Desert Aircraft 'Boneyards' (2014)

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140918-secrets-of-the-aircraft-boneyards

by SandB0x • 7 years ago

20 3 7 years ago

Just want to give a plug to the Pima Air and Space Museum [0] in Tucson, AZ. The admission ticket includes access to an ICBM silo [1] ~40 km to the south. Visitors can optionally sign up for periodic tours of the neighboring boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB. Several of the docents are retired aeronautical engineering Ph.D's who helped design many of the aircraft on display and are happy to answer questions. They even have Otto the Automatic Pilot from the movie Airplane!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pima_Air_%26_Space_Museum

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Missile_Museum

pram• 7 years ago

Yep, both of those are memorable and well worth the trip (also Biosphere 2 if you're in the area ;P)

I grew up in Tucson, and my dad was stationed at Davis-Monthan so I'm pretty familiar with the AMARC. The boneyard is a remarkable sight. A major road (Kolb) even passes through it, and you can see the planes on both sides! There's a lot of neat stuff sitting out there like B1 bombers and those little drones they'd attach to SR-71s (I guess?)

erentz• 7 years ago

And if you’re into telescopes Kitt Peak nearby is a must, and check out the Mirror Lab at the university, where they make giant telescope mirrors.

Desert Aircraft 'Boneyards' (2014)

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