Boneyard for WW II planes?
07-17-2006, 06:38 PM
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Boneyard for WW II planes?
Hi guys... was watching TV and thought about this... what ever happened to the WWII birds in the states. I know a lot were left overseas and or lost. I also am aware of the places out west where they stashed the jets and civilian stuff... But there has to be a bone yard of Mustangs, dc3's, C 47's.. bla bla bla... any ideas?
07-17-2006, 07:55 PM
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RE: Boneyard for WW II planes?
Davis Monthan Air Force base is the official bone yard. It is also the site of the Pima County Air Muesum, which I am told is the best there is. I was stationed there in the early 70's and I used to watch them haul the old planes to the smelter and demolition folks. As for all the old war birds, I do know that there were some in the bone yard, but I have no idea where they are now. Good Luck, Dave
08-03-2006, 10:44 PM
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RE: Boneyard for WW II planes?
Dart,
We were born way too late to see the vast rows of Mustangs, Lightnings, B-17s, etc in storage right after WWII. These planes were pretty much obsolete when WWII ended and the government didn't have much use for them except for the Air National Guard and other 'secondary' flying units. Many were sold to foreign governments and some were also sold to US civilians, movie studios, etc. The Korean war even gave a few Mustangs and Corsairs a temporary reprieve from the smelter but most warbirds sat at Davis-Monthan AFB (the USAF's "boneyard") until they were either sold or scrapped. You have to understand that while the planes were neat, the average pilot saw little reason to own a gas-sucking ex-military hotrod with only one seat. (America's appreciation of "warbirds" was nothing in 1945 compared to what it is today.) Sadly, thousands of great warbirds (many with not much more than ferry time on their airframes) were crushed into aluminum ingots. (Aluminum beer and soda cans didn't hit the store shelves until the late 1960s.)
The great warbirds of WWII were mostly gone (sold or smelted) from Davis-Monthan by the early 1960s, and were replaced by the next crop of obsolete aircraft - the first jet fighters such as the F-86 Sabre. Like the WWII planes, these were also sold to foreign governments, etc (but very few to civilian pilots because of the enormous appetite jets have for fuel.) By the mid 1970s, the Sabres were all gone and Davis-Monthan was filled with row after row of obsolete Viet Nam warbirds such as Huey helicopters, F-100s, F-102s, etc. The 1980s brought F-4 Phantoms to the boneyard and the 1990s brought in the first versions of F-16s, F-111s, etc. The famous SALT Talks (US-Soviet arms reduction treaties) filled Davis-Monthan with B-52s and other Cold War airplanes during the 1990s. In a nutshell, the government doesn't have a need to forever keep weapons systems (like aircraft) that are obsolete and of limited further use for combat. What we can't sell to friendly foreign forces, or donate to museums, we "recycle". Sad but true.
My father used to tell me stories about right after WWII, aviation technical schools could by a surplus new Mustang for only $500 (which was still a lot of money in 1946.) Well used and multi-times rebuilt 1945 Mustangs fetch over a million dollars these days! Sure wish my dad had spent the $500 in 1945!!!
We were born way too late to see the vast rows of Mustangs, Lightnings, B-17s, etc in storage right after WWII. These planes were pretty much obsolete when WWII ended and the government didn't have much use for them except for the Air National Guard and other 'secondary' flying units. Many were sold to foreign governments and some were also sold to US civilians, movie studios, etc. The Korean war even gave a few Mustangs and Corsairs a temporary reprieve from the smelter but most warbirds sat at Davis-Monthan AFB (the USAF's "boneyard") until they were either sold or scrapped. You have to understand that while the planes were neat, the average pilot saw little reason to own a gas-sucking ex-military hotrod with only one seat. (America's appreciation of "warbirds" was nothing in 1945 compared to what it is today.) Sadly, thousands of great warbirds (many with not much more than ferry time on their airframes) were crushed into aluminum ingots. (Aluminum beer and soda cans didn't hit the store shelves until the late 1960s.)
The great warbirds of WWII were mostly gone (sold or smelted) from Davis-Monthan by the early 1960s, and were replaced by the next crop of obsolete aircraft - the first jet fighters such as the F-86 Sabre. Like the WWII planes, these were also sold to foreign governments, etc (but very few to civilian pilots because of the enormous appetite jets have for fuel.) By the mid 1970s, the Sabres were all gone and Davis-Monthan was filled with row after row of obsolete Viet Nam warbirds such as Huey helicopters, F-100s, F-102s, etc. The 1980s brought F-4 Phantoms to the boneyard and the 1990s brought in the first versions of F-16s, F-111s, etc. The famous SALT Talks (US-Soviet arms reduction treaties) filled Davis-Monthan with B-52s and other Cold War airplanes during the 1990s. In a nutshell, the government doesn't have a need to forever keep weapons systems (like aircraft) that are obsolete and of limited further use for combat. What we can't sell to friendly foreign forces, or donate to museums, we "recycle". Sad but true.
My father used to tell me stories about right after WWII, aviation technical schools could by a surplus new Mustang for only $500 (which was still a lot of money in 1946.) Well used and multi-times rebuilt 1945 Mustangs fetch over a million dollars these days! Sure wish my dad had spent the $500 in 1945!!!
