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Where Planes Go to Die: A One Way Trip to the Mojave Boneyard (2015)
- matthewmcg 9y agoGreat photo series. It's worth noting that not all of the planes are there permanently. Many are there in long-term storage and would be flyable with some maintenance.
- Avshalom 9y agoAlso I believe there's quite a few military b-XX there kept for spare parts.
- CapitalistCartr 9y agoThe Air Force keeps theirs in Arizona at Davis-Monthan. And it looks the same, only bigger.
- kkylin 9y agoYes, and if you're ever in Tucson, the Pima Air & Space Museum offers a bus tour (weekdays only I think) of the "bone yard" at Davis-Monthan. There's also the Pima Airpark a bit outside of town (see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/business/747-airlines-final-flight.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/business/747-airlines-fin... ).
- ChuckMcM 9y agoI was going to add this as well. I have visited the Mojave airfield and "space port" a number of times, both when Rotary Rocket and Scaled Composites were active there and later as part of a group that was looking into wind turbine efficiency (there are big turbines up on the ridge to Tehachapi) A bunch of planes there have come off lease and are being held pending new leasing arrangements, those are basically ready to fly. Some have used up their cycle count (landings/takeoffs/pressurization/depressurization cycles) and act as spare parts for similar models still flying. One clue is the ones that have had their winglets removed are generally 'donor dollies' where the owner has started parting them out to recover what remaining value they have. I would also love to crawl around the military depot in Arizona but so far have come up short on a good enough reason :-).
- mc32 9y agoGiven at least some of these aircraft have reached their usable lifecycle and presumably those stressed parts can't go back into similar aircraft at that point, why aren't the materials being recycled more? Is it too costly to recycle these alloys? One might think that if aluminum drink cans are worthwhile recycling, more massive aircraft parts would also be profitable to recycle.
- ChuckMcM 9y agoThat is a good question, and it was the subject of a paper in 2007 (http://www.phinix.net/services/Recycling/Recycling_Aluminum_Aerospace_Alloys.pdf http://www.phinix.net/services/Recycling/Recycling_Aluminum_...) which basically says that aircraft alloys have a lot of impurities to improve their toughness which makes it harder to recycle them into something useful.
- mc32 9y agoThanks, that's interesting. Although it seems to presume that the recycled aluminum alloys would go back into aircraft and thus would need further [relatively costly] processing/refining to remove impurities and meet modern specs. However, unless expensive to process at all (recycle) they could be recycled for other uses --like park bench frames, ladders, food service furniture, new truck beds, camper tops, etc. I can see where cheap iron may be more economic than even recycled aluminum though.
- ChuckMcM 9y agoIt is a solid idea. One of the things I have done a little research on is the question of planned economic communities. One possible engine in that type of community would be recycling.
- AuthorizedCust 9y agoShould say 2015.
- Avshalom 9y agoIt has been a bone yard long before 2015 and will be for long after.
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoIt is convention, on HN, to mention the year that articles were written (if not the current year), whether or not the subject matter is changing rapidly.
- dang 9y agoAdded. Thanks!
- Overtonwindow 9y agoThis may sound...whacky..but has anyone ever considered some of these fuselages could be turned into homeless housing somewhere?
- reednj 9y agoSeems like it would have all the problems of housing in a shipping container, but at 10x the cost
- DrScump 9y agoI'd be concerned about hazardous materials remediation.
- gerdesj 9y agoNice idea but aircraft and houses are solutions to rather different problems. Assume an aircraft is a very large cigar tube with wings, tail and wheels on stilts. So, start by cutting off the wings and tail and seal the holes. You need to remove the wheels and fix the thing down so that it wont blow away in a strong wind. It is probably too long for one family, so it will need partitioning or chopping up and the ends stoppered. You'll also need external doors - ideally at least two per dwelling for fire safety. You can't open the windows so those will need sorting out. You probably will want to divide up the living/sleeping/food prep/lav areas. You need plumbing, potentially heating and/or cooling. At least it wont rust, being aluminium. However, being ali. means that alterations will cost a fortune. You can't put steel and ali directly together (Galvanic) and any alterations that puncture the skin will need very careful waterproofing. I'd go for something like this instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_hut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_hut They are very cheap to build and are not just for military use.
- murukesh_s 9y agoShipping containers could be another choice for temporary budget housing and is modular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_container_architecture https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_container_architect...
- 9y ago
- trhway 9y agothe cross-sections always strike me with the number of parts which are involved and thus the amount of labor to build the planes body, wings, etc. with accompanying question of whether it can be simpler or done in other ways, like 3d printing, robotic assembly, etc.
