Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: LUV W

“Thank you! I went to see it myself [and loved seeing aircraft that were no longer in production—like a museum!],...I’d love to take a stroll through the one in AZ with hubby. He has great stories for all of them....”

A stroll would be tiring and time-consuming, assuming you are referring to foot travel.

In March 1975 I was still a cadet at USAFA. Myself & three other cadets requested a tour, and the Boneyard staff was kind enough to lend us an NCO for a couple hours. We drove all over the parking areas following his directions, while he told us about various aspects of his work and about the aircraft there.

Easy to lose oneself on the flat, featureless terrain, with retired airframes sitting at every hand. No signposts we could see.

Contrary to the popular conception, the Boneyard is a busy place (just think about the numerous official names and units assigned to it over the decades). They are always prepping new arrivals for storage, pulling older machines out of storage, checking long-stored airframes for integrity of sealants and protectants on a rotational basis, tracking down a specific part requested by users and pulling it off its airframe, chasing away intruders and vermin, and other less well-defined tasks.

The sight that stuck most firmly in my mind was a long row of lightweight helicopters that the US Army had retired from training duties: Hiller OH-23 or Hughes TH-55, I forget which. Their bubble canopies were coated in white spray-lat. Our guide told us there were over 1,200 helicopters in that one row alone.


59 posted on 09/23/2017 1:09:10 PM PDT by schurmann
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies ]


To: schurmann

Wow! You’re right! Strolling would not work. LOL! I’ll never get to do it, but it would be fun to see all those planes in one place, though. :)


60 posted on 09/23/2017 1:43:56 PM PDT by luvie (Our troops are the best of the best and we should honor them EVERY day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson