Most photos were taken in Tucson which is home to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center (AMARC) as well as several private aircraft scrapyards. Surplus and retired aircraft from all branches of the military are stored here due to the ideal climate (warm and dry). Aircraft sent to AMARC are processed for long-term storage in the Arizona desert. Sensitive instruments and high-value items are removed for safekeeping, and the airframes are drained and purged of fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid. Windows, doors, and hatches are sealed with protective material, but vents and aircraft undersides are left open to avoid condensation. Most aircraft transferred to this facility are "cannibalized" (stripped for spare parts) and eventually scrapped, but some of the transport aircraft such as the older C-130s are made available to other federal agencies for nonmilitary purposes such as firefighting. In the past some of these aircraft were offered for sale to private parties. However, concerns that this would provide a cheap source of transportation for drug smugglers have resulted in most of the older transports being scrapped instead.
The Pima Air Museum,, is located one mile southwest of the base,and is worth investigating as well, having an extensive selection of military (primarily USAF) aircraft in varying stages of restoration, including examples of the B-52, B-57, C-46, C-119 and F-102 models. |
