Boneyard finds....

Just a couple of pics from a "bone yard" down the street from where i work. Managed to get in there one day and snap some pics. Some really neat stuff in there, but didn't get pics of all of it. Enjoy!

First five pics is 1 of only 2 prototype Piper PA-48 Enforcers ever built. Its a "take away" of a P-51D mustang, but with a huge turbo prop engine and some hard-points on the wings. Its missing its wing-tip tanks though.

Sixth pic is Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Marine 1" Im not sure the model number and I'm too lazy to look it up lol...the interior is mostly rotted away, but you can still tell it was a very nice interior indeed.

Seventh pic is the competing prototype (losing bid) for the A-10 warthog. If you look at the canopy, it has the same one thats on the current Warthogs. It doesnt have wings and all that and is just rotting away.

Eighth pic is a fuselage of F-89 Scorpion...not much to say about it, just thought it was cool.

The last pic is a Marine aircraft...I dont know what it is and i didnt ask...but i was told it was the cause of an international incident during the cold war. It crossed into Russian airspace and was almost shot down...dont know when or where, but thats the story I was told.

Theres a bunch of other really cool stuff in this yard, and one day I hope to get back in there and snoop through t all.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy the pics

Cool pics! That last bird is an F3D Skyknight.

Always cool to see these kind of pics. Thanks for sharing

Wow if I were a rich man I would be trying to get my hands on some of those to save them from the slow painful death caused by age and time

Cool Aircraft,nice picture thanks for sharing them.

OMG!!! The PA-48!!!

That is right up there with the YF-23 as my dream prototype aircraft to own.

So when you say boneyard, are these planes bound for the shredder?

Thanks for posting those pics. It's always interesting to see old aircraft sitting in repose. The helicopters are (one in front) an H34. This was the standard utility helicopter used by the Army, USAF,USMC & Navy during the early 60s. If you ever watch those old newsreels of the Navy recovering the mercury space capsule(s). It's an H34 doing the heavy lifting. Inside that bulbus round nose is a radial engine like what was used on WWII aircraft.

The larger helicopter sitting behind it is an H21 also known as the "flying banana". These saw action in the early part of the Vietnam war. Now I'm not 100% on this but despite having two rotor mast heads, they were powered by a single (another radial?) engine.

Matt

The other PA-48 is at the Air Force Museum in Wright Pat. I remember going over to the auxiliary hangar to look at it. I'm glad to see that it is intact. Who's yard is that?

Pic 7 is the Northrop YA-9A.

The F-3D was also know as the F-10 after the rationalization of aircraft designations across all the services. During the Vietnam war timeframe it was used as an electronic warfare bird under the designation EF-10B. It was nicknamed Willie the Whale, or just Whale. I would imagine that would be a good candidate for the 'international incident' story.

Cheers

If these are shredder-bound I will start a collection to save the PA-48...

...or just call in a favor with the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum.

Where in CA. is this boneyard located?

Awesome!

Monkeyboyarmy said:

The other PA-48 is at the Air Force Museum in Wright Pat. I remember going over to the auxiliary hangar to look at it. I'm glad to see that it is intact. Who's yard is that?

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Actually, I say bone yard but thats not what it really is. I say bone yard because these aircraft have been sitting here for years and will probably remain so for years to come. Its actually the storage yard for the Edwards AFB museum. They are storing these one of a kind, or note-worthy relics for restoration. Restoration is slow with the EAFB museum because its all volunteer, and they only work weekends and one aircraft at a time. The Enforcer is next up for a makeover but who knows when the funding or the space in the hanger will come to fix her up. I plan on volunteering my time to help with the Enforcer when they do actually move it to the museums hanger.

camp9 said:

So when you say boneyard, are these planes bound for the shredder?

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...see above I would be with Heath on this one and start a collection or a petition to save the Enforcer....its way to rare to let go. I was so excited when i got to go in the yard, and the guy there even let me crawl up on the wing and look in the cockpit. The building behind the Enforcer has some REALLY cool and rare stuff in it...I believe a couple of the engines of the Bell X-1 were in there, and some wind tunnel models of other interesting aircraft. Hopefully some day again I can get in there and get better pics with a real camera.


...pic of the instrument panel of the Enforcer as seen through the small gap between the canopy and the windshield...it was stuck in place or i would have opened it and got in lol.

These are the things that need to be restored and put into a museum so that we can all enjoy.