Pima Air & Space Museum
The Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson is pretty rad! Lots of classics, lots of history. Crazy cool machines to see up close.
Adjacent to the Pima Air & Space Museum is also Davis-Monthan Air Force Base which is home to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, a.k.a. "The Boneyard" which is the worlds largest aircraft storage facility. If you're into aviation you've surely seen the satellite imagery of thousands (over 3,000) planes all lined up in the desert. I used to think it was a graveyard of sorts where planes go to rot, but I've learnt now that it's actually not really. Yes many of the planes here do donate parts to currently in-service aircraft around the world, and some do get scrapped, but the vast majority of them are simply being held and preserved until needed. AMARG's primary operation is actually the preservation, rejuvenation, and maintenance of planes that come here. On the satellite imagery the planes look like scrap, and at first glance here they do look totally decommissioned, but apparently all the white tape on them is there to seal and protect the aircraft from the elements. The facility used to do public tours here which I was very much hoping to do while here, but the tours have recently been suspended which is a major bummer. There are walking and bike trails around the perimeter though, so still pretty cool to gawk at from the outside 🫣
