Desert Airforce - Davis Monthan A.F.B. Arizona

One of the more interesting sights to behold in the Sonora Desert just outside Tucson is visible from the port windows of airliners on approach to Tucson International Airport. Rows and rows of aircraft tails can be identified in the distance as the Desert Boneyard, or more accurately, the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Centre, comes into view. The centre is vast and has existed for more than 40 years. Its origins in fact can be traced back to the final days of WW2 as bombers and fighters returning to the USA after years of war overwhelmed airfields across the country. They were fast becoming obsolete, and there were too many for peacetime needs. Within months 65,000 aircraft were disposed of. Initially, many were scrapped, but as the iron curtain descended across Europe, it was decided to store vast numbers in the Arizona desert...