- nradov 9y ago3D printing materials currently aren't strong enough to use as most aircraft structural components. New aircraft designs are switching from aluminum to carbon fiber which has to be molded and bonded in sheets (totally unsuitable for 3D printing). Robots are already used where they make sense.
- toomanybeersies 9y agoIt would be amazing if you could go there like pick-a-part for car parts and pick your own aircraft parts. Some of those propellers and other parts would make amazing decor. The huge amounts of sheet metal could be put to good use too, I'm sure.
- JumpCrisscross 9y agoMy other half won't let me make a coffee table out of a jet turbine.
- ChuckMcM 9y agoThese days that would be more of a dinner table :-). But clearly someone is thinking about it : https://aeroartshop.com/catalog/furniture/item/2-titanium-high-top-bar-table https://aeroartshop.com/catalog/furniture/item/2-titanium-hi...
- bri3d 9y agoAircraft junkyards are a thing - google "air salvage" and you'll find quite a few. Listed parts prices for usable parts are often high but they're usually friendly folks and could probably help you out with scraps. The Lowry air museum in Denver has a small sport aircraft built entirely of junkyard parts and flown by a private pilot for years in it, and I wish I could recall the name of it.
- userbinator 9y agoGiven that I know the aviation industry is highly regulated, I wonder how certifications and such work out for salvaged parts.
- toomanybeersies 9y agoHome build experimental aircraft are a lot less regulated than mass produced aircraft. You can build a microlight in your garage if you want.
- 9y ago
- matthberg 9y agoDoes anyone know how to access this, or if tours or gates are open to the public?
- uptown 9y agoThe last line of the post states: "The Mojave Boneyard is available for film shoots – send me an email if interested. Unfortunately, no tours are offered at this time, and the facility is strictly off-limits."
- matthberg 9y agoThank you! Fascinating stuff, a shame there's no access but it makes sense for safety reasons.
- dzhiurgis 9y agoThey do have access every third Saturday of the month, part of the museum tours or smth.
- madengr 9y agoJust need some feral children chanting about Capn’ Walker.
- ekianjo 9y agoHow do they actually bring the planes to that location? Road transport or do they have at least a runway?
- peckrob 9y agoThey fly them in, where they are officially handed over to a third party for possibly resale, but more than likely cannibalization and the scrapping. American Airlines retired 20 MD-80s at once last year and documented the whole thing. [0] You can also search #Super80Sendoff on Twitter to see thoughts at the time. [1] They sent theirs to Roswell, New Mexico I think, but it's the same general idea. [0] https://airwaysmag.com/airchive/american-retires-20-md-80/ https://airwaysmag.com/airchive/american-retires-20-md-80/ [1] https://twitter.com/hashtag/Super80Sendoff https://twitter.com/hashtag/Super80Sendoff
- billforsternz 9y agoReally enjoyed the airwaysmag.com article, thanks. The article was meticulously put together with obvious passion for the field and the people who work in it. Even the reading experience on mobile was pretty good which is unusual these days. I was surprised by one or two details, including the fact that some of these quintessential American airliners were actually manufactured in China, as long as 25 years ago.
- peckrob 9y ago> I was surprised by one or two details, including the fact that some of these quintessential American airliners were actually manufactured in China, as long as 25 years ago. It's rumored in aviation circles that COMAC secretly reused the MD-80 jigs and tooling to develop the ARJ21 [0], which bears a strong resemblance to the DC-9/MD-80 series jets. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comac_ARJ21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comac_ARJ21
- tuna-piano 9y agoThank you very much for sharing the airwaysmag article. Can't believe how emotional I felt reading it. Very well written.
- acidburnNSA 9y agoMy brother as a kid found this on Google Earth or maybe even terraserver (which was an early host of satellite imagery of earth, I think from Microsoft) and obsessed over it forever.
- dundercoder 9y agoI used to drive past this all the time. It’s quite a sight, even from the road.
- tuna-piano 9y agoFor those interested in freely visiting somewhere like this, there are a few planes (including a 747) rotting on a plot of land in Bangkok. It's called the "Airplane Graveyard"[1,2]. When I went, a Mother+Son seemed to have the place fenced off, and asked for $6 (200 baht) to let me in. I happily paid and had a great time walking around, taking pictures, and climbing through the airplanes. It was fun climbing up the back of a 747, going up the stairs, hanging out in the cockpits, out doors, on wings, etc. When I was there, there were no other tourists there (as I assume is usually the case). You have to be careful, as there are scraps and sharp things everywhere (though everything small seems to have been taken). One of the airplanes seemed to have someone (homeless?) sleeping in it, so I left it alone. On the way out, the ~6 year old boy living there with his Mom asked me for another $6 before he unlocked the gate, but I told him I already paid. I argued for maybe 30 seconds and by chance another tourist showed up and the kid opened the gate for that guy and I left. Not sure what would have happened if the kid kept asking for money. [1] http://triphackr.com/visiting-the-airplane-graveyard-in-bangkok/ http://triphackr.com/visiting-the-airplane-graveyard-in-bang... [2] https://www.wheresidewalksend.com/bangkok-airplane-graveyard/ https://www.wheresidewalksend.com/bangkok-airplane-graveyard...
