Have you ever wondered what ever happens to airplanes that no longer are able to take to the skies? Does it boggle your mind on how these huge chunks of metal weighing tens of thousands of pounds just magically disappear? These questions can be answered with only a single word: “desert.” While traveling out west in the United States you may notice some of these grave sites for airplanes; locations where they are left to sit until they either deteriorate or more parts off of them are needed elsewhere. Usually before airplanes are permanently parked on these barren wastelands, they are stripped of their engines, electrical equipment, landing gear, and seats. The wings and tail section are usually left intact, but otherwise the birds are not used for anything else other than a monument for those passing by to look at in awe of the aircraft of the ages.
2 comments:
Interesting, I think that it would probably take a while for those planes to deteriorate just because of their storage location. The southwestern U.S. obviously gets very little rain and considering jets are built to fly through thunderstorm, they'll most likely be there for a while.
I think after they have been around long enough and are no longer useful for parts they actually destroy them. I know they chop up a lot of the really old planes. Also one of the reasons they are stored in the desert is that the weather will not cause the planes to be destroyed by the weather.
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