Davis-Monthan AFB Military Aircraft Boneyard Time Lapse Video

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Winston

Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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[video=youtube;H09sOsBFVUc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H09sOsBFVUc[/video]
 
That makes me feel so sad to see some of the planes I may have worked on sitting there waiting to be scrapped. If I had the resources, I'd love to buy one of the SparkVarks and an Aardvark and set them up as a static (or better yet flying) display somewhere... Say McMinnville, Oregon.
 
That makes me feel so sad to see some of the planes I may have worked on sitting there waiting to be scrapped. If I had the resources, I'd love to buy one of the SparkVarks and an Aardvark and set them up as a static (or better yet flying) display somewhere... Say McMinnville, Oregon.

I hear ya bro! About 1:14 there's some 14"s in the back ground, brought a little tear to the old eyes. When I was a kid back in the early 70's we drove by on a cross country trip and drove around the perimeter. The B-52's really set me back on my heals.They were the older big tail birds and literally went as far as the eye could see!!--H
 
That makes me feel so sad to see some of the planes I may have worked on sitting there waiting to be scrapped. If I had the resources, I'd love to buy one of the SparkVarks and an Aardvark and set them up as a static (or better yet flying) display somewhere... Say McMinnville, Oregon.

Funny... I have had dreams where I 'owned' an F111... I crewed E and D models in the late 70's
 
I was a loader on the EF-111As and F-111Es... Mainly running BRUs and SUUs around Upper Heyford England, or loading practice munitions.
 
I was a crew chief on a C141A. It was sickening to see what they did to a great plane. Your first plane was like a first love...you never forgot her. Although they didn't have any C141's on the time lapse footage I have seen other footage of them cutting the Starlifters to pieces. Made me a little emotional. Thanks for the footage.
 
Yep I was a crew chief in Yellow 1. At the time, it was down nearer to EOR than most. I got there just as the reventments for that were being finished.

My aircraft was Balls one. 68-001 - Lost long after I left.

Spent many many a day/night on the Alert Pad. Great duty. 2 on 3 off, 3 on 2 off.
Upper Heyford itself? Never really got to know the country as I wish I had (hindsight).
 
I was a crew chief on a C141A. It was sickening to see what they did to a great plane. Your first plane was like a first love...you never forgot her. Although they didn't have any C141's on the time lapse footage I have seen other footage of them cutting the Starlifters to pieces. Made me a little emotional. Thanks for the footage.

Well there is good and bad.
I was first working on F106s in the mid 70's. Being born in '59 most were my age. :) But they were quite amazing aircraft. Then got assigned (or stuck depending on your point of view) on F111's. Once on F111's you could go to Upper Heyford or Lakenheath UK. Or Mountain Home ID, Canon NM, Pease NH, or Plattsburg NY. All of which IMO sucked. I was at Canon.

I was a 'below the zone' SSGT. Fantastic reviews. All I asked for was base of preference out of Canon (and out of F111s). I want anything. F15s, 16s, fine by me. The USAF said "We are short of 7 level SSGTs on F111s. No.". So I quit.

Dumbest move I ever made... but those F111 bases at the age of 22, made me sick...

But a DUMB move. I loved the Air Force. I could have retired in the late 90s. oh well.
 
Yep I was a crew chief in Yellow 1. At the time, it was down nearer to EOR than most. I got there just as the reventments for that were being finished.

My aircraft was Balls one. 68-001 - Lost long after I left.

Spent many many a day/night on the Alert Pad. Great duty. 2 on 3 off, 3 on 2 off.
Upper Heyford itself? Never really got to know the country as I wish I had (hindsight).

I was at UH from July 1988 to Aug 90*. I was there when Balls One crashed into The Wash. I remember bumping into its crew chief that afternoon, and boy was he F'd up. I hadn't heard of it by that time. Just after my encounter with him, I was told by someone, who was I suspect tailing him from a distance, that he'd lost his plane and the crew. Very sad day indeed.

I was RIFd along with about 44K troops from Europe. I'd have stayed in if I could have, I had a fiance (a Malaysian born Chinese beauty), and was making plans for setting the date when I was notified. Our relation lasted 9 months after my return, but then her dad tried to bring her back to Malaysia to marry some rich businessman's son, and she wasn't having any of that. She married a Brit 3 times her age for the equivalent of a green card, a relationship that lasted for 3 years or so. Of course this was long before either one of us had a computer of our own, so no email. I tracked her down a few years ago on FB, but the relationship wasn't able to take off again.

*I don't know why I keep thinking it was September... It was August... SoDamn Insane had invaded Iraq 4 days before I left for the US.
 
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If you would like to see, here is a link to a nice mostly side view photo of 68-001 with the gear down, flaps down, all blue sky, taken in May 1989.

https://www.f-111.net/t_no_E_files/68-0001-UH-May-1989.jpg

If any of you would like to make the photo display here, then insert the link between the
tags.

Source: https://www.f-111.net/t_no_E.htm


I give props to the video makers. Pretty creative. Not only time lapse but some motion. Some of the last ones were using some complex 3D motion camera programming. And some good lighting inside of some of the fuselages.
 
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Interesting video.

If you're in Tucson, and have an opportunity to visit, I really recommend it. You can take a narrated bus tour from the Pima Air and Space Museum, which is a fantastic place to go, regardless. https://www.pimaair.org/tour-boneyard. I was worried that it wouldn't be a great tour if we had to stay on a bus (which you do), but it was - well worth doing. Even the non-aviation-fanatic family members thought it was pretty cool.

Mark
 
If you would like to see, here is a link to a nice mostly side view photo of 68-001 with the gear down, flaps down, all blue sky, taken in May 1989.

https://www.f-111.net/t_no_E_files/68-0001-UH-May-1989.jpg

If any of you would like to make the photo display here, then insert the link between the
tags.

Source: https://www.f-111.net/t_no_E.htm


I give props to the video makers. Pretty creative. Not only time lapse but some motion. Some of the last ones were using some complex 3D motion camera programming. And some good lighting inside of some of the fuselages.



ARGH!! A red tail?!!! :)

Like I said, in 1979 she was a yellow tail in Yellow 1 near the southwest end of the taxiways to the main runway. Just beyond us were the EOR checks.

Yellow 2 and 3 were back farther east, east of the flight line entrance.

Blue and Red squadrons were north of the main runway.
 
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