The largest aircraft graveyard

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The world's largest aircraft graveyard is located in Arizona, Tucson, USA. Its official name is "309 group for the maintenance and repair of aerospace equipment." The area of the object is about 10 km2. More than four thousand aircraft and about forty spacecraft, mothballed at one time or another, are located here. Engines, ammunition, wiring, electronics and other equipment, which is a state secret, have been removed from them. The total cost of all the equipment here is estimated at more than $35 billion.

Aircraft storage conditions

The Aircraft Graveyard in Arizona is part of the Davis-Montan Air Force Base, built almost immediately after the end of World War II. It should be noted that the area is located at a considerable height above sea level. In this regard, the climate here is very dry, which makes it possible to protect aircraft hulls from corrosion even in open-air storage conditions. About eighty percent of them have already been cut into scrap metal. The rest of the planes are sealed with polyethylene and can be used at any time if the need arises.

Importance for the US economy

The Arizona Aircraft Graveyard also functions as a real processing plant. In particular, over the past years, the specialists of the base have reconstructed about nineteen thousand elements and spare parts that can be used in the future or sold. Their total cost is over 568 million US dollars. According to the policy of the US government, other countries can buy here not only components, but also entire airliners. According to economists' calculations, every dollar invested in this aircraft graveyard returns eleven times more to the state treasury over time. The fact is that after repairs carried out by local specialists, many of them are used again. In particular, based on official statistics, over the past 25 years, about twenty percent of the liners sent here have returned to service. This aircraft cemetery is also known for the fact that it was here that some scenes from the fantastic movie “Transformers. Revenge of the fallen.”

Russian aircraft graveyard

A similar place exists in our country. On the Khodynka field, not far from Moscow, there is an abandoned airfield. Helicopters and planes that have not taken off since 2003 are stored on its territory. At presentaccess to outsiders here is closed. Initially, it was planned to open a museum of aviation technology on this site, but later the project was frozen and is in this state in our time. Now the aircraft cemetery on the Khodynka field is a huge territory, which is surrounded by barbed wire and guarded. Despite this, some still manage to negotiate with the guards for a fee and take unique photos here against the backdrop of dilapidated aircraft. Despite the fact that most of them are devoid of paint and glass, they still look bewitching.