unilad homepage
  • News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
World's largest aircraft boneyard is more than 2,600 acres big and has over 4,000 planes

Home> News

Published 19:55 8 Feb 2024 GMT

World's largest aircraft boneyard is more than 2,600 acres big and has over 4,000 planes

The vehicle boneyard has aircrafts that used to belong to the Air Force, Marine Corps, Coasts Guard, and NASA.

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

The world’s largest aircraft boneyard is certainly a sight to see and is home to thousands of aircrafts that have been used in operations around the world and even taken to space.

Do airplanes go to heaven? Well, we at least know where many of them end up once they have outlived their usefulness.

The aircraft boneyard is essentially out in the Tucson, Arizona desert and homes aircrafts that would have been more than a touch important in their heyday.

The desert is estimated to be about 2,600 acres and has over 4,000 planes on the patch of land.

Advert

The boneyard homes excess military and government aircraft from a bunch of different departments, including vehicles that belonged to the Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and NASA.

A video has begun recirculating on social media as it shows the vastness of the boneyard from the skies.

Captured by Chip Malt on Instagram in 2022, the clip has been viewed more than 415,000 times.

“The World’s largest Aircraft Boneyard from above - this is the sole aircraft boneyard and parts reclamation facility for all excess military and U.S. government aircraft Malt wrote as a caption.

“Aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, NASA and more. They also convert old fighter jets into drones. These planes are stored in Arizona because the weather helps preserve them,”

The desert is estimated to be about 2,600 acres and has over 4,000 planes on the patch of land.
Chip Malt/Instagram

The dry local environment means the speed at which corrosion occurs is reduced, and the hard ground means it does not need to be paved.

“With the area’s low humidity in the 10%-20% range, meager rainfall of 11″ annually, hard alkaline soil, and high altitude of 2,550 feet allowing the aircraft to be naturally preserved for cannibalization or possible reuse, Davis-Monthan is the logical choice for a major storage facility,” according to a report by the Airplane Boneyards publication.

A video has begun recirculating on social media as it shows the vastness of the boneyard.
Chip Malt/Instagram

The viewers of the video were definitely impressed at the mere scale of the graveyard as well as the fact the aircrafts are neatly laid out.

“I was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and I was able to go through the boneyard a few times. Really incredible how many aircraft are there,” said one user.

“Please... just give me one small private jet...please,” joked another.

“This is just heaven for some guys like me who love aeroplanes,” another added.

“My boyfriend is a flight attendant would love this,” another wrote.

Featured Image Credit: Mike Fiala/Getty Images / Wikimedia Commons

Topics: News, Travel, US News

Gerrard Kaonga
Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Everything we know as student who went missing in Thailand is found and arrested more than 4,000 miles away
  • Trump makes major move with world's largest aircraft carrier amid WW3 fears
  • Urgent warning issued over viral trend which makes sitting on planes more comfortable
  • Trump disturbingly jokes about sinking Iranian ships rather than capturing them because it's 'more fun'

Choose your content:

an hour ago
  • Kevin Carter/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Average amount Americans with 30-year mortgage will have to spend on repayments as Iran war increases rates

    Mortgage rates have spiked since Trump launched the war on Iran

    News
  • Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Legendary actor Chuck Norris has died aged 86

    The family of Chuck Norris has confirmed that the martial artist and Hollywood legend has passed away at the age of 86

    Celebrity
  • Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Chadwick Boseman's wife reveals how 'sudden' colon cancer symptoms began in 'a matter of weeks'

    The Black Panther actor passed away in August 2020 at the age of 43

    Celebrity
  • Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Body language expert breaks down Japanese PM's reaction after Trump makes 'uncomfortable' Pearl Harbor joke

    Prime Minister Takaichi kept her cool despite President Trump's inflammatory joke about the bombing of Pearl Harbor

    News