Where is the airplane graveyard? Journey to America

In 2011, one of the oldest airports Moscow - "Bykovo", built in 1933. Having looked at the airport area from satellite maps, I noticed a group of planes away from runway. Now all that remains is to come there and see everything with your own eyes.

Having collected all the traffic jams that existed on the road to Bykovo, we reached the place just a couple of hours before dark. The weather was also unlucky, it rained constantly. But as I expected, getting to the planes turned out to be elementary.

Older than the Bykovo airport was only the Central Airfield named after. M. V. Frunze, built in 1910 on the Khodynskoye field, which also ceased to exist in this century.

The first plane ended up exactly in the place where the coordinates were shown on the satellite map. True, there were two of them in the picture, but in reality there was only one left:

But a group of three aircraft, which was supposed to be a kilometer away from this side, moved closer and acquired another aircraft. So the number of abandoned aircraft is satellite map and in fact it coincided.

The first, no longer an aircraft, on our way was the IL-76TD:

This aircraft was produced in December 1982 for the USSR Air Force. As a military transport aircraft, this aircraft flew for 10 years.

After the collapse of the USSR, the plane remained in Ukraine, where in 1993 it was sent for storage. After standing for two years, the aircraft began to be used again, first for one year in Ukraine, and then after conversion to the Il-76TD, it began to be used in Russia.

In Russia, this aircraft was operated by Aviast airline, which after seven years of flights left it for storage at Bykovo airport. The plane has not flown since then, but was able to survive its airline, which was closed in 2008.

It's time to climb inside the plane. The door was not locked, and we, like decent people, went through it:

The interior is a mess, but that doesn't stop one from appreciating the considerable size of the cargo compartment. Its length including the ramp is 24.5 meters:

Maximum payload of this aircraft was 50 tons and he could transport this cargo 3,650 km. Well, let's take another look at the cargo part and move into the cabin.

There is little left of the cabin anymore. All equipment and even the floor were dismantled. Only the navigator's seat is in its place:

This aircraft is flown by a crew of 7 people, so there used to be quite a lot of equipment here. In the technical compartment next to the cabin there is an emergency operating hatch that leads outside. Having climbed through the hatch, you can run around the plane from above:

As it turned out later, a few days after our visit, this IL-76TD was broken up and taken away.

Let's move on to a group of four aircraft. All of them were manufactured by the Yakovlev Design Bureau. The Yak-42D is a short-haul passenger aircraft that first saw the sky 26 years ago. This aircraft replaced the Yak-42 and corrected a number of its obvious inconveniences. By the way, this aircraft was produced in the same year when the Yak-42D made its first flight.

Just 5 years ago, this plane flew regularly, and then the Elbrus-Avia airline sent it for storage in 2008. A year later, the airline went under due to debt and the plane was seized. According to the Internet, this Yak-42D is put up for sale. So if someone wants to buy this plane for themselves, then let them prepare 33,759,000 rubles.

Of the 120 economy class seats, only three remain.

Rear entrance ramp:

Cabin. Two people were enough to control the Yak-42D:

True, this plane is unlikely to fly; most likely it will suffer the same fate as its neighbor, the IL-76TD.

Another Yak-42D from Elbrus-Avia. The engines have already been removed from it, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes under the knife too:

This aircraft was released two years later than the previous one, in 1989.

Unfortunately, the cabin is also already pretty damaged:

Let's look at the plane one more time from the outside and go to the next one.

Another Yak-42D. There are no engines on it either. This plane managed to fly a little longer than its neighbors. He arrived in Bykovo in 2009 for maintenance, where he was arrested and sent here.

The rear entrance ladder was lowered, which made it easier to get inside:

This plane was sorely missing a floor:

Let's move on to the next aircraft, in my opinion it is the most interesting - the Yak-40K short-haul passenger aircraft:

Of all the planes we were on this evening, this is the best preserved cockpit:

It's funny that all these planes outlived their airlines, which closed at the end of the 2000s.

video on ruTube

"Central Aerodrome named after. Frunze"

We found this cemetery quite by accident, the day before yesterday. We wandered around the satellite map in search of the Museum of Money and came across a strange emptiness in the Airport metro area. On the map there were strangely shaped houses and a field with airplanes. As it turned out, it was an abandoned airfield on Khodynskoye Field - “Frunze Central Airfield”.

The next day we made a raid on this airfield. What we saw there shocked us. Once mighty beautiful cars left to rot in the rain, blisters broken, insides torn out... But these are the planes and helicopters that once protected us...

And behind the dead planes the sunset was burning.

People! Whoever has access to our gentlemen from the state apparatus - do what you can! At least you can. Journalists, write about this. Maybe something will help...

For the media: if you need photographs in high resolution, please contact us.

Farewell to Khodynka

In addition to a lot of attractions, such as Death Valley, many national parks and nature reserves, the dry Mojave Desert in the United States is also known for its aircraft graveyard. It is located near Mojave Airport, 100 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles. Huge planes are visible already from Highway 395. For travelers by car, the landmark will be the city of Victorville, then the small old town of Mojave and the junction of state highways 58 and 14 in Southern California.

Why is this cemetery in the Mojave Desert? The answer to the question is quite logical - a deserted desert area is an ideal outdoor storage facility. Here, record low rainfall and high temperatures most of the year help protect aircraft and their remains from rust. In the aircraft graveyard, huge, once-flying aircraft have been dismantled for parts. Even though the gliders are fenced with barbed wire and regularly patrolled, it is still possible to walk up to the fence and see these giants.

In the vast area you can see various models of commercial aircraft, because Mojave Airport began storing gliders at the spaceport in 1970. During times economic crises and the fall in demand for air travel, old aircraft unfit for further use were brought here. Also, in addition to passenger aircraft, the remains of military aircraft were also brought to Mojave. This place is the world's largest equipment cemetery.

Here you can find various models of Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. The planes stored and buried in the Mojave Desert in the United States belong to more than a hundred airlines, and many of them have long since ceased to exist.

The largest number of aircraft (more than a thousand) was achieved in 2002, as most(about 360 units) of airliners were parked after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which hit the United States. Airlines then could not afford to keep so many flights in the air, the hangars at American airports were full, and it was necessary to allocate an area for parking aircraft. In many ways, the Mojave Desert fit the bill.

Some aircraft that were quite suitable for further operation were then parked. They were forced into suspended animation. To prevent the sand and desert wind from completely destroying the mechanisms, their windows and engines were covered with plastic. Maybe someday such planes will still fly, especially since many of them are up for sale.

But on the far side of the runway at Mojave Airport in the United States, there is a burial ground - this is the place where old planes go to their deaths. Most jetliners have already reached the end of their service life and can no longer be used. On average, the lifespan of commercial aircraft is about 25 years, although their “life” is now measured not in years, but in the number of flights. After thousands of takeoffs and landings, planes can no longer withstand the pressure of high flight without replacing major parts. These worn-out aircraft, parked in deserted lots, are now being dismantled, and their parts are used to repair aircraft of these models. When both spare parts and aircraft are no longer suitable for reuse, they are dismantled and sent for processing - crushed and melted into raw aluminum ingots.

At any given time, once in the aircraft cemetery, you can see a dozen aircraft in various states of disassembly. Some airframes are almost disassembled, and particularly expensive spare parts are removed, others are simply smashed. Scattered around are pieces of the fuselage, tails and wings of aircraft, wheels, passenger seats... A real burial ground for monuments of outdated technologies!

Mojave Airport in the United States is relatively close to Hollywood, so several aircraft are always on standby for use in film production. Dozens of famous films and footage were shot in the Mojave Desert! Including "Speed" with Keanu Reeves, "Die Hard 2" with Bruce Willis and "Independence Day" starring Will Smith. If there is a scene in a film with an airplane exploding, then there is a huge chance that this footage was filmed in the Mojave.

It is almost impossible to get there and look at the aircraft cemetery yourself. This is not an amusement park at all! The facility is classified and visits are extremely limited. In addition to barbed wire, security patrols and the possibility of arrest with a fine of about 20 thousand dollars, you can be bitten (and maybe even eaten) by guard dogs! But daredevils (especially the ubiquitous photographers) are also in the United States. Under the cover of darkness, they set off in search of adventure in an airplane graveyard. Although during the day, smiling through the fence at the guards and asking politely, you can come in for a few minutes and take a wonderful, unique shot for yourself.

Stores a large number of very interesting things on its territory. For example, 5,000 abandoned airplanes, which are parked neatly and in a row between cacti and among the sand.

This place is the largest cemetery in the world. Shall we go for a walk?

Although the planes were abandoned a long time ago and do not fly, they are located on the territory of the American Air Force base called Davis-Monthan, which is located in the Arizona town of Tucson. It is very difficult to get inside - all the planes are surrounded by a fence.

In this place, only military aircraft live out their term and rot. Since the end of the Second World War, decommissioned, but not destroyed, aircraft have been concentrated in this area, in the desert, at an Air Force base. That's why such a large number has accumulated.

The base itself was founded in 1925, and the name of this base is in honor of military pilots who served in the First World War - Oscar Monten and Samuel Davis.

The base was expanded by 1940, at a time when another war was raging in Europe. World War. In this place they began to train crews intended for bombers. When the war ended, in 1945, the training base was closed, and it was used as a cemetery for combat aircraft that were no longer needed today. The local dry climatic weather, as well as hard soil, make it possible to preserve well aircraft for a long time.

And very soon the training center had to be formed again. The Cold War ensued, and the military had to declare a stable military readiness that lasted for almost forty years.

In this place, combat units for strategic aviation were formed, as well as special groups of technicians ready to put old aircraft into action.

End of the Cold War

In the fifties, two Boeing B-29Superfortress aviation groups were based in this place, and in the sixty-third - LookheedU-2 spy planes. In addition, not far from this area there are 18 missile silos.

When the Cold War was over, stable combat readiness for such a number of aircraft again became unnecessary. The planes rusted and grew old.

Some wanted to repaint it, re-equip it again and use it specifically for the needs of civilian aviation, but something didn’t work out.

With the advent of the Internet, people began to learn about the base beyond the borders of Arizona, as well as America. Besides. Russian aviation enthusiasts were also able to get to the Google images, and they declassified most of the interesting aircraft models that no one had even heard of at one time.

Even though all this is a huge number of planes that are standing in the desert and creating a cemetery, they cannot be called completely abandoned. The Americans managed to create a good business out of this.

The Davis-Monthan base is home to the 309th DoD Group, which employs approximately 500,000 people to repair aircraft.

Every year approximately 400 new technical units appear at the base. To prevent the cemetery from expanding to fill half the state, approximately the same number of aircraft are sold to friendly but poor states or destroyed.

According to the Strategic Arms Reduction Agreement (START), which was signed between America and Russia, 365 Boeing B-2Stratofortress bombers were destroyed at this location.

All aircraft that arrive for preservation at the Davis-Monthan base are subject to a scrupulous inspection, weapons are dismantled from there, as well as all sensitive equipment, and the fuel systems are drained and pumped with oil.

Sales of aircraft

The entire fleet of equipment is divided into 4 groups: short-term and long-term conservation (combat-capable equipment is acceptable), equipment intended for sale and donor aircraft. Sometimes a non-flying one is included in the category for sale. Combat vehicles. For example, last year, combat Hummers, which were not used but had been decommissioned according to their age, were brought to this place.

The management of the base decided to sell them on the Internet, but they bought only a few units - this car is completely unsuitable for civilian life and therefore they die in captivity: the fuel consumption is very high, the interior is uncomfortable, the gearbox is manual.

In addition, this site is today considered a tourist site.

The aircraft cemetery, according to official data, is called the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. Currently, there are more than 40 spacecraft and 4,200 aircraft located here.

For 80% of aircraft, this territory is theirs. last refuge, a giant steel cemetery containing more than 350,000 units that could be claimed by the state at any time.

In 2005, Group 309 specialists were able to recycle more than 19,000 parts with a total value of $568 million. The American government provides the opportunity for other countries to buy both spare parts and entire aircraft directly from the aircraft cemetery.

