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An interesting view of the bone yard at Davis Monthan.
https://www.aerialsphere.com/spheres/arizona/tucson/boneyard/1/
https://www.aerialsphere.com/spheres/arizona/tucson/boneyard/1/
Bone yard
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Just a few dollars sitting out there.
An inventory of what's all out there
http://www.amarcexperience.com/ui/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=238
An inventory of what's all out there
http://www.amarcexperience.com/ui/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=238
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10,462 Posts
the second Memphis Belle is still flying and not scheduled to be decommissioned until 2044
America's iconic war machine - BBC News
America's iconic war machine - BBC News
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13,181 Posts
I think that's at least the third. Pretty sure there was a Memphis Belle F-105 in Vietnam.
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In 1981 I delivered an O-2 Skymaster to DM, as our unit was being re-equiped with the A-37. Now, when you deliver a plane to the boneyard, you carry with you all the paperwork that aircraft has accumulated over the years, including the government title. After landing, you taxi over to a line shack, and in a very businesslike process the pilot acts as the agent of the command that previously owned the aircraft, and signs ownership over to the depot.
The morning we landed and taxied over to the shack, they parked us a few yards from two brand-spanking new F-14's. However, these weren't like any F-14's I'd ever seen; they were painted in olive drab, with no insignia whatsoever. As we walked over to inspect them, we could see that they were pristine: paint flawless, not a speck of grease or dirt on the landing gear, scuff marks from only a handful of landings on the tires, not a scratch on the canopies.
"What's up with the Tomcats?" we asked one of the linemen.
"Oh", he said, "those are the last two Iranian jets to come off the production line at Grumman. No way Reagan was going to let the Ayatollah have them, so they rolled out the factory doors in Bethpage and flew directly out here."
The morning we landed and taxied over to the shack, they parked us a few yards from two brand-spanking new F-14's. However, these weren't like any F-14's I'd ever seen; they were painted in olive drab, with no insignia whatsoever. As we walked over to inspect them, we could see that they were pristine: paint flawless, not a speck of grease or dirt on the landing gear, scuff marks from only a handful of landings on the tires, not a scratch on the canopies.
"What's up with the Tomcats?" we asked one of the linemen.
"Oh", he said, "those are the last two Iranian jets to come off the production line at Grumman. No way Reagan was going to let the Ayatollah have them, so they rolled out the factory doors in Bethpage and flew directly out here."
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If I had to guess, I'd say the Iranian jets may not have been built to the same specs as our fleet models. There are various hardware and software options in a sophisticated fighter like that.
Remember that the "bone yard" is not a "grave yard". It's a storage facility for aircraft that, in many cases, can be restored to active service or sold to foreign countries. The very fact that an aircraft sits at DM means that it has been deemed worthy of preservation.
Remember that the "bone yard" is not a "grave yard". It's a storage facility for aircraft that, in many cases, can be restored to active service or sold to foreign countries. The very fact that an aircraft sits at DM means that it has been deemed worthy of preservation.
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If I had to guess, it was budgeting. We had all the F14's our budget allowed for. Gotta consider the full cost of ownership, fuel, maintenance, storage, maintenance personnel, etc. I'm sure those two F14's provided parts for our F14's for years to come.
F14's are still in service in Iran, and the F14's equipped with Phoenix missiles performed extremely well in the Iran-Iraq war, maintaining about a 15:1 kill ratio.
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Yes, I've heard that when foreign nations buy our planes they don't get the super-deluxe version ..... I always wondered if the Soviets did the same thing with their Sukhois, MiGs, and other aircraft they dispensed to Warsaw Pack Nations and other customers .......
OK.... But calling it a "Bone" yard is .... well, it has a certain "finality" to it, you know.
Kevin; from what (little) I have heard, the Iranian Tomcats are barely flyable if that, since we have been denying them parts and maintainance for awhile. In fact I recall reading that some of the parts in our Tomcats have been treated with .....extra concern ..... insofar as preventing them from somehow winding up in Iranian possesion.
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The Sovs, if memory serves, had two tiers: their closest allies got the good stuff and everybody else got dumbed-down, gimped versions they derisively referred to away from client ears as "Monkey Models."
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The Tomcats we sold the Iranians came with Pheonix missiles, so it sounds like they got the "Full Monty". In the Iran/Iraq war the F14/Pheonix combination racked up a very impressive tally. Even with Iranian pilots they managed something like a 14:1 kill ratio against Iraqi Mig 17's & 23's.
These days the Iranian F14's are still flying. Iran has always managed to get parts, and for the parts they can't get, they have adapted the aircraft to parts they can get. The F14's are still their best fighter planes and they have been constantly upgraded and kept flying. Iran is using F14's against ISIS these days.
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Version I heard re the Alicats was, soon as Khomeini took power, they gave one to the Krapsack Kremlin Komrades to reverse-engineer and study, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Damn Dirty Stinking Commie Bastards haven't been supplying them with cloned parts.
Once the center wing-box supporting the pivots goes, though, that's IT for the airframe...
Once the center wing-box supporting the pivots goes, though, that's IT for the airframe...
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I've read that the Iranians reverse engineered several parts and manufactured them domestically. For other parts that fail often, they have changed to something they can get more readily.
As for the Russians getting their hands on one, the US is very sure that no F14's have ever left Iran until they were shot down in the Iran/Iraq war. The Iraqi's probably allowed the Soviets to inspect the wreckage.
As for the Iranians allowing the Soviets to inspect their F14's who knows. But as rough as US/Iran relations are, the Iranians have never really trusted the Russians and that continues to this day. They have a relationship of convenience, but it's not as if the two parties really trust each other.
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One other thing to note re Iran-Iraq War: the Fresco was a relic of the Korean War (slightly improved MiG-15) that belonged in museums even then, and the Flogger was never very good for much.
Both aircraft easily outclassed.
Both aircraft easily outclassed.
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3,920 Posts
True enough, but it's not the arrows, it's the Indian...
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