- tonylemesmer 9y agoI regularly drive past a very small air salvage facility at Kemble airfield [1]. The road runs right past the airfield and multiple large jets are lined up in various states of dismemberment. Its very distracting and fascinating when you're driving across fairly barren English countryside, pop out of the trees and there in front of you are a dozen huge aircraft sitting on the tarmac. I don't think you can easily go on site here, but easy to park up in the layby and watch from afar. [1] http://airsalvage.co.uk/ http://airsalvage.co.uk/
- nasredin 9y ago>Not sure what would have happened if the kid kept asking for money. Depending on the situation bluffing may work. Just name drop somebody "important". Also learned this from... John McAfee: Do not get out of the car at checkpoints/shakedowns.
- saagarjha 9y agoIs this where Mythbusters did their "explosive decompression" episode?
- Theodores 9y agoThe featured C-133 propeller driven planes were death-traps when they were new, the chance of any of the ones in museums needing spare parts from the boneyard to make them air-worthy so we can see-off those pesky Russians is just not a good enough reason to hold on to these old air-frames. Yet they have kept them rather than put them through the recycling. Why hold onto these things for fifty years, do they have a procrastination problem? Compared to the air force boneyard in Arizona - Davis Monthan AFB - this boneyard is miniscule so maybe they are doing a really good job of recycling all those 747s nobody needs and have their own reasons for keeping the junk. Fascinating the place may be, it could be tidier.
- baxtr 9y agoGreat photos, I’m so glad that they weren’t posted on Instagram... Nice round-up at the bottom of the page: In the end, the Boneyard gets us all.
- fla 9y agoA developed country should dismantle its planes and not let them rot in the nature just because its easy. My two cents.
- InclinedPlane 9y agoThis is not a landfill it's a junkyard, there is a difference. These planes are still valuable in several ways. They can be salvaged for parts to update operating planes. And some of them can be returned to service, though obsolete by modern standards. Unlike automobiles there aren't millions of any of these planes, only hundreds or thousands. It doesn't take up that much space to keep a bunch of obsolete planes laying around in the desert, and they may prove valuable in the future. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and all that.
- fla 9y agoI get your point, but lets be realistic for a second: These planes were not put there for altruistic reasons. But rather because it is much cheaper to simply forget them :)
- chiph 9y agoThat's why this location was chosen - the environmental conditions there (arid) mean the aircraft don't rot, like they would if they were stored somewhere else. And they aren't forgotten - they'll stay parked there a little while until a disposition can be decided - whether to be immediately recycled (no historic value, no other aircraft of that type in service anywhere in the world, and so on), or to be left mostly intact for future parts reclamation.
- ckastner 9y agoThere's an even larger (huge, in fact) graveyard in Tucson, Arizona: https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1589671,-110.8350419,2145m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1589671,-110.8350419,2145m/d...
- romwell 9y agoThat "graveyard" is more of a military base (which it is), where they reassemble planes from spares (when they can), preserve others for parts, and scrap the rest. Most of the money is made from the first two activities, and the facility is highly profitable. They give bus tours of the facility from the adjacent fantastic PIMA Air & Space museum; I highly recommend visiting both when you can.
- peteretep 9y agoApologies for the extreme nerd pedantry, but... When he gets into the TG 747, he emerges in First, and then later makes his way to Business, rather than Business then First as he describes. Also the seats he's describing as leather-covered are fabric upholstered. I was on one of these a few days ago, as TG are still flying them, and with the hard product shown.
- chiph 9y agoThe Army has a boneyard in Northern California near the Nevada state line. https://goo.gl/maps/JnJBvefnT5G2 https://goo.gl/maps/JnJBvefnT5G2 There's lots of M1 Abrams in storage there, as well as munitions in bunkers that were built for WW-II (to be clear - the munitions are pretty modern - the bunkers are the vintage part of that. Old/obsolete/unsafe munitions are disposed of.)
- HeyLaughingBoy 9y agoAmerican 9643, Tampa Tower, line up and wait Runway 01L A long time ago when I was a student PP, the standard terminology would have been "American 9643, Tampa Tower. Taxi to position Runway 01L and hold. Acknowledge hold" at any airport I ever flew out of. Did this change in the 25 years or so since I last sat in the left seat or is it just the reporter's interpretation? Then again, over a couple decades, jargon can be expected to evolve...