Great reports - I visited the area and did overflights in January myself and am returning in Jan 2015, so very useful as a cross-check
eLaReF
On 29/08/2014 13:11, 'S.Krause' via cactuswings wrote:
Think i never sent this to the Cactus Group - apologies if some of you are on the other lists as well and received this again. I sent this about 5-6 weeks ago.--
----- Forwarded Message -----
Subject: USA Trip (March) - Tucson - Davis Monthan (+Pima) - Marana - Ryan - Avra Valley
Sorry it has been a few weeks since i posted the first parts of the trip.
Personal stuff and lately the World Cup took all available time away, and i have now also skipped the ambition to include pics in all reports - simply too much time to edit & upload and label them.
Just for recap, here is the itinerary of this Airliner Hub & Storage tour and we have now just arrived in Tucson - Day 2 :-)
Day 1 - Hamburg-Amsterdam-Atlanta
Day 2 - Atlanta-San Diego-Tucson (via Southwest)
Day 3 - Tucson/Marana/Davis Monthan/AMARG/Pima
Day 4 - Phoenix-Goodyear
Day 5 - Kingman-Las Vegas
Day 6 - Las Vegas-Victorville
Day 7 - Mojave-Palmdale-Van Nuys-Los Angeles
Day 8 - Los Angeles
Day 9 - Los Angeles-Chicago (via United)
Day 10 - Chicago-Toronto
Day 11 - Toronto-Amsterdam
Day 12 - Amsterdam-Hamburg - (for myself only)
whereas the rest of the crew went:
Day 11 - Toronto-Fort Lauderdale
Day 12 - Miami/Opa Locka
Day 13 - Ft.Lauderdale/Miami
Day 14 - Ft.Lauderdale/Miami-Paris
Day 15 - Paris-Hamburg
Touching down at 10pm from San Diego it was obviously dark and we did not wander the gates, as a) there is not too much scheduled traffic at Tucson (on a US scale) and b) a friendly officer on a folding bike cycling the gates prevented the attempt before it had even started with us deciding just to go to the exit once we saw him coming.
Rental car was pre-booked from Germany and important to get an offer that includes zero excess. We did also have unlimited mileage, second driver and navigation included as well as no one-way fee between Arizona and California. Oddly some internet offers showed this to be USD 150-200 depending on company, which was half the price of the 7-day rental !
It is also very important you rent an SUV if you are to hit the storage yards. Victorville without SUV is very rough, with good chances of getting stuck in the soft sand or other troubles. It's a plus in the other places as well, not least you are able to sit/stand high(er) to see things sometimes. And with 3 guys and 3 suitcases some space was needed, which the booked mid-size SUV certainly covered - although not sure that the Nissan Pathfinder we got was in fact an upgrade.
The car greeted us with a front license plate bent upwards to block half of the registration (how did the prevous renter to manage do that !?) and a rear panel at the trunk was about to come off. The rental lady we called out to the parking lot just bent the plate back into place (!) and said, no worries, zero excess and the guys won't complain upon return, so she did not needed to make notes in the rental agreement. Quite different than what i remember from Europe at least, so we were a bit suspicious at first we may be hit with at least a temporary bill later on and then lots of arguments and paperwork etc. But all was fine and worked as described, welcome to the US !
We hit the road and out of rental lot you head straight to Cargo, where usually the Sierra Pacific B737s are parked. Not this time, but the Rolls Royce B747 engine testbed. Which revealed itself to be a former Air Atlanta frame and before that good old VR-HIA from Cathay Pacific! You can also see the American gates from here where 3x MD80s were parked. A 4th one landed just around 11pm, followed by a Southwest B737. The SBS was not setup yet and in order to also get the parked aircraft that wouldn't ping anyway don't forget the BTS.gov stats online for tie-up, which is quite feasible for an airport the size of Tucson to browse the daily lists by airline later on. There is also no mandatory 3 month delay anymore, as things were available just 5-6 weeks later on.
We then worked anti-clockwise around the field. Towards the tower from where you can read some parked US CRJs and various biz a few roads further on. Back around past the Arizona ANG there is new small FBO on E Valencia Rd which has a parking lot where you are close to the few biz, and can also read off more parked on the larger FBO opposite. Further around to what used to be Hamilton Aviation turning left into S Park Rd lots of aircraft parked but no chance in the dark. The parked Tristar and the aircraft parked further down by the tech school are visible: DHC-8 prototype as well as B727-100 from FedEx. That was joined by a -200 example, and also a former Ecuatoriana B727 which had been stored at Hamilton for at least 10 years is now here. That's not all: an Aeroperu B727-100 is hangared and can be seen but only during the day. The Grumman albatross and the C-119 fuselage have both disappeared.
We continued on S NOgales Hwy and then left into E Aero park Blvdt to Bombardier. I had not ventured here on my previous visits as i was always a bit time-pressed and had read no good things about security here. Sure enough even at midnight they were stuck at your trunk the moment you drove onto the parking lot. So we just did our R&R and then left to the local K-Mart to stock up on food for the night and water for the coming days (2x24 1/2 liter bottle packs for USD 5 - bargain)
Then retired to the La Quinta Tucson (free Wifi) and retired for the night just around midnight, and then ready up early next morning again at 5 am to get down to Tucson Ryan Field for our booked overflights.
Myself had made excellent experience overflying Marana in 2009 identifying 95% of inmates from photos, after an attempt on the ground in 2007 did not bring me very far. (No SUV back then!). The unknown was the Davis Monthan overflight, as this is in no way guaranteed and subj. to Air Traffic control. But the earlier in the morning the better the chances, and weekends and public holidays are also best as the USAF is not busy on those days. What a shock i found out that the AMARG bus tours were no longer available on weekends, but only Mon-Fri, which made efficient planning of Davis Monthan much more challenging.
I had booked Sonoran Wings for a D-M overflight in 2007 as i heard only good feedback about them - the flight was cancelled due to high winds though. (be aware, this is a common issue in the area & threat to your plans!). In 2009 i used Double Eagle Aviation who accomodated me on a walk-in basis from one day to another, without having booked anything prior. And the flight/pilot was excellent. Now we wanted to fly out of Avra Valley as i heard about some restrictions imposed on Marana overflights, and them being limited to airfields nearby.
Well the guys at widely recommended Tucson Aero advised that they ceased doing "Photo flights" and asked to enquire with Marana Flight school - who replied too late though after only 10 days to be incl. in the itinerary. Back to Double Eagle from Tucson and Kelly's Aviation out of Ryan Field who were not only the cheapest but also the swiftest to reply. getting down to the details it transpired that three blokes with a combined weight of almost 300 kg / 660 lbs would no way fit into a Cessna 172.
As there wasn't enough time to lose 15-20 kg each until the trip we bit the bullet and booked two consecutive overflights, so that's where the cheaper price came in handy as well. But let me stress the e-mail conversation with Kelly herself and the overall flight experience was very much worth the choice. Can highly recommend them. http://www.kellysaviation.com/
Meeting was at 7am, and we were out at Ryan at 6:20 am which was about a 20 mins ride from Tucson International. We did not know whether to encounter traffic, so the buffer was built in. Our pilot arrived (shame on me, i forgot her name by now) and after a few checks and helping her push the Cessna out of the shelter the first two of our trio left on the morning flight, while the third was left behind photographing the sole Rockwell commander and keeping him happy with noting down the single-prop reggies. (he is the only one of the trio collecting "spam" :-)
Once airborne we secured a low AMARG overflight from ATC - known to locals only as "The Boneyard". Fantastic! Past Tucson Int'l on the way to with a good view of the Hamilton maintenance area, we circled once around the whole storage area at AMARG which enabled views of the Pima museum and the scrapyards as well. Few of the "target frames" ie.. the B747-400/YAL-1 and the DC-10 were spotted right away. Then straight off to Marana enbaling a few good views of the City of Phoenix, and at Marana we did not bother landing nor low-passes but simply flew once around Marana (again rather known as "Pinal Air Park" to the locals) as my buddy was not too fond of flying and wanted to get it over with - anyway there was a 2nd round for more photos.
Straight back to Tucson and past Avra Valley and the stored props visible from the air (another hour car detour saved). The whole circuit was completed in just one hour !! Quick stop to drop-off one and pick-up party member No.3, and we then headed back in reverse: Ryan-Avra Valley-Marana Pinal where we did two overflights over the runway but no landing or taxi back as i had done in 2009 - obviously someone had his camera confiscated there on occasion when spotted by security - at least we were told. Anyway plenty of pics were had and then onwards to Davis Monthan, where we were only allowed a high-altitude overflight, but still fine to circle and see everything.
Back at Ryan again in just about an hour we were very pleased. Not only are the flights paid by the time used but also did we wanted to finish Tucson area all-in all within this day! The original plan had called for 1.5 days, which would have been even able to stretch to 2 full days need basis. But this was to be Tucson in a day. We headed straight back to the Pima museum which opens at 9am. But they do not not take advance bookings for the AMARG bus tour - even worse, they do not even publish tour times on their website anymore.
--> as i write this, their totally revamped website http://www.pimaair.org/ shows that it *is* (now) possible to book tickets in advance! http://www.showclix.com/events/18258 (but still no tour times)
So it is a matter of showing up, queue and see what you get. We arrived around 09:30 am and just missed to enroll for the 11:30 am bus tour, and were offered the 2 pm tour - which is also the last of the day. Of course we had to take it, as only by combining the air and ground you get fully to appreciate what a website appropriately calls "The AMARC Experience". And just roaming the fences isn't the same as driving right through all of it.
Slight change of plans then as we had 3 hours to kill. We first did the museum itself which took almost 1.5 hours. This was a rush indeed as we only walked swiftly through the hangars and then the outdoor exhibits to photograph the Civil and Military Transport part, leaving the Bombers, Fighters and other stuff aside. A truly fabulous museum, which is a must visit for any aviation enthusiast. The huge collection includes many very rare examples of aviation history. Exhibits do not change alot but are moved around, so provide varying opportunities for photos on different visits. You could easily spend 1/2 day there if you take in everything calmly and if this is your first visit to Pima.
My last visit was in 2007 so indeed a few years back. Notably the first thing that greeted us outdoors was a China Southern B737-500, which looked a bit out of place! The scrapyards have provided a few more birds for the museuem in the last years, with the ARM/Dross Metals providing the aircraft for the desert art project. As well as aircraft from the former Minden yard, where some examples are still in the museum storage & refurbishment compound. This area is off limits, but you can see, identify and photograph all exhibits from the official museum grounds.
Personally i was very pleased to see that the United Air Lines B727-100 had found her way over from the AMARC Celebrity Row to that compound (very photogenic!), though not sure what the plans are as i understand she is actually owned by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
Once we were done with the museum, we headed over to the ARM/Dross Metals yard on E Wyoming street. Head back towards Tucson Intl from the museum but then turn right already at the overpass into S Craycroft Rd, and follow along. A big clearing has taken place with almost all Hercs scrapped bar the obnoxious white EC-130 examples (some just reduced to sections by now). Also the C-97s are gone. They have taken in most of the Convairs Props that still used to be stored at AMARC (in area 21) but all in all no new frames for me expected here.
By now i also felt quite drowsy which i put down to me doing two rounds in a tiny Cessna looking through the camera lens, plus generally being tired and bit worn down prior to the trip already. Also don't forget to drink enough water constantly, even when you don't feel thirsty. So i just asked my mates to enquire with the Yard owner about access, which obviously was granted as they only returned 30+ mins later while i took a snooze in the car.
We then continued clockwise around D-M and eventually came back on Escalante Rd towards Kolb Rd. So we could see the P-3 and C-130 storage from outside, before heading back on Kolb Rd past the former National scrpayard (completely empty - not even an old oil can here!) and turning back towards Pima to start the bus tour we shortly stopped at Western yard and what i think are the UAC and Specialised yards, latter of which has a handful of HU-16 Albatross.
Note that S Wilmot Rd had become (or at least was used) as a base access on our visit, so there was quite some traffic on what i remembered a quite cul-de-sac. Still you can park at the end of the road next to the fence to read off some of the active C-130s on the ramp.
Back to the bus tour which starts at the museum we entered the bus only with our camera and an extra lens (nothing allowed, no backpacks, no handbags not evena camera bag - just a bottle of water and a camera around the neck). Up on base and we did have a lady curator this time, who was especially fond andsomehow involved in the F-14 Tomcat project,but everything she said about transport planes was spot on and even provided extra information which was a good pastime as the bus crawled along celebrity row doing 0,25 mph....
So almost an hour later i realised i need to do something urgently! Oh dear, did not think about that prior boarding the bus. And while i was figuring out what the heck to do (they surely wont let me out on the base!?) and seeing trouble coming i realised there *was* a toilet but in the REAR of the bus. Not at the mid-bus exit door where i remember them from coaches in Europe. What a relief! Even though i entered right when we sped off and past the YAL-1 (doh!) and since i am 6'5" i can tell you not big fun in the tiny toilet especially going around the corners i now felt the bus was doing 50 mph!
Anyway, on that anecdote it was Davis Monthan/AMARC done. Truly an amazing place no matter what part of aviation you are interested in.
We drove back to Tucson Int'l to do a daylight round of the maintenance, which was duly done and another short view of Bombardier.To our surprise not a single security in sight (shift chnage? luck?) and we read off the very few bizjets parked outside and also found a place to read off a bunchof stored CRJ200s. "Only" six left here now - there used to be around 20 parked here some years ago.
By now it was 5pm and we headed north towards Phoenix, past Marana (Pinal) with some tails visible from the highway- Phoenix in the next part!
Here are the logs:
TUCSON TUS 26 Mar 2014 @22:00-23:00
N403A MD80 American Airlines
N479AA MD80 American Airlines
N541AA MD80 American Airlines
N7514A MD80 American Airlines
N931DN MD90 Delta Air Lines
N787RR B742 Rolls Royce
N373SW B733 Southwest Airlines
N490WN B737 Southwest Airlines
N706SK CRJ7 United Airlines
N752SK CRJ7 United Airlines
N776SK CRJ7 United Airlines
N33182 E145 United Airlines
N33182 E145 United Airlines
N243LR CRJ9 US Airways
N249LR CRJ9 US Airways
N916FJ CRJ9 US Airways
N108MC C500
N401TM HS25
N26QT LJ45
N355UA LJ55
Ryan Field 27 Mar 2014
N13KK C172 Kelly's Aviation
- 1977 vintage!
Avra Valley AVW 27 Mar 2014 [from the air]
N9463 L1049 USAF marked 8610
N105CF L1049 all silver no titles, no logos
N67034 DC-4 Maricopa Aircraft #150 - no titles
N67040 DC-4 Maricopa Aircraft #147 - no titles
N6816D DC-4 Maricopa Aircraft #109 - no titles
N96451 DC-4 Maricopa Aircraft #111 - no titles
N DHC6 white-blue (used for parachuting?)
- there must have also still been the Beech 2000 Starships parked neatly on some tarmac. Didn't notice nor collect them, but understand they are now moved and parked with the Old Props over on the sand! No DC-3 visible (used to be two here) but what looked like a pair of larger wings with USAF roundel in a smaller hangar on one of the photos..?)
MARANA MZJ 27 Mar 2014
- this will be provided in a separate post in the coming days, and i will add a FEW photos!
DAVIS MONTHAN DMA 27 Mar 2014
- won't list details here as also many military. In any case you should refer to the monthly inventory providedby FOIA. Please see the excellent AMARC Experience - AMARC Experience site
http://www.amarcexperience.com/ui/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=130&Itemid=243 (you need to tick the tickbox in order to see the ZIP files!)
The inventory is provided in CSV file, and using a bit of Excel you can make a table that shows you #of aircraft per type per storage are Then it is simply a matter of counting what you see on your overflight pictures, cross-check with your ground photos from the bus and the fence - voila!
You can get very close to 100% accuracy that way, with the process in areas midfield providing the biggest challenge, as aircraft move between those areas faster than the inventory keeps track off. And the odd aircraft gets pulled from a storage area to that area - so keep a watch on things.
For your interest, there were 731 aircraft in my interest scope listed in the March 2014 inventory (up-to-date until ~mid March) and 10 days later we had 733 aircraft of the same scope visible on our photos. With only 2 not fully solved - which i am happy to cheat myself to claim 731 new frames 100%, and leave 2 of them at 99% only :-)
Following a type breakdown:
00-0001 B747-400 USAY (YAL-1) - star of the place
N910SF DC10 - star #2 of the place
(D)C-9: 20 seen
C-20: 3 seen (aka Gulfstream 3)
C-21: 23 seen (aka Learjet 35)
C-22: 84-0193 (aka Boeing 727)
C-24: one seen (aka DC-8)
- two more REAL stars of the place if i wouldn't have had them already
C-27: 21 seen (aka G.222)
C-130 Herc: 201 seen
C-131: 1 seen (aka Convair 340)
C-135: 200 seen
C-137: 12 seen (aka Boeing 707) - there used to be almost 50 here on my 2007 visit, and over 100 in the 1990s....)
C-18: 3 seen (also former B707s)
C-14: 1 seen (prototype and sort of C-17 predecessor)
C-140: 2 seen (aka Lockheed Jetstar)
T-39: 36 seen (aka Sabreliner - wow, i did not know they still had so many active as most were just recently retired following the austerity measures)
T-43: 12 seen (aka Boeing 737-200 - notably from the former 6x EG&G "Jantet" examples only three were left. The other sold or scrapped...?)
C-4: 2 seen (aka Gulfstream 1 prop)
C-5A Galaxy: 34 seen
P-3: 151 seen (still an Electra to me...)
HU-25: 7 seen (aka Falcon 20)
- there is also an AWACS E-3 listed but certainly not seen, not even one without the radar dish!
Pima Air Museum DMA 27 Mar 2014
- again too many to list and lots of military, and there is an excellent overview here:
http://www.pimaair.org/visit/new-aircraft-list
These are not listed i think as they are not in the offical area:
45-1074 DC-3 USAF no wings, compound
141025 C-131 USN no titles, compound
N4NA GLF1 NASA no titles, no tail, no wings, no u/c, compound (used to be at Tucson)
N7004U B727 United Airlines white c/s, compound
49-0157 C-119 USAF compound, marked O-90157
159120 DC-9 USN no titles, compound
53-0554 L1049 USAF compound
53-0535 L1049 USAF nose only! Regd N51006
TUCSON TUS 27 Mar 2014
Active
N478AA MD80 American Airlines
N9629H MD80 American Airlines 4XR
N706SK CRJ United Airlines
N A300 FedEx @7am
N156RC CL60 .
N1620 G280 .
N164HQ E190 Republic Airlines
N231WN B737 Southwest Airlines
N247LR CRJ9 US Airways
N3052K B190 Ameriflight
N403JC CL60 .
N478AA MD80 American Airlines
N483A MD80 American Airlines
N500CZ PRM1 .
N700LK GLEX .
N703S B732 Sierra Pacific Airlines
N710AN CL60 .
N866AS CRJ American Eagle
N8319F B738 Southwest Airlines
N843CP LJ60 .
N86SK C560 .
N941DN MD90 Delta Air Lines
XA-ARB LJ45 .
Bombardier
N604SL LJ60 . w/Bombardier?
N832SC CL60 . w/Bombardier, arr 27/3, dep 30/3
N295TX GLEX . w/Bombardier, dep 8/4
N675BR CRJ2 Delta Air Lines w/Bombardier, arr 11/3, dep 28/3
N CRJ2 Delta Air Lines no titles, minus parts
N CRJ2 Skywest Airines no titles, minus parts
(N77331) CRJ2 Mesa Airlines a/w, parked w/US CRJ2s
N17231 CRJ2 US Airways
N17275 CRJ2 US Airways
N571ML CRJ2 United Airlines o/c
N592ML CRJ2 United Airlines o/c
(N17337) CRJ2 United Airlines o/c (from photo)
N77286 CRJ2 US Airways
Ascend Aviation (formerly Hamilton)
xx-xxx MD80 . all white, no titles, no logos, partly hangared (visible on photos)
5N-BKI MD80 Dana Air
(5N-BKO) MD80 Afrijet white, blue tail, hangared
(C-GKUY) CRJ7 Bombardier all white, no titles, no logos, no-reg painted
HC-CPC B735 Sudamericana de Aviacion all white, no titles, no logos
(JA354K) B735 ANA no titles, no logos, reg not painted
(JA8289) B763 ANA no titles, no logos, reg not painted
JA737E B735 Solaseed Air
N430US B734 US Airways n/t
N438US B734 US Airways n/t
N443US B734 US Airways n/t
N450UW B734 US Airways n/t
N453UW B734 US Airways
N454UW B734 US Airways
N532UA B757 United Airlines o/c, -parts
N558MS B733 Webjet hangared
N742VA B734 Vision Airlines
N826AL B732 Aloha Air Cargo green c/s
N860GA MD80 Allegiant Air
N870AG B733 . all white, no titles, no logos
? MD80 . all white, no titles, no logos, parts missing, no-reg painted - next to CRJ7 hulk
N949NS MD80 USA Jet Airlines no titles, no logos, Mitt Romney campaign c/s
N950NS MD80 Ryan International all white, no titles, no logos
N964AS MD80 Ryan International white, no titles, tail swoosh
N965AS MD80 Ryan International all white, no titles, no logos
N969NS MD80 Ryan International all white, no titles, no logos
N973AS MD80 Ryan International all white, no titles, no logos, -parts
N974AS MD80 Ryan International white, no titles, tail swoosh
N976AS MD80 Ryan International white, no titles, tail swoosh
N979NS MD80 Ryan International all white, no titles, no logos
OB-1960-P B733 Peruvian Airlines no titles
OB-1961-P B733 Peruvian Airlines no titles
Tech school
C-GGMP DH8A Bombardier prototype c/s, no titles, reg not painted
N914PG B727 Ecuatoriana reg hand-painted on rear fuselage, HC-BVT on nwd
N453LJ LJ45 . primer fuselage only, no-reg painted
N115FE B727 FedEx no titles, no logos
N486FE B727 FedEx
OB-1547 B727 Aeroperu hangared, titles?
Stored Tucson
N B727? . Maxair, nose only
P4-MED L1011 The Flying Hospital
Those in brackets taken from other reports - confirmation welcome!
The nose was at one of the hangars - ID ?
-The End-
Regards
Stefan
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