The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB

[hpman66]

I apologize if this link has been posted before but I thought it was interesting. If you haven't been there before(I haven't), at least you can make this Google Satellite Map Pic tour. You have to zoom out to see the whole layout and then zoom in to look at individual aircraft.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1753511,-110.8553623,734m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I have been all through that bone yard.
When I was in the service it wasn't so restricted and my wife and I went through it many times.
She was fascinated by it.
Back then we could just wander around and go into just about any plane there as long as it wasn't one that was wrapped up.
I just wish I had a camera back then.

 

[Fox Mike]

Sometime back I posted some photos from there. Amazing place. At one time one of the UH-1B Huey helicopters there was delivered by myself and two others. It has long ago turned into scrap I am sure. If going there also visit the Pima Air Museum. Plan a full day for both.

 

[427mach1]

While some of the aircraft are scrapped or parted out, what a lot of people don't know is that many are returned to flying status. Sometimes they are overhauled, wings replaced, or receive some other type of service life extension. They may return to flying US inventory or even sold to a foreign country.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Quite a sight; I noticed some single engine prop planes but couldn't tell what they were.

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

I have been to the "Boneyard". Many of the planes flying today with the commemorative groups and
others came from there. I know for a fact that the B-29s "Fifi" and "Doc" came from there.
They flew together this month at Oskosh.
Blackie

 

[SAJohn]

Fifi was flown into the Naval Weapons Center in about 1957 with 35 other B-29s. About 15 of them were used as air-to-ground targets. Fifi, along with about 3 other B-29s remained parked near the Naval Air Facility (NAF). I worked at our Aircraft Survivability Test Facility located about 15 miles from the NAF where we had about 10 of the planes. While ours were in better shape than Fifi, it would have been difficult and expensive to relocate any of them to the Air Field. We did help the Confederate Air Force guys with parts from our planes.

At that time I shared an office with a WWII bomber pilot who had flown B-29s. Together we once went through one of planes while he explained how everything worked. The view from the bombardiers station was outstanding.

A few days before Fifi was to fly out of China Lake, we went out to Airfield and talked with the pilot. My friend told the pilot to not even think about using the engine turbos as they were trouble even when brand new.

On the morning of take off, about all work stopped at China Lake as we all went outside to watch Fifi climb into the morning sky after 17 long years of being earth bound.

John

 

[cpt-t]

I flew a lot of Old Huey B,D, and H models from the East Coast to Davis-Monthan AFB back in the mid 70`s. To put them in storage. It would take 4 or 5 days depending on the weather and the condition of the Bird we were flying. If we broke down enroute it could take quite a bit longer. Couldn't fly at night because we had very few instruments in the Instrument panel just a bunch of empty holes. If we had trouble with the bird we were flying we always tried to limp it into a AFB along the way for maintenance. But that didn't happen very often. Always asked the tower for the approach over the Bone Yard, the tower would just laugh at us, but never turned us down. I always thought it was amazing to see all thoes once Proud Old Lady setting abandoned out there in the desert, but it really saddened me also. Really it was a great job for I was wearing my Country's Colors, and flying some Old Birds that I had a love affair with for along time. And I got to see and become very familiar with a lot of absolutely beautiful country. And I got to meet some very unique people along he way. I made some very special personal memories on thoes fights. I truly wish I could turn back the clock and do it all over again.
ken

 

[CGDustDevil]

I've seen the Boneyard a LOT more full than what's there now! They've either torn up a lot of old airplanes or put a lot of 'em back in service. 30-40 years ago that sucker was full . I see they still have a few stray Phantoms laying around too.

 

[Paul B]

"If going there also visit the Pima Air Museum. Plan a full day for both."

Just don't do it in the summer.
Paul B.

 

[Fox Mike]

"If going there also visit the Pima Air Museum. Plan a full day for both."

Just don't do it in the summer.
Paul B.

I was there in early October and it was comfortably in the upper 90s. The buses that haul you around the outside have AC. I do remember that the restaurant's coffee sucked!

Just a few of the UH and AH helicopters at the 'bone yard'.

My wife beside a 'wide body gunship' at the museum:

 

[KIR]

If there is yet another non-nuclear war, I was wondering if many-several of those planes could be fitted with GPS/AI, etc. to be used against any enemies, even if they were not as technically advanced as theirs. Might make good drones or kamikaze planes? Just a thought...

 

[dannyd]

If there is yet another non-nuclear war, I was wondering if many-several of those planes could be fitted with GPS/AI, etc. to be used against any enemies, even if they were not as technically advanced as theirs. Might make good drones or kamikaze planes? Just a thought...

What makes you think that place is not on the first wave bombing list.

Next War:

 

[dannyd]

She was dropped off in the desert 40 years ago, 28 million dollars of tax payers money gone.

 

[g5m]

When I was a kid I was in the Civil Air Patrol. I wrote a letter to the Base Public Information Officer and asked permission to go to the Boneyard. I received a letter back and it okayed it. Then I convinced my parents to drive me down there and we went to the gate and showed the guard the letter and he escorted us in wherever we wanted to go. At that time it was loaded with B-36's, and had a long row of fighters stacked on top of each other about 3 or 4 deep for scrapping. All jets F-80 to F-86 vintage. I was able to climb up into the Bock's Car, the B-29 that dropped the A-bomb on Nagasaki and a German JU-88. Arizona was a place that had many, many WW2 surplus planes at that time. Interesting times for sure, for a kid, anyway. That was about 1955.

 

[dannyd]

We dropped off two of prototype SH-60B's there in 1984 out of the five that were built.

There is a great deal of money on that base.

 

[pyth0n]

I have been to the "Boneyard". Many of the planes flying today with the commemorative groups and
others came from there. I know for a fact that the B-29s "Fifi" and "Doc" came from there.
They flew together this month at Oskosh.
Blackie

A google search tells that both acft were not from DM, but the Naval weapons center, China Lake. CAF (Commerative (formerly Confederate)Air Force) got FiFi & Doc's Friends inc., restored Doc.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Wifie and I visited the Boneyard and Pima Air Museum in 2007.
What was sad for me was seeing the REMAINS of the XC-99 which is the cargo version of the B-36. I first saw the 99 at a distance in 1960 while at Lackland AFB during boot camp. Then in 1964 we took a tour of it during our first trip to San Antonio. My Dad was a crew member on B-36s after his return from B-29 deployment in Korea.
Son delivered some E-2s and C-2s to the boneyard.

 

[Kevin]

A couple years ago we stopped at the Pima Air Museum.

Some of the planes they are are boarded up. Covered windows etc. Do they expect to restore those planes to flying condition in the future? Or are they just boarded up to preserve them for the museum?

I remember thinking about this as we walked around. It just struck me as odd they seem to have spent a lot of time and effort on some of those older planes.

 

[Fox Mike]

Here are two photos from there one is all the helicopters cocooned and the other is Mom Linda next to a 'wide body gunship'. If you plan on visiting wear comfortable shoes. LOTS of walking involved