Old warplanes never die, they just wait and wait

Preservation

Before an aircraft is parked here, it goes through a preservation process. Workers remove guns, ejection-seat charges and classified equipment. Maintenance crews then drain the aircraft's fuel system and pump it full of lightweight oil. That is drained, leaving an oil film that protects the system.

Engine intakes, exhausts and any other gaps or cracks are taped over. Workers then spray the covered areas with a vinyl plastic that helps keep out dust and water and keeps the internal temperature of the aircraft within about 15 degrees of the external temperature to help preserve rubber, plastic and electronic components.

About 70 kinds of aircraft are stored here, and their ranks have fluctuated over the years, peaking at 6,000 after the Vietnam War.

"It surges after each war," said Jeffrey K. Wilson, the aircraft division chief, who is retiring this week after 35 years here. "War takes its toll on the weapons systems."

International agreements have also consigned aircraft to the chopping block. In the 1990s, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as Start, called for the elimination of about 365 B-52s. At first, workers used a huge crane and a 6 tonne guillotine to do the trick. But now they use a special circular saw that allows some parts to be salvaged.

Foreign buyers

Not all planes are destined for the scrap heap. About 20 percent are eventually reactivated and sold to foreign countries or recalled to service. The Italian Air Force is taking delivery of F-16s refurbished here. Some O-2s, Vietnam-era propeller planes, have been converted into antipoaching planes in Africa.

Under the shade of a canopied maintenance shelter, some of the nearly 300 aircraft mechanics here were putting refurbished wings on A-10 Warthogs one day last week.

In a distant corner of the Boneyard, the littered wreckage of several assorted planes is the bleakest sight. The FBI uses the carcasses to rehearse airplane hostage rescues, shooting up the aircraft in the process.

No problem, really. When the agents are done, damage repair crews use the battered aircraft to test their skills at patching planes shot up in war zones.