Nothing lasts forever. That certainly applies to airplanes as well. Most modern aircraft have a lifespan of at least 30 years, but where do they go at the end of their lifespan?
Retired airplanes are sent to aircraft graveyards, also known as aircraft graveyards. Consider a huge open-air parking lot for planes waiting for the future. Daniel Babb, a former pilot and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said, “When a plane arrives at the boneyard, one of two things happens: It's either stored and completely refurbished, or it's scrapped for parts.'' It's a ruka.''To tell travel + leisure.
The former situation occurs when airlines retire aircraft that are still flyable but no longer shiny and new. “As aircraft technology continues to evolve, airlines will ground some aircraft, meaning older aircraft are destined for retirement,” Babb says. “Other airlines may buy these older planes because it's cheaper than buying new planes.”
However, if the plane is well past its prime, it is usually salvaged for parts. “When a retired airliner arrives at an aircraft maintenance shop for scrapping, all remaining fluids such as fuel, hydraulic oil, and lubricants are first drained out. All useful parts, from instrumentation to engines, are then sold for resale. will be removed due to the airline industry. Historian Shea Oakley. “Once these two processes are complete, the aircraft is ready for disposal. What remains after the aircraft is disassembled, especially metals and plastics, is almost always recycled in some way. At the end of the process: Effectively, the plane remains.”
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Airplane bone factories can be found all over the world, but just kidding, they're almost always located in completely dry destinations. “If decommissioning is postponed for a long time, or if the airliner in question is stored for possible future use, the extremely dry air of a desert environment can cause the natural preservation of metals, which can be particularly corrosive. ” Oakley. “A properly 'sealed' airplane stored in a desert warehouse will require minimal maintenance to become airworthy again, and even if the airliner is eventually scrapped, the elements will not be damaged by the elements. There is little or no damage.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the largest aircraft bone factories are located in the desert. “There is less rain, snow, and other adverse weather conditions that cause airplanes to rust,” Babb said. For example, consider Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. It is home to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG), and on 16.5 square miles of land, he has the world's largest storage facility for more than 4,000 airplanes, specifically military aircraft ranging from fighters to bombers. operates an aircraft maintenance yard. Although you cannot visit this cemetery, you can see many planes from the perimeter outside the fence.
For retired airliners, you'll want to visit the world's second and third largest boneyards, located at California's Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV) and Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA). Like Davis-Monthan, these mausoleums are closed to public access. In addition to peeking through the chain-link fence, you can always peek through Google Earth.
