United States | The government in the United States is getting ready to sell off part of one of Tucson, Arizona's more unusual tourist destinations - the aircraft "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in southern Tucson is home to roughly 4,200 C-141 Starlifters, A-4 Skyhawks,HH-3E "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters and many other aircraft, which have been retired from military service. So it is auctioning off for scrap about 2,000 aircraft, weighing about 27 million pounds.
The site receives thousands of visitors a year, many on bus tours operated by the Pima County Air & Space Museum. The Air Force needs to move out the older planes, some more than 50 years old, to make way for more current models that are cannibalized to supply parts to similar planes that are still flying.
The aircraft have been stripped of military equipment and hazardous liquids and turned over to Government Liquidation, a firm running the online auction. Besides the Starlifters and Skyhawks, the auction will also include an unspecified number of Titan missiles. The planes and missiles are loaded with aluminum, steel and magnesium whose prices have soared over the past years.
‘The timing couldn't be better for the government,’ says John McCombs, Vice President of Government Liquidation. But don't count on carting an aircraft for a lawn ornament. Buyers must agree to demilitarize the aircraft by shredding and cutting them into pieces no bigger than 4-inch squares. The company recently sold 650,000 pounds of scrap tires at Fort Stewart in Georgia and started an online auction of uniforms and field gear.
Acknowledgement
www.govliquidation.com (select 'Georgia')
