Davis Monathan AFB Day Visit

Probably 25 years ago when I was TDY to Fort Huachuca, a buddy and I drove up to D-M and got to spend a couple of very fun hours on Saturday afternoon driving around the boneyards (no one seemed to care, we passed a couple of SPs who we waved to).  Lots of old planes probably dating back to the 50s if I remember right, lots of shrink-wrapped aircraft.  Even saw what we thought were some treaty B-52s.  Wings broken off in one space, fuselages in another (presumably very visible to satellite tracking).  I wished I'd had a camera and would love to go back again and see if I could do the same drive around.  It was so cool.

Not sure if I'll ever make it back that way, but would love to visit again.

Doug

Doug

GMorrison

 

 

Dodgy

Thanks for sharing the photos. You folks in the States, {and the U.K.}, have no idea how lucky you are with all of these really fantastic museums and such. Maybe one day I'll get to the States, but I think the Missus will have other plans than museums and model shows.......

 

 

 

 

Yes, we don't bury ours.

 

Loving the book, Dodgy.

 

bill

 

Good to hear mate.

RC, yeah, the good old C-130. In front line active duty service for almost 65 years now and no replacement in sight. Along with the C-141, I am well acquainted with them. They have a special place in my heart from all of the one way trips that they provided. Sounds like your dad has some great memories of them as well. 

Mike, my first time passing thru Tucson was on a day long ago when the A-10s were very active. I didn't see any flying the other day, but the flight line had all sorts of other neat stuff there, and a few C-130s were up in the air. I need to hit the boneyard and Pima museum one of these days. Preferably on a spring or fall day when the temps aren't just below 100. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive each way from our home to the base.

Dodgy, most military bases have a museum of some sort on them, some better than others. But since 9/11, access by non military folks is either during an "open house" to designated areas, or with a sponsor escort. So many of these museums cannot be visited by the general public.

Lee, I am guessing that the canopies were painted over for long term display in the open in the desert climate. The usual plexiglass of a canopy will deteriorate if not maintained regularly like on operational aircraft. The U-2 canopy on the opposite side was in rough shape.

Don, I'll be looking forward to that Bird Dog build of yours. 

Dodgy

Thanks for sharing the photos. You folks in the States, {and the U.K.}, have no idea how lucky you are with all of these really fantastic museums and such. Maybe one day I'll get to the States, but I think the Missus will have other plans than museums and model shows.......

 

Loving the book, Dodgy.

bill

Loved the O-1/L 19 shot.  I am in process of a 1:32 build.  Broke one LG strut- will have to make brass one.

Very cool, just curious, why the frosted look on the canopies?

Thanks for sharing the photos. You folks in the States, {and the U.K.}, have no idea how lucky you are with all of these really fantastic museums and such. Maybe one day I'll get to the States, but I think the Missus will have other plans than museums and model shows.......

Brings back some great memories - we lived in Tucson for a couple years. Loved to see the Warthogs coming and going! If you haven't already, give the Pima Air Museum a day, or better yet two. It's an incredible collection of aircraft.

Glad you had a fun day, and thanks for sharing the photos!

Good old C-130.

My Dad was RCAF flight engineer on the Herc for 20 years in the C-130.

Then spent the rest of his career as a  flight engineer in a C-130 L100 stretch Hercules for a private airline flying cargo in the Canadian north and all over the world.

Thanks guys, I was hoping that you'd like the photos.

Bill, I agree about Tucson. I think that the surrounding mountains are more scenic than Phoenix itself. I liked the vibe there. Not so busy or too big of a city.

WP, yes he does build models, but more anime or gaming related. We built a few together when he was a boy in school, but he later got into Gundams and some anime related aircraft kits. Those kits are all of real aircraft, but with fictional anime markings from some series.

Like the others I agree this was a nice way to spend the day Stik.  Very cool indeed.  Love the weathered planes.  Just curious does your son build models?

Cool. I wish I was there. Maybe one day...

Awesome.  On the bucket list

Nice! Tucson is a nice place, I always enjoyed going there.

Bill

What an awesome day!