1968 pics of military aircraft in bone yards

[tamrock]

1968 pic's of military aircraft in bone yards

I was sent a link to this site that has some wonderful pictures of some cold war era aircraft in the bone yard taken in 1968. I wonder what condition these planes would be in today

Monthan Memories- Page One

 

[aquanut]

Thanks!

 

[Pa_Dirtfisher]

Amazing pictures would be a dream to visit that place. I've always wanted to since the 80s when I was a kid and saw that place in the Movie "Cant buy me love" Also in the movie "My science project"

 

[Jason in Enid]

Great pics! Sadly I bet those are long gone. the bone yards were never supposed to be permanent storage so the planes were stripped of parts to keep others flying until completely phased out and then were destroyed or patched up enough to become target drones.

I was at a weapons testing location a few years go, where they had dozens of F4 fighters lined up, waiting to be the subject of the next anti-aircraft warhead test. They also had a scrap yard with the shredded remains of the prior victims.

 

[tamrock]

That's sad. I guess now we enjoy these relics containing our beers and sodas.

 

[Trooper733]

Nice job! First pics I've seen of the Lockheed Warningstar in navy livery

 

[Smithsgold]

Thanks I enjoyed looking at all those planes !!!

 

[maipenrai]

Great photos, a lot of history there, but cant help wondering how much money
was spent on production, and then again on packaging!

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Hi Group. Those planes are nore servicable than the crews that flew them. They are on limited stand by notice, such as the Warthofg.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I love this shot that has the outlines/stickers of the SR-71 blackbird on it. In 1968 it couldn't have been out that long and I'm sure was still very secret. Maybe those stickers are for successful refueling missions? Its not for how many it shot down, because that number was ZERO!

 

[Trooper733]

I believe that is an RB-47 variant for photo and signals recon. It probably indicates missions flown over or near hostile territory, such as cold war adversaries.

 

[fowledup]

Wow, talk about memory lane, thank you Tamrock! In the early 90"s I worked for an aerial fire fighting company who made many an air tanker from the ghost fleet. Looked just about the same when I was there as compared to the photos. In the off season from firefighting we would go down there and get planes and parts from Davis-Monthan. Mostly C-54 (DC-4) and P2-V's. Good times, alot of the time we would work all night and sleep in the day to avoid the heat. There are still a few hulls out at the airport that didn't get converted, would be interesting to go write down the tail numbers and compare them to your photos to see if there might be a match.

 

[patiodadio]

Great photos ! Thanks for posting ! My dad was a jet engine mech. USAF and worked on the Northrop F-89J Scorpion.

 

[A2coins]

I would love to look through those planes wow

 

[jeff of pa]

 

[hvacker]

If there is a B-47 with a tail number of 20505, it's mine.

 

[RustyGold]

Impressive hardware! Those planes are beautiful to look at. Like vintage cars. Awesome photos!

 

[Keith Jackson]

Great photos ! Thanks for posting ! My dad was a jet engine mech. USAF and worked on the Northrop F-89J Scorpion.

My father worked on the electronics on them in Iceland. Told me about having to crawl into the "hell hole".

 

[hvacker]

My father worked on the electronics on them in Iceland. Told me about having to crawl into the "hell hole".

Ya, almost every airplane has a hell hole. The B-47 wasn't half bad. It was used mainly to access the bomb bay (think Doctor Strangelove) Cool place in there where I could stand up and look out a window. It was for using a sextant if things got that way. Like avionics failures.
I was on the small side so I was elected to go in hell holes even when I was working civilian airplanes.. Plus I liked enclosed places.I went from hell holes to caves.
The B-47 was a hot rod. Very maneuverable and if you know pilots, irresistible to "give er the gun".
The drop tanks were large and looked perfect for building a party barge. Drop tanks of a bit smaller were made into race cars used at Bonneville for land speed attempts. I think they came from P-40's or P-51's. Can't recall.
In 1960 I was trained on B-52's. It's hard to believe that plane is still in service.