A Tale of Two Boneyards

Where the aircraft go

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  Marana Aerospace boneyard and maintenance facility
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  A line of stored Douglas DC-10s bask in the Arizona sun at Marana Aerospace in Marana, Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Airliners that formerly served Delta, Northwest, and other carriers await their futures at Marana Aerospace, located at Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  An engine on a new Boeing 747, stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona, is resealed. Openings are covered to protect the aircraft from the elements. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Disassembly of the airplane in the foreground has begun at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Engines, engine pylons, and other parts already have been removed from the former Evergreen Boeing 747. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  New Boeing 747s, waiting to enter service (left), face off against older 747s stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona after many years of service. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  A number of parts--including windshields and the nose cone--have been removed from an older Boeing 747 stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  The engine has been removed from this nacelle on a Boeing twinjet, stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  This Boeing 747, named for Ronald Elwin Kappel, may have made its last flight. The Boeing 747-300, wearing the colors of Surinam Airways, was stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Tires are kept inflated on the aircraft stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Even after engines and other components have been removed, the airframes often must be moved. Aircraft are scrapped in an area separate from aircraft storage. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Marana Aerospace boneyard and maintenance facility
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  Marana Aerospace boneyard and maintenance facility
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  This Boeing 747, named for Ronald Elwin Kappel, may have made its last flight. The Boeing 747-300, wearing the colors of Surinam Airways, was stored at Marana Aerospace in Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Retired Beechcraft T-34C Turbine Mentors repose at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The green "+" indicates that any explosives and other hazards have been removed from the airframe. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  The cockpits of these parked Lockheed C-5s at Davis Monthan Air Force Base are shadowed by the tails of the C-5s in the next row. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Thick morning fog adds to the eerie atmosphere surrounding this sea of Lockheed C-130s stored at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft in the first few rows, with refueling pods suspended beneath the wings, appear to be MC-130 special missions aircraft. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  At the peak of McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom retirements, more than 1,200 of the venerable fighters were stored at the 309th AMARG boneyard. Most were converted into QF-4 target drones; that program has ended and only a couple dozen Phantoms remain. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Stencils on the engine air inlet of this McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom indicate the type and date of maintenance received while it has been stored in the 309th AMARG boneyard. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  A dense fog cloaks several versions of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules stored at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  Mosture condensed from a heavy morning fog trickles down the nose of a Lockheed C-130 stored in the Davis Monthan Air Force Base boneyard.
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  Some parts appear to have been removed from the tail of this Lockheed C-5, parked in the 309th AMARG boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  The sun begins to set behind one of the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom jets still stored at the 309th AMARG boneyard, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Photo by Mike Collins.
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  These F-16 fighters, stored at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, were scheduled to become some of the Air Force's first QF-16 target drones. Photo by Mike Collins.