A fascinating article found by member El Maria! Aircraft “boneyards”!
Commercial airliners and military aircraft have limited lifespans. Some are temporarily removed from flying status, and must be stored in a environment that is conducive to preservation. Others are kept as spare parts for flying aircraft.
Eventually, as airframes wear out and economics change, all aircraft are removed permanently from service and must be scrapped at an “airplane boneyard”.
Military Aircraft Boneyards in the U.S.
The United States manufactured about 294,000 aircraft for the World War II effort. Once peace was assured, the U.S. military had a huge surplus of aircraft. By the summer of 1945, sales-storage depots, or “aircraft boneyards”, were in operation to deal with nearly 120,000 surplus aircraft.
After WWII, military aircraft had three possible fates: 1) sale to a private entity, 2) scrapping, or 3) long-term storage.
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