Day 74 - (09/30) Tucson, AZ ... day 2

We woke to a beautiful, quiet day at the RV park and set out for a tour of the "Aircraft Boneyard" and Saguaro National Forest.

Morning at Rincon Country West RV Resort
(The park will be packed in a few weeks)

The "Aircraft Boneyard" is located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  It's proper (and preferred) name is Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG). Surplus and retired aircraft from all branches of the military are stored here due to the ideal climate (warm and dry). Aircraft sent to AMARG are processed for long-term storage in the Arizona desert. Sensitive instruments and high-value items are removed for safekeeping, and the airframes are drained and purged of fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid. Windows, doors, and hatches are sealed with protective material, but vents and aircraft undersides are left open to avoid condensation. Most aircraft transferred to this facility are "cannibalized" (stripped for spare parts) and eventually scrapped, but some of the transport aircraft such as the older C-130s are made available to other federal agencies for nonmilitary purposes such as firefighting.

We took a 1 1/2 hour bus tour of AMARG.  The tour started and ended at the nearby Pima Air and Space Museum.  The storage area is HUGE.  It's filled with more than 4,000 obsolete aircraft.  Approximately 20% of the aircraft are returned to service. 


Notice that the aircraft aren't just parked here, they're placed in formation with precision.  You can sight along tails and noses for 100s of yards and they are perfectly aligned.

C-130's

YC-15
(experimental, never went into production)

B-52s

B-1s

T-37s (Tweet)

T-2s (Buckeye)
(built in Columbus by North American Aviation)
Dick worked on these in the late 60s

T-38s with B-1 in the background

F-15s (Eagle)
(being upgraded for return to service)

B-1s being disassembled
(each will save the military $1 million in parts)

The Saguaro cactus is only found in southwest Arizona near Tucson.  We drove to Saguaro National Park West.  The route took us by Old Tucson Studios and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  We stopped at the museum, paid the fee and started viewing the outside exhibits.  It was 106 degrees ... we quickly retreated to the car and cool air conditioning.

We searched for a site for a Saguaro/Airstream picture
(no luck ... this is the best we could find)

Saguaros lined the road leading to the national park

Carol tries to find a little shade at the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Entrance to Saguaro National Park West

 We took the 6 mile Bajada Loop Drive.  The views were outstanding.  The road was narrow and rough.  The drive was slow going; it took nearly an hour.  Thankfully we weren't towing the trailer. 

Many types of cacti live here

The scenic road was pretty rough

The road was narrow and one-way in some parts

We went home to rest and cool down.  At around 6pm we went to Tiny's Saloon for dinner.  The place was an old-west bar (e.g. "dive"), but the hamburgers were great.

Carol tried out the campground pool when we got back from dinner.  She was the only person around.  She loved the private swim.

Map Tracks

None for today.