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What happens to planes after they’ve touched down for the last time? Circumstances may vary, but many commercial and military aircraft meet a shared fate in a desert purgatory known as a boneyard, where they’ll basically do one of two things: sit for years, baking under the sun, slowly decomposing as their parts are used for replacements on active aircraft — or wait for another carrier to pick them up and breathe some new life into them.
At their core, boneyards are not graveyards so much as long-term storage facilities. Sitting wingtip to wingtip, planes can remain on permanent pause for months, years and even decades. The arid, dry heat of the desert provides the perfect climate to maintain old airframes since humidity would corrode and rust the metal and plastic materials found in many of these former flying machines.
Airline operators, film crews and tourists often frequent these “boneyards” for parts, repurposing and refurbishment or freight. Consequently, many frames kept at these facilities have missing fragments whether they’re vertical stabilizers, doors, flaps, engines or landing gear, since they’ll be used on active aircraft needing those parts. Note that in-service airplanes also fly into these boneyard airports, which are utilized for their maintenance and refurbishment facilities, and for that reason, nearly all of them remain off limits to the general public. While some airframes have decades of operation behind them, others have fallen victim to defunct airlines and expired contracts — some have even come directly from the manufacturer, still awaiting a buyer.
These boneyards are an AvGeek’s paradise. Where else can you take a trip back in time on such an enormous scale and feast your eyes on dozens of United 727s and KLM MD11s, Lockheed Tristars and DC10s; 747s and B-52s? The most committed visitors photograph the aircraft and registration numbers so they can go home and research each plane’s life story.
And the best part? Most of these sites are located in the deserts of California, Arizona and New Mexico, as you can see in the Google Map above — we’ve also included several outside the US that are worth stopping by if you happen to be anywhere near Bangkok or remote parts of Spain, the Australian Outback or Kyrgyzstan. If you’re planning to visit any of these in person, be sure to obey all warning signs and avoid any restricted areas during your boneyard adventures. Consider this your go-to guide for visiting aircraft boneyards around the world.
In This Post
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DMA)
Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV)
Kingman Airport (IGM)
Southern California Logistics Airport / Victorville (VCV)
- Where: Victorville, California
- What’s there: Alongside its sizable boneyard, Victorville houses active, state-of-the-art painting, maintenance and cargo facilities — it’s called a “logistics airport” after all — and its longest runway is more than 15,000 feet long, capable of handling fully loaded 747s. Pictures reveal VCV has quite the 747 collection, from legendary operators of the type like British Airways and Cathay Pacific. Modern 787s and 777s also frequent the airport for restoration and/or painting.
- Open to the public? No. Unfortunately, access is restricted and spotting the aircraft from the surrounding area is notoriously difficult. We’ve heard reports of spotters using vehicles that can handle dirt and sand tracks on the northeast end of the airport. Ambitious visitors recommend, if possible, that you hike up near the surrounding houses with some binoculars or take a ride in a small prop plane for the best views. Others warn of squatters and even gangs in these abandoned buildings around the airport, so proceed with extreme caution if you choose to set up shop close to these houses.
- How to get there: Drive just over 100 miles to the northeast of LAX. Allow at least two hours for the trip, with traffic.
Pinal Airpark (MZJ)
- Where: Marana, Arizona
- What’s there: Built for the military in the 1940s and former home of secretive CIA operations, Pinal Airpark is one of the largest commercial aircraft storage and heavy maintenance facilities in the world. Like VCV, Pinal maintains an awesome assortment of heavy jets, but also houses aircraft big and small from airlines all over the world: Varig, Hellenic, Surinam Airways, Mexicana, Evergreen and Delta, among others. The boneyard and its associated full-service facilities serve as the airport’s primary function.
- Open to the Public? Miraculously, yes. Just in the last few years, the airport has opened to the public under Economic Development Director Jim Petty. Those interested in a tour of the grounds are encouraged to call 520-866-6545 with any inquiries.
- How to get there: Pinal sits just 35 miles northwest of Tucson and about 90 miles southeast of Phoenix. From either city, you can take Interstate 10 to exit 232. From there, drive the last four miles to MHZ.
Roswell International Air Center (ROW)
Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR)
Alice Springs Airport (ASP)
Teruel Airport (TEV)
Manas International Airport (FRU)
Bangkok’s Airplane Graveyard
For more information, including the history of many of the airports listed here, check out this great Airplane Boneyards website. Already seen that one? Try this one, too.
Source: thepointsguy.com