Having visited in mid August to purposely catch the Monsoon season, there were spectacular cumulonimbus clouds in the background. You get great views sitting on either side of the bus, but I’d probably recommend the right (passenger) side by a narrow margin as of Aug 2016. This will be run & gun photography with lots of panning. During the second half of the tour the bus drives quickly up and down the rows without stopping. Here volunteer retirees, once themselves pilots, talk about each plane. During this period you’ll have enough time to concentrate on each shot. During the first half of the tour, the bus stops briefly in front of each aircraft. I still had to do a lot of processing in a few of my photos to remove white reflections. To avoid reflections in the glass, hold your camera almost right against the window. You’ll be shooting through closed, tinted windows. I visited on a weekday and the bus was plenty full, so I’d probably avoid weekend crowds. Make sure to get in line early to board the bus first to secure a window seat. ![]() Since you’ll be photographing, you want to avoid getting stuck in an aisle seat. The large, air-conditioned coach departs from the PIMA Aviation Museum and drives along the permitted roads within the boneyard. You’re not free to wander among the rows of aircraft it can only be accessed by guided coach bus tour. The Boneyard is an active Air Force base. Rows of C-5 Galaxy’s at the Boneyard What you need to know about photographing the Boneyard The airspace was growling with A-10 Thunderbolts, C-130 Hercules, UH-60 Blackhawks, and I even saw a pair of massive CH-53 Super Stallions, our biggest chopper. Davis-Monthan is a busy Air Force base with combat aircraft and a flight training school. The background is filled with towering Sky Islands mountain ranges that abruptly pierce the desert floor. Tucson was chosen as the site of the boneyard obviously for its non-corrosive dry climate, and also because the soil is hard like concrete even after monsoon rains, which spared the cost of a vast tarmac.Īside from the spectacle of the boneyard itself, the area is very exciting for photographers. Aerial view of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and AMARG airplane boneyard in Tucson, Arizona with rows of C-141 Starlifters, B-1B Lancers and F-111 Aardvarks in storage All aircraft going into storage are processed as follows: All guns, ejection seat charges, and classified hardware are removed, along with clocks and data plates. The facility is run by the Air Force’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), which is comprised mostly of civilian government employees rather than Airmen. Ultimately, all will be shredded at a certain point to make room for more aircraft. Some are preserved in case an event calls them back to duty, while others are scavenged for parts. ![]() The Boneyard is an expansive storage yard of a constantly changing stock of between 3,500 and 5,000 decommissioned military aircraft. While on an August 2016 trip to the Sonora desert around Tucson to photograph reptiles, I visited the famous aircraft Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, which I’ve been looking forward to touring for years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |