Davis Monthan Batch 1 [01/47] - Davis Monthan Batch 1 Index 1.jpg (0/1)

[Indrek]

There are about 4500 aircraft currently in storage at Davis-Monthan. Their state ranges from ready-to-fly all the way to bits and pieces used to keep other aircraft in the air. As a rough guess I would say that the majority will never fly again.

Security is quite strict for the tour. No one is allowed off the bus and the route keeps well clear of the B-52 chopping area. Nevertheless it is an experience not to be missed. Apologies in advance for the stray reflections and fuzziness due to taking many of pictures through the bus windows while the vehicle was in motion.

Cheers,

Indrek Aavisto

Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult. W.S. Churchill

[Bob (not my real pseudonym)]

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:44:14 -0600,
(Indrek) wrote:

>
>There are about 4500 aircraft currently in storage at Davis-Monthan. Their state ranges
>from ready-to-fly all the way to bits and pieces used to keep other aircraft in the air.
>As a rough guess I would say that the majority will never fly again.
>
>Security is quite strict for the tour. No one is allowed off the bus and the route keeps
>well clear of the B-52 chopping area. Nevertheless it is an experience not to be missed.
>Apologies in advance for the stray reflections and fuzziness due to taking many of pictures
>through the bus windows while the vehicle was in motion.

Times change...

I visited MASDC (as it was called at the time) three times in the late
'70s. Back then, the Air Force ran the tours, and would stop the bus
and let us all off, with a warning to be back in x minutes before they
moved on to the next area. That, and a more earnest warning ~not~ to
annoy the rattlesnakes.

I shot 40 rolls of slides in about three hours one visit. Ah, for a
time machine and a DSLR...

Bob ^,,^