309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group

pat038536 · Mar 27, 2015

These OH-58Ds, having undergone a fuel purge and a brief engine run on a lightweight oil, are undergoing the 3-step protective coating process. An electrician's tape covers crevices, access panels and seams. Workers craft cardboard boxes to protect the main rotor systems and cover with aluminized barrier paper. A release agent similar to car wax is applied to the windscreen for protection as well as easier removal of the dual layers of black strippable paint. Finally, enough of the white strippable paint is applied to obtain a good seal and opaque enough to protect prior layers of the preservation. The white strippable paint has the same function as a flexible roof coating seen here on desert homes--to reduce and reflect absorption of heat. These helos are being placed in Type 1000 storage which indicates no parts will be removed and they may be withdrawn for future flight. - March 27, 2015

pat038536 · Apr 3, 2015

For the next week, we'll dive into AMARG's historical vault and share some of this facility's more iconic images that you may or may not have seen before. We hope you enjoy them. Shown here is a field of B-36 bombers, the most powerful bomber of its time, yet never flown in combat. After a useful life as America's prime deterrent, the last one of these aircraft was placed in storage by February 1959. - April 2, 2015

pat038536 · Apr 3, 2015

Dramatically different from the way 309 AMARG currently stores and maintains aircraft in storage, this photo taken in 1958 depicts F-84s "stacked" and awaiting disposition. - April 3, 2015

USAFSS-ColdWarrior · Apr 3, 2015

pat038536 said:
For the next week, we'll dive into AMARG's historical vault and share some of this facility's more iconic images that you may or may not have seen before. We hope you enjoy them. Shown here is a field of B-36 bombers, the most powerful bomber of its time, yet never flown in combat. After a useful life as America's prime deterrent, the last one of these aircraft was placed in storage by February 1959. - April 2, 2015

View attachment 551751

I'm a bit confused trying to decode your date notations.
Are you saying the pic is circa 1959 or are these aircraft still on-site as of the April 2, 2015 date??
Or is 4/2/15 simply the posting date?
Some things are lost to brevity.
Thanks for any clarification.

Carry on.

jasonjc · Apr 3, 2015

He puts the date at the end of all his posts.

steelypip · Apr 4, 2015

pat038536 said:
Shown here is a field of B-36 bombers, the most powerful bomber of its time, yet never flown in combat. After a useful life as America's prime deterrent, the last one of these aircraft was placed in storage by February 1959.

I think this is probably the only time in history when so many B-36s were in one place at one time. If we assume 10 planes/squadron(ref), then the most on a base at one time was at Carswell, with its two wings of three squadrons each. There are nearly 100 visible in the photo, which means the entire contents of Loring and Walker(ref), for instance. There certainly would never have been so many at once at the Convair plant in Ft. Worth where they were built.

USAFSS-ColdWarrior · Apr 4, 2015

steelypip said:
I think this is probably the only time in history when so many B-36s were in one place at one time. If we assume 10 planes/squadron(ref), then the most on a base at one time was at Carswell, with its two wings of three squadrons each. There are nearly 100 visible in the photo, which means the entire contents of Loring and Walker(ref), for instance. There certainly would never have been so many at once at the Convair plant in Ft. Worth where they were built.

A keen analysis of the significance of this photo.
Sad that only in their decommissioning did so many make muster.

Carry on.

pat038536 · Apr 6, 2015

The reclamation shelter, completed in December of 1961, remains AMARG's most recognizable aerial landmark. The steel structure, constructed from 12 modified B-47 bomber nose docks brought to Arizona from Douglas Aircraft Co. in Tulsa, Okla. was used during the reclamation process or salvaging of aircraft parts. Today, the shelter hosts the Desert Speed Line where aircraft workers perform quick modifications on the A-10, limited depot maintenance on C-130 and C-27J aircraft, and preservation on helos and smaller types of aircraft. - April 6, 2015

Looking East, towards the Rincon Mountain range, the most prominent landmark at AMARG is the reclamation shelter, constructed in 1961.

Reclamation shelter, completed in December 1961, looking East towards the Rincon Mountain range.

Another Ahab · Apr 7, 2015

pat038536 said:
View attachment 552501
Reclamation shelter, completed in December 1961, looking East towards the Rincon Mountain range.

I have to believe that there are some BIG footings under those piers:

- Because that looks like wind country, and that thing sure looks like it "wants" to fly!

steelypip · Apr 7, 2015

pat038536 said:
The reclamation shelter, completed in December of 1961, remains AMARG's most recognizable aerial landmark. The steel structure, constructed from 12 modified B-47 bomber nose docks brought to Arizona from Douglas Aircraft Co. in Tulsa, Okla. was used during the reclamation process or salvaging of aircraft parts.

You guys really were at the forefront of reduce/reuse/recycle. It's 1961, and you need a structure to shelter the dismantling of aircraft. It needs to be easy in, easy out, cheap, and protect from sun. Solution: use the nose docks for a recently obsolete aircraft type as your source of material and build a simple, durable, and versatile structure that it still in use 60+ years later.

I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the nose dock parts were shipped from Oklahoma to AMARG in aircraft taking their last trip to the boneyard...

pat038536 · Apr 8, 2015

Two silent witnesses of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki events that took place within days of each other in 1945 to end the war with Japan were once stored at 309 AMARG. The "Enola Gay" was already a museum piece at The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution by 1949; however, "Bockscar," remained in storage until 1961 (more than 15 years) before flying to the National Museum of the USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. - April 7, 2015

B-29 "Superfortress" "Enola Gay" in storage at 309 AMARG. Now on display at The National Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

B-29 "Superfortress" "Bockscar" in storage at 309 AMARG from 1946 until 1961 when flown to the National Museum of the USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio.

pat038536 · Apr 8, 2015

Some of the old war birds that have come and gone...their mission complete. - April 8, 2015

Another Ahab · Apr 8, 2015

pat038536 said:
Some of the old war birds that have come and gone...their mission complete. - April 8, 2015

Beautiful birