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Aviation Junkyards

25 images Created 18 Jun 2012

In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran and Arizonan deserts sit the remains of Boeing 747 airliners and military aviation Here, the fate of the world's retired airliners and fighters are decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. Also, at a NASA Space Junk Auction, Apollo astronaut walkway structure, electronic equipment and assorted rocket parts and gantries from the Apollo era, were sorted together after the death of NASA engineer Charles Bell, whose collection of cumbersome rockets, gantries, fuel tanks and browsers lay overgrown in what had become a snake-infested wilderness. They now sit rusting awaiting scrap dealers.

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  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of Boeing 747 airliners at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world?s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis40-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In the heat and dust of the arid Sonoran desert are the remains of a Boeing 747 cockpit at the storage facility at Mojave, California. The wiring of the now-extinct flight engineer's console is a jumble of old technology. Either by age or cooling economy airliners are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903..
    aviation_corbis43-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Arizona desert, a complete set of main landing gear undercarriage stands upright amid a field of similar items from airliners at the storage facility at Davis Monthan, Tucson. Here, the fate of the world's retired civil airliners is decided by age or cooling economy. Cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium is worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis42-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of a Boeing 747 airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world's retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_graveyard02-16-03-2008-15-0...jpg
  • Airliner and jet engines in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard07-16-03-2008.jpg
  • Economy class seats in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard06-16-03-2008.jpg
  • Airliner parts in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard08-06-04-2008.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of a Boeing airliner sat the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world's retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_graveyard04-16-03-2008-15-0...jpg
  • Stored old airliners sit in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard03-16-03-2008.jpg
  • Fading, graduated light of the arid Sonoran desert shows the remains of airliners at the storage facility at Mojave, California, their silhouettes forming a line of aviation's by-gone era. Because of age or a cooling economy they are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903...
    aviation_corbis41-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sits the gutted remains of a Lockheed Tri-Star airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world?s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through the sleek curves. Elsewhere, Jumbo jets, Airbuses and assorted Boeings sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis39-15-08-1998.jpg
  • The wrecked remains of a Curtiss C-46 Commando WW2-era transport aircraft awaiting salvage or recycling in the desert airfield of Davis Monthan in Tucson, Arizona. The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C. Known to the men who flew them as "The Whale," the "Curtiss Calamity," the "plumber's nightmare" and the "flying coffin," At the time of its production, the C-46 was the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world, and the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II.
    davis_monthan_boneyard01-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Oxygen mask survival equipment in airliner cabin at Mojave airport desert facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard09-09-04-2008.jpg
  • US Air airliner cabin floor and magazine in arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard05-16-03-2008.jpg
  • Seen from the air at dawn, the last remaining B-52 bombers from the Cold War-era are laid out in grids across the arid desert near Tucson Arizona. These retired aircraft whose air frames are too old for flight are being recycled, their aluminium worth more than their sum total. In the nuclear arms treaties of the 80s, Soviet satellites proved their decommissioning by spying the tails had been sliced apart huge guillotines and set at right-angles. This is a scene of confrontation, with opposing forces apparently facing each other in the way that Soviet and western armies fought the war of propaganda. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903..
    aviation_corbis38-10-08-1998.jpg
  • Two US Navy helicopters have been parked next to some cacti at the Pima Air and Space Museum near Davis Monthan Air Force base, Tucson, Arizona. In the arid desert heat we see only the rear sections of the aircraft, their rotors have been moved into a storage position and so echo the arm-like form and camouflaged tones of the cactus branches. The ground is sandy from the desert floor and soft, overhead light casts a shadow beneath the aircraft's fuselage. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis37-10-08-1998.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Chemical suits. NASA chemical suits hang on their rack at the space junk auction. Hanging Scape Suits before the auction. Confusingly, these are not space suits as worn by astronauts but chemical protection suits for those working with chemicals and liquid oxygen on the giant gantries that stood alongside the rockets. They were sold for $60 each and now appear on e-bay.com.
    Nasa08 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Atlas rocket.A 90ft US Air Force Atlas rocket lies on its transporter, its wafer-thin skin still intact after years of storage. Rocket scientist Charles Bell, paid $10 for it though it is estimated that it cost $10m to build. It had been standing at Patrick Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral until a storm blew a tree into it. It is estimated these rockets cost around $10m to build at the time though they were bought at auction for $10,000.
    Nasa05 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.The collapsed wafer-thin skin of a 90ft long Atlas rocket which space scientist Charles Bell bought from NASA for £10. It probably cost approximately £10m to build..The side of a 90ft long Atlas rocket that Charles Bell bought for $10 from NASA. It had been standing at Patrick Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral until a storm blew a tree into it. It is estimated these rockets cost around $10m to build at the time though they were bought at auction for $10,000.
    Nasa06 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Shuttle model moulds lie in the dirt. They were probably used for displays at NASA PR events.
    Nasa12 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Apollo astronaut walkway structure..Charles Bell's collection of cumbersome rockets, gantries, fuel tanks and browsers lay overgrown in what had become a snake-infested wilderness. One of the Apollo gantries or walkways that the astronauts would have ambled along with their oxygen packs towards the waiting capsule. They now sit rusting awaiting scrap dealers.
    Nasa09 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Nasa Jumble Sale.An unidentified rocket and its engine assembly lies in the wasteland of Charles Bell's yard. An eccentric rocket scientist, he was part of the NASA space programme since the 1950's collected treasures and redundent equipment from the earliest days of space travel.
    Nasa07 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Gantries and tracking equipment in the wasteland..Rocket gantries and tracking equipment left to rust in the back yard of NASA scientist Charles Bell. Assorted rocket paraphenalia. At the very back of the auction site, a whole jungle of Apollo and Shuttle junk was buried in the undergrowth having been forgotten there for decades. Here we see gantries and tracking (communications) structures.
    Nasa04 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Oscilloscopes bought for scrap.One of Charles Bell's items for auction, Oscilloscopes and other electronics were bought for scrap. Assorted oscilloscopes and electronic gadgetry that Charles Bell amassed over the years. Items like these were partly responsible for many innovative technology that NASA wanted developing for the space programme including fibre optics that Charles Bell invented. Rather than preserving it for technology museums where it truly belonged, it has been bought as scrap, never to be seen again and other electronics were bought for scrap.
    Nasa11 RBA.jpg
  • NASA Space Junk Auction.Rusted generator frontage..When David Manor, Auctioneer and friend of Charles Bell, came to catologue the 'collection', he found that much of the material was of little interest: it was either too big to move or had rotted away unprotected in the open air.
    Nasa03 RBA.jpg
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