#Scrap boeing 747 cockpit upgrade

There are an estimated 300,000 aircraft in service today in the United States. The carcasses are picked apart for usable parts, and when there’s nothing of value left, the remains are melted for scrap metal. California’s Mojave Air and Space Port keeps fleets of old Boeing, Airbus, and Lockheed aircrafts. The decommissioning process is largely the same for commercial jets. (When parts are cheap, harvesting slows.) AMARG has a smelter onsite, where some of the surplus aircraft and their shells are shredded and recycled. The pace of their decommissioning fluctuates with the demand for working spare parts. Permanently retired aircrafts are slowly dismantled over time. and the former Soviet Union, the B-52 Stratofortresses are stored with wings removed so that foreign satellites can verify their non-activity. To comply with treaties forged between the U.S. The technicians pay special attention to the retired B-52 bombers, which are capable of carrying thermonuclear weapons. (Davis Monthan Air Force Base, via Creative Commons)

#Scrap boeing 747 cockpit upgrade

allies looking to upgrade or expand their own fleets. Some jets are kept in near-ready conditions for flight, receiving heavy maintenance three times annually in case they’re called back to service or sold to U.S. Finally, they paint the top coat in white to deflect the scorching desert sunrays.Īt AMARG, aircraft are kept at various levels of restoration by a staff of 550 including engineers and inspectors, almost all whom are civilian personnel. They remove explosive devices, such as guns and ejection seat activators. They cover tires in Mylar to prevent the sun from deteriorating the rubber. Technicians drain fuel tanks and flush them with lubricant. When an aircraft arrives at AMARG, it’s thoroughly washed to rid the exterior of any salt that may cause corrosion. Many of them can be harvested for parts in other aircrafts. Each plane has more than 350,000 individual components, such as an engine, munitions, wiring, and electronics. While some planes are stored at the base between deployments, more than 80 percent of AMARG’s fleet is kept to provide spare parts to active government and military planes. Its 2,600 acres are littered with more than $32 billion worth of outdated planes (as measured by their original purchase price), including all of the U.S. The world’s largest aircraft boneyard is the 209th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base close to Tucson, Arizona. These boneyards are open-air storage sites for all sorts of aircraft, from retired commercial carriers to nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The arid climate of these states slows down rusting. Grounded American airplanes, be it temporarily or permanently, go to the southwestern American desert: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Early wide-body planes, like the Lockheed Tri-Star, have shorter lifespans, lasting an average of 24 years. 747s are retired after approximately 27 years of service. A Boeing 747 can endure about 35,000 pressurization cycles and flights-roughly 135,000 to 165,000 flight hours-before metal fatigue sets in. On average, an aircraft is operable for about 30 years before it has to be retired. How long do jets last? Where do they go after they’ve made their final landing? And how much do secondhand parts sell for?Īfter their retirement, planes end up in dusty parking lots known as “boneyards.” Get to know one of the largest boneyards in the world, how planes are actually decommissioned, and the salvage value of commercial plane parts. There comes a time when every airplane has to be permanently grounded. The huge hunks of metal that soar across our skies don’t fly forever. (Photo Credit: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, via Creative Commons)