster and 1960s land speed record attempts?

CrisPDuk

I suppose one has to concede that they did learn something, the attack helicopters were purchased in component form and rebuilt over a period of time

The J79 Arfons got hold of was sent to the scrap merchants by General Electric fully assembled and, ingestion damage apart, ready to go

Leslie

I have just finished reading a book describing all the fighting in the Western Desert.

It was an awful place to be, the tanks and lorries had to be dug out of the sand most of the time and the distances covered in the desert was enormous. Made me admire their determination no end.

Les