Reply #7: Davis Monthan AFB is a warehouse [View All]

The aircraft there are used, in some instances, for replacement parts (i.e. the B-52 line has been shut for almost 40 years) so lots of parts are removed from the bone yard birds and used on the B-52s.

The other big collection of aircraft are F-4 Phantoms, no longer flown except as drones, and the bone yard provides aircraft and parts for that mission.

Some of the other aircraft are still in active duty like the F/A-18, F-14s, and F-15s so parts are used from them as well, although to a lesser extent. The classic planes like the SR-71, B-47s, B-36s, and U-2s are stored in a museum on the premises and are protected from the elements.

The cut-up B-52s, which are in the photo, are the result of the Arms Limitation Treaties wherein the US was required to reduce the fleet of strategic bombers and allow Russian satellites to take pictures to verify their destruction.

For a plane buff, Davis Monthan AFB and the Pima Museum close by are like a big candy store for a chocolate addict.