Aircraft boneyard

Boeing B-52s in storage or awaiting dismantlement in Arizona

An aircraft boneyard, or aircraft graveyard in British English, is a storage area for aircraft that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage or have their parts removed for reuse or resale and are then scrapped. Deserts, such as those in the Southwestern United States, are good locations for boneyards since the dry conditions reduce corrosion and the hard ground does not need to be paved.[1][2] The largest facility of its kind, the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, is colloquially known as "The Boneyard".[1]

Notable aircraft boneyards

Airport City Notes
Abilene Regional Airport Abilene, Texas (USA)Contains many retired Saab 340 aircraft, primarily from American Eagle Airlines.[3]
Alice Springs Airport[4] Alice Springs, Northern Territory (Australia) The first large-scale aircraft boneyard outside the United States.[5]
Davis-Monthan AFB Tucson, Arizona (USA)Home of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, the 2,600-acre site contains nearly 4,400 aircraft.[1]
Kingman Airport Kingman, Arizona (USA)Leases space to major carriers such as Delta, American and United and operates as an "active storage facility" offering both storage and repair services.[6]
Laurinburg-Maxton Airport Maxton, North Carolina (USA)Contains various former Northwest Airlines aircraft being stripped for parts by Charlotte Aircraft Corporation[7]
Mojave Air and Space Port Mojave, California (USA)Home to more than 1,000 commercial airliners.[1]
Manas International Airport Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) Soviet era aircraft began to appear after 1991.[4]
Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Oscoda, Michigan (USA)Serves as storage for Kalitta Air and several other airlines.
Phoenix Goodyear Airport[8] Goodyear, Arizona (USA)
Pinal Airpark[9] Marana, Arizona (USA)
RAF Shawbury[10] Shrewsbury, Shropshire (United Kingdom) From end of World War II to 1972.
Roswell International Air Center Roswell, New Mexico (USA)Contains the remains of several large passenger and cargo jets[11]
Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)Contains 23 old Fokker F-28 operated by Canadian Regional Airlines and Air Canada Jazz[4][12]
Southern California Logistics Airport[13] Victorville, California (USA)
Teruel Airport[14] Teruel, Aragon (Spain)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stephen Dowling (18 September 2014). "Secrets of the Desert Aircraft Boneyards". BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ↑ John A. Weeks III (2009-07-03). "Field Guide To Aircraft Boneyards". Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  3. ↑ "Airports, Bases, Airplane Storage & Boneyards near Abilene Texas". Planes of the Past. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Aircraft Boneyards & Storage Facilities Around the World". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Australia gets first plane 'boneyard' outside US". Traveller. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Associated Press (18 August 2013). "Kingman Airport carries right conditions for storing, repairing planes". ABC. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Andrew Vane (27 February 2014). "The Boneyard of the East - My Retro Planespotting Experience". AirlineReporter. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) in Arizona". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Pinal Airpark: Once-secretive aircraft boneyard slowly opens its gates". Azcentral.com. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  10. ↑ Tom Moran (26 June 2014). "Withdrawn Blackburn Buccaneers Torn Apart at RAF Shawbury". Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Roswell International Air Center (ROW) in New Mexico". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Photos: Airplane graveyard". 9 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Pae, Peter (15 March 2009). "As travel declines, aircraft 'boneyard' in Victorville fills up". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Brunat, David. "El 'aeropuerto milagro' de Teruel: el parquin de aviones más grande de Europa" (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
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