It should be noted that aircraft are also repaired in this place, and after that the part can be returned to service. That's why every American taxpayer dollar invested in AMARG will return $11 to America's government treasury! According to experts, over the past 25 years, every 5th aircraft located on the territory of this cemetery was returned to service.

This cemetery is not considered to be the owner of these aircraft. All of them, as before, belong to the property of the American army, as well as government agencies. In addition, it is interesting to note that in this cemetery there are both working aircraft and non-working aircraft.

Nothing on earth lasts forever. And, of course, this applies to aviation technology. “Airplane cemeteries” are the name given to places where obsolete aviation equipment is located. In Russia, such “cemeteries” are located mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region.

The most popular are Khodynskoye Field, Domodedovo Airport and the Museum of the Air Force Russian Federation in the village of Monino, Moscow region, as well as the largest museum in Ulyanovsk, in the Middle Volga region. Photos of these attractions filled the Internet. And despite the fact that these photos cause a slight sadness, they also make you want to look at these planes with your own eyes and visit a little bit of the past.

Khodynskoe field

The first such “aircraft cemetery” in Russia was Khodynskoe Field. It is located in the north-west of Moscow, near the Airport metro station. At the beginning of the last century, an airfield was built there, which later received the name Central Airfield. Frunze. It was Khodynskoye Field that witnessed the first international flights in Russia. The airfield on Khodynskoye Field existed from 1910 to 2003. After the closure, it was decided to open an aviation museum there, but these plans were not destined to come true.

To date, some of the exhibits have been cut into scrap metal, and those that are better preserved are now displayed in the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology. After the closure of the airfield, the Khodynskoye field began to quickly be built up, and the fact that there was once an airfield on Khodynskoye is reminiscent of that same “aircraft cemetery” where forgotten planes and helicopters rot. In 2008, not far from the field, the reconstruction of the Aviators Park was completed, in which monuments were erected to the pilots who died on the Khodynskoye field in various historical battles.

Memory Corner in Domodedovo

Domodedovo Airport, located in the Moscow region, also boasts disused equipment. Departing planes sat right on the field, opposite the Domodedovo terminal, awaiting their fate. Passengers can clearly see them during takeoffs. They are also clearly visible from the Domodedovo terminal itself.

Photo: khmelikvictor.livejournal.com

Mostly Domodedovo Airlines planes are parked there, but there are also aircrafts imported production. Many of them have already donated parts to their newer brothers. No one knows about their future fate yet; maybe they will go to waste, or maybe they will remain a delight to the eyes of guests of Moscow and the Moscow region. In the meantime, everyone can come to Domodedovo at any time and take a photo against the backdrop of the “air giants”, taking a camera with them, or maybe even sit at the controls of a real plane.

Aviation Museum in the village of Monino

Not far from the capital, in the village of Monino, Moscow Region, is located the Museum of the Air Force of the Russian Federation, which several years ago received the status of a federal state cultural institution. It would be hard to call this place a cemetery.

Once upon a time there was one of the first airfields in the country, but when technology stepped far forward, the conditions at the airfield no longer met the standards. And gradually the airfield in the Moscow region began to turn into an aviation museum.

The museum houses a huge collection of domestic aircraft. There are also photographic materials and documents confirming the authenticity of the collection. It is probably difficult to find a place in Russia where such a number of different aircraft could be assembled. By studying the exhibits on display, you can trace the history of the development of domestic aircraft. Models of military and civil aircraft, helicopters, and gliders from the last hundred years are collected here. The museum has existed since 1958 and has hosted more than 3 million people from almost all over the world.

The largest “plane graveyard” in Russia

About 9,000 exhibits are located under open air in the city of Ulyanovsk. Most of these aircraft flew under their own power to Ulyanovsk to remain here forever, and one very heroic exhibit, TB-1, was brought in parts and assembled on the spot. These military and civil aircraft– all that remains from a bygone era. It is believed that the planes that ended up in this museum were very lucky.

Photo: alexio-marziano.livejournal.com

The museum is still young; it opened in 1983. The best time of year to visit is summer or late spring. During this period, the most colorful and lively photos are obtained. Museum employees, as well as aviation school cadets civil aviation, which owns the museum, are trying their best to maintain the beauty and mystery of their exhibits.