Anyone Visited the Tucson AZ Aircraft Graveyard?

[cove]

Is it worth a visit?

 

[Grooba]

Have seen a few docos on this and I'm also interested to check it out. Also keen to hear of any first hand experiences.

 

[drron]

A fascinating place.Also quite a few other interesting places in the neighbourhood.But several years since we were there.

 

[Avidflyer]

Hi there,

I was lucky enough to visit the "Planes of Fames". "Yanks" (both at Chino) & then visit the Boneyard about 3 years ago.
Well worth the trip to Tucson AZ.
Don't forget to take photo ID, as the Boneyard is apart of an active military instillation.

......Just outside Tucson, Arizona in the Sonora Desert is the famed Airplane Graveyard-Bone Yard at Davis Monthan Airforce Base. The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center AMARC is where the U.S. Air Force mothballs planes until they either need them again or it's time to salvage them for parts. Whenever the U.S. sells surplus planes to foreign governments part of the sales pitch is that there will always have a ready supply of spare parts. Some are turned into pilotless drones and used for missile target practice........

Flying around outer Los Angels- Chicago - Las Vegas, you can see a few aircraft boneyards/aircraft storage areas at some of the outer smaller airports.

I hope this info helps.

 

[casanovawa]

Yeah, visited in 2004... You are driven around the 'graveyard' in a bus, back then you weren't allowed off the bus, imagine you still aren't... But some interesting commentary and you get to see a lot of stuff.... There is also a pretty good aircraft museum close by which you can walk around and see lots of different aircraft up close... I didn't go see it, but somewhere close by there is a Titan missile silo i seem to recall that you can also visit...

So yeah, worth stopping off down there for a look... One year we drove down there from Las Vegas, over the Hoover dam, through Phoenix and then down to Tucson...

Here's some example pics of what you were able to see back in 2004...

 

[cove]

I realized I hadn't spelt Tucson correctly even though I went to Google and Wikipedia to see if it was an ideal Christmas present.
My father was a pilot in WW2 so I have an interest in the history side of things and would love to go up in a Catalina.
It looks like a nice drive from Los Angeles provided it is winter rather than during a summer heat wave.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Is it worth a visit?

Absolutely.
When I went in 2009, you could walk freely around the aircraft, but just not inside the aircraft. Great Photo opportunities of some retired Airforce 1 btw.

And Tucson is a great Base to Visit other attractions such as Mount Lemmon with its spectacular views overlooking the City of Tucson & the Arizona Desert. I went up at the end of summer in 2009 & snow was seen at the peak of the mountain. Amazing considering it's Desert Location.

The Town of Bisbee with its fantastic Cooper Queen Mine Tour (Into the mine shaft, deep underground on one of those mini train's). Its the next best thing to doing a mine tour in Kalgoorlie , WA.

Then of course you can re-live a US Western style film in the Town of Benson, complete with dressing up in old School Clothing & a fantastic "Shoot out". A real John Wayne experience!


A real Gem IMO is the Kitt Peak Observatory, where you can go Star Gazing with professional Astronomers on the site of the world's largest collection of telescope's. Amazing Experience, if you go remember to take your Passport with you as your not far from the Mexican Border & Homeland security do routine roadside identity inspections. Well worth Going if you can manage to get on a Tour (Which is by the way very small in the way of numbers).

Also worth visiting is the Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum (More like an open zoo) where you learn & explore about all the native Desert animals.... I saw a bob cat on the loose that day, that's why I remember the place.

And a bit of a random place to visit is Biosphere 2. The first of its kind in the world.
Other Biosphere's like that in Cornwall, UK are modelled off it.
Nasa did some pretty solid research here which is fascinating to learn about.

So as you can see, Tucson has more to offer than meets the eye...... And what I like about Tucson is that it's off from the main Tourist Trap's of the west coast (as nice as they are in CA)..... Arizona, Tucson in Particular is a real Ream of place to visit especially for us folk in Australia seeking something different .

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Yeah, visited in 2004... You are driven around the 'graveyard' in a bus, back then you weren't allowed off the bus, imagine you still aren't... But some interesting commentary and you get to see a lot of stuff.... There is also a pretty good aircraft museum close by which you can walk around and see lots of different aircraft up close... I didn't go see it, but somewhere close by there is a Titan missile silo i seem to recall that you can also visit...

So yeah, worth stopping off down there for a look... One year we drove down there from Las Vegas, over the Hoover dam, through Phoenix and then down to Tucson...

Here's some example pics of what you were able to see back in 2004...

View attachment 20181View attachment 20182View attachment 20183View attachment 20184View attachment 20185

Awesome Photo's. Another Beautiful Day in the Arizona Desert!

 

[mindthegap2154]

A pilot friend who use to work for QF on 743's as an engineer took some those of birds up to the commercial boneyard at Mojave (where the Virgin Galactic spaceport is). Said its one of the most bizarre places he has ever been and he has been to some very odd places! Hoping with the move to YVR I might get a chance to get down there. Maybe we could do an AFF event?

 

[drewbles]

A pilot friend who use to work for QF on 743's as an engineer took some those of birds up to the commercial boneyard at Mojave (where the Virgin Galactic spaceport is). Said its one of the most bizarre places he has ever been and he has been to some very odd places! Hoping with the move to YVR I might get a chance to get down there. Maybe we could do an AFF event?

StarMegaDo 5 (MegaDO) was doing this, this week. There was a separate tour for non-US citizens, which I believe was very restrictive (this was in AZ, not Mojave).

Are there actual tours of Mojave? I thought there were only fly-overs. I've always wanted a tour of Mojave (I'm far more into commercial then military aircraft).

 

[ronicat]

I realized I hadn't spelt Tucson correctly even though I went to Google and Wikipedia to see if it was an ideal Christmas present.
My father was a pilot in WW2 so I have an interest in the history side of things and would love to go up in a Catalina.
It looks like a nice drive from Los Angeles provided it is winter rather than during a summer heat wave.

Have you been to Warbirds Over Wanaka, Cove? There were definitely opportunities for Catalina flights when we were there. Probably the most incredible setting for an air show in the world.

 

[mindthegap2154]

StarMegaDo 5 (MegaDO) was doing this, this week. There was a separate tour for non-US citizens, which I believe was very restrictive (this was in AZ, not Mojave).

Are there actual tours of Mojave? I thought there were only fly-overs. I've always wanted a tour of Mojave (I'm far more into commercial then military aircraft).

Apparently there is, I am sure I read somewhere its only 10 bucks! I too am more a commercial boy than military so am much more interested in what is on offer in Mojave.

I will hit up said friend in regards to what he got! - Something tells me the thing he was touring the airfield in may of had 4 engines!

Also would love to do one of those megado's however the fact they fly Star airlines (especially AC and UA) is always the major turn off

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

A pilot friend who use to work for QF on 743's as an engineer took some those of birds up to the commercial boneyard at Mojave (where the Virgin Galactic spaceport is). Said its one of the most bizarre places he has ever been and he has been to some very odd places! Hoping with the move to YVR I might get a chance to get down there. Maybe we could do an AFF event?

An AFF Meet up in either Tucson or Vancouver sounds rather exciting indeed!

 

[mindthegap2154]

An AFF Meet up in either Tucson or Vancouver sounds rather exciting indeed!

The doors of my apartment will always be open to any AFF'er in YVR! It will be the closest thing to a QF Pub YVR will be getting anytime soon

 

[markis10]

A pilot friend who use to work for QF on 743's as an engineer took some those of birds up to the commercial boneyard at Mojave (where the Virgin Galactic spaceport is). Said its one of the most bizarre places he has ever been and he has been to some very odd places! Hoping with the move to YVR I might get a chance to get down there. Maybe we could do an AFF event?

The 743s went to Pinal, Marana which is 40 Kim's away, owned by Evergreen.

 

[drewbles]

Apparently there is, I am sure I read somewhere its only 10 bucks! I too am more a commercial boy than military so am much more interested in what is on offer in Mojave.

I will hit up said friend in regards to what he got! - Something tells me the thing he was touring the airfield in may of had 4 engines!

Also would love to do one of those megado's however the fact they fly Star airlines (especially AC and UA) is always the major turn off

I've done 2 megado's now (and could have gone to the one just gone but opted not to). AA put on an amazing show for us all, it was simply brilliantly organised and arranged. I did SMD4, and well, it was lackluster. We chartered the 787 which was great (just before UA had to ground 'em) but they offered three options in ORD; The Airport Tour, the Catering Tour or one other one, and you listed which you wanted. I picked the Airport Ops tour, and got catering (Which was my third option). Someone on the Ops tour had that down as their third option and had Catering as their first; there was no method to it it appeared.

The do's are far far more about the people than the events though; it's really just a reason for airplane and travel nuts to charter a plane, and drink it dry (twice, before we even left the ground, in AA's case in SEA; they had to re-cater the plane before we even took off!).

 

[mindthegap2154]

The 743s went to Pinal, Marana which is 40 Kim's away, owned by Evergreen.

Apologies for that error, I know he use to talk of Mojave and did the repo flights so just assumed thats where he went with them. Maybe RedRoo could one day get an AFF group on one of the positioning flights - maybe the next RR powered 763 (If only......) I would very happily chip in towards the cost of the fuel bill!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I went to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson back in 1994 after Boeing's 777 launch in SEA. We'd originally planned to see Davis Monthan AFB but the day we were there it was closed for mission requirements & Pima from memory was just across the road.

ISTR the guide told us that one of the aircraft there was used for Airforce 1 which was the a/c prior to the B707 where LBJ was sworn in as President (or maybe told of the death of JFK) yet there seems to be conflicting info on this citing that it was in fact a B707 which is now in Ohio.

 

[mindthegap2154]

I've done 2 megado's now (and could have gone to the one just gone but opted not to). AA put on an amazing show for us all, it was simply brilliantly organised and arranged. I did SMD4, and well, it was lackluster. We chartered the 787 which was great (just before UA had to ground 'em) but they offered three options in ORD; The Airport Tour, the Catering Tour or one other one, and you listed which you wanted. I picked the Airport Ops tour, and got catering (Which was my third option). Someone on the Ops tour had that down as their third option and had Catering as their first; there was no method to it it appeared.

The do's are far far more about the people than the events though; it's really just a reason for airplane and travel nuts to charter a plane, and drink it dry (twice, before we even left the ground, in AA's case in SEA; they had to re-cater the plane before we even took off!).

Wow. Just out of interest if you don't mind me asking How much do you think all up the trip cost?

 

[casanovawa]

Interesting note on the FAQ page of that current STM... Guess it depends on where you come from as to whether you get to hop off the tour bus??

[h=3]13. Restrictions at AMARC?[/h]Yes there is. AMARC is a joint military service facility managed by the US Air Force Material Command and as such there are restrictions for non-US passport holders which the MegaDO organizers do not have any influence or control over. There will be two different tours for parts of the experience—one for US passport holders and one for non-US Passport holders, the difference being no boots on the ground for non-US passport holders inside the base (you must remain in the bus). While we strive to make the MegaDO inclusive, there can be NO exceptions for this part of the MegaDO. Thank you for understanding.