If you skip through this section on planes, be sure to read the section towards the end of the blog on "The Boneyard".
Below is the smallest plane in the world, known as the "Bumble Bee". Very cute. And very small.
The world's smallest jet:
I like the name of this amphibious plane - "Petulant Porpoise"!
Another amphibious plane, just plain weird:
An aerial camera! My hand is there for scale.
A one-person military helicopter:
This one, a retired Super Guppy, was used by NASA to carry very large cargo (like sections of rockets):
This one I liked because of its goofy face. How can anyone take this plane seriously?
Look at all those helicopters!
More planes, large and small:
Have you ever wondered what the military does with all of its old airplanes and jets? Well, we found out. By paying a little extra, museum visitors can take a bus tour through a fascinating area where old planes go to die. Or get recycled. There are three reasons for this, two mentioned above:
1) the arid conditions are perfect for preservation;
2) the ground is so hard that cement or asphalt are not required;
3) real estate is cheap in the desert, and there is lots of it.
The tour guide explained to us that there are three categories of planes here:
1) Those which will never be used again. These are disassembled, pieces and parts are sorted, and the remaining metal is cut up into smaller pieces to be recycled. This category happens to include the Tomcat, the one flown in the movie Top Gun. Sad to see it go.
What do they use to cut the metal? (Lee's photo):
2) Some planes are cannibalized for spare parts. Bits and pieces of the planes slowly disappear as requests come in. Planes that are no longer used in the U.S. fall into this category, if another country or countries are still flying those planes.
3) Planes which may be called into service again someday. The tour guide told us of one plane which had been sitting out there in the desert since 1964, and a few weeks ago was needed for a specific purpose. The guide explained that planes come and go from the boneyard all the time, it is never static but always changing.
1) the arid conditions are perfect for preservation;
2) the ground is so hard that cement or asphalt are not required;
3) real estate is cheap in the desert, and there is lots of it.
The tour guide explained to us that there are three categories of planes here:
1) Those which will never be used again. These are disassembled, pieces and parts are sorted, and the remaining metal is cut up into smaller pieces to be recycled. This category happens to include the Tomcat, the one flown in the movie Top Gun. Sad to see it go.
What do they use to cut the metal? (Lee's photo):
3) Planes which may be called into service again someday. The tour guide told us of one plane which had been sitting out there in the desert since 1964, and a few weeks ago was needed for a specific purpose. The guide explained that planes come and go from the boneyard all the time, it is never static but always changing.
Lee sat at the window of the bus, so took the following photographs. The boneyard is huge, by the way. Acres and acres, if you can imagine. There are images taken from the air on the web, if you care to do a search on the "Tucson boneyard".
Okay, I broke down. I have borrowed an image from the website of the Pima Air & Space Museum, taken from the air, of the boneyard. And this shows only a tiny section of it!
Lee says if interest is expressed, he would be happy to write a blog post from a more knowledgeable and technical perspective. Just let either of us know!
