Map & List of Airplane Boneyards (2024)

FAQs

How many airplane boneyards are there? ›

Located in Arizona, California and New Mexico are seven major airplane boneyards, each located in dry, low-humidity desert environments and offering long runways and extensive storage areas. Shown below is a list of these boneyard facilities.

Virtually all airplane boneyards and storage facilities are limited access sites. Boneyards typically do not allow visitors and do not provide tours. We encourage potential visitors to check with individual sites to learn about access policies and tours. Shown below is a list of these boneyard facilities ...

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base "Aircraft Boneyard" | Tucson, AZ 85730.

An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for aircraft which are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage continuing to receive some maintenance or parts of the aircraft are removed for reuse or resale and the aircraft are scrapped.

The US Air Force currently retains close to 1,200 F-16s in active service - slightly more than half of their total inventory. Most of the inactive aircraft were either lost due to attrition (more than 400 airframes), or where placed in storage in the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB (more than 300 airframes).

No. Aircraft that are surplus to requirements are signed over to and disposed of by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO). Sales of surplus equipment are frequently carried out but purchases can only be made if you are a company or individual who possess a licence to do so.

There are 72 aircraft in inventory as of 2022; 58 operated by active forces (2nd Bomb Wing and 5th Bomb Wing), 18 by reserve forces (307th Bomb Wing), and about 12 in long-term storage at the Davis-Monthan AFB Boneyard.

South-west USA is known for its hot, dry desert climate – the ideal conditions to store, maintain and dismantle airplanes. Pinal Airpark north of Tucson, Arizona is among the largest of these aircraft storage and parts reclamation facilities, often called aircraft boneyards.

How much is a used Boeing 747? Currently found 747s on sale from $900,000 to $28,000,000 with the average looking like around $7,000,000. The $28,000,000 gets you the retiring Japan, “Air Force One”.

Elvis bought the JetStar in 1976 for $840,000, which amounts to approximately $4.4 million in today's dollars. It is one of several private jets owned by the late legend, with two currently on display at Graceland.

Where are abandoned planes kept? ›

Retired planes are sent to aircraft boneyards, also called aircraft graveyards. Consider them giant, open-air parking garages for airplanes as they await their future.

“Victorville in the middle of the Mojave Desert is the perfect place to store aircraft because a dry heat means less chance of corrosion,” said 60 Minutes Australia. “It's why airlines from all over the world come here while they work out what to do with their old planes.”

Aircraft graveyards, also known as boneyards, are located in deserts or areas with low humidity to prevent corrosion and save costs. The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona is the world's largest military aircraft graveyard and was originally used to store surplus aircraft.

On average, commercial aircraft are replaced every 22 years , but with careful maintenance work, they can continue to fly for 30 years or more. Today, FedEx operates around 700 aircraft, including Boeing 777F and 767Fs.

And when a jet is retired indefinitely, it is usually sent to an aircraft boneyard (or graveyard). Boneyards are often located in deserts as dry weather conditions help to limit corrosion. In these facilities, the valuable parts of an aircraft are removed for reuse or resale before the rest of it is scrapped.

These and other aircraft can be found in the decommissioned aircraft catalog. Complete aircraft with all documents are sold under a sales contract. We also have Decommissioned helicopters on a pedestal, which you can freely buy.

Sentimental Journey

A total of 12,731 B-17s produced by Boeing, Vega, and Douglas. Our Sentimental Journey is one of only five B-17s around the world actively flying today and was built in November, 1944.

When airplane fuselages are removed from service permanently and dismantled and/or recycled, they can be sold to businesses or the typical person, if they can afford it.