Scale aviation modeller international

A

little day trip before the

2018 IPMS Nationals for

the SAMi team was to

AMARG (formally AMRAC) at

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

just outside Tuscon in Arizona.

AMARG’s proper name is the

309th Aerospace Maintenance and

Regeneration Group, but for most it

is more famous as the Desert Bone

yard. The unit has 4 functions.

• 
  
  
  
  1. Long-term storage
     for future use.
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  
  2. Parts Reclamation, useful
     items are removed and used to
     keep other aircraft flying.
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  
  3. Flying Hold, aircraft in
     short term storage
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  
  4. Excess, aircraft that are no
     longer required by the United
     States Government, which may
     be sold on normally for scrap.
  
  
  
  

The Bone yard is now the main

storage facility for all United States

Government aircraft and currently

has nearly 4000 aircraft in storage

with 300 new arrivals each year.

As this is an active airbase you can

only access the facility by a coach

trip from the nearby Pima Air

Museum which needs to be booked

in advance. This tour, which last

approximately 2 hours, gives you

just a sneak peak at the aircraft in

storage. Unfortunately, you are not

allowed to leave the coach which

does make photography a challenge.

This month we are going to

share with you some photographs

of the US Navy aircraft in

storage on the 31st July 2018.

One of a number ofF-18A in parts reclamation including a former Blue Angels aircraft, this would make a great diorama

Seahawks and Vikings in long term storage though ultimately most will be scrapped

BONEYARD

DESERT

SCRAPBOOK

Part One: US Navy by D Francis and Tim Upson Smith

PART

ONE

72 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

PHOTO REPORT

072-75-PhotoReport-Boneyard-P1-1018.indd 72 14/09/2018 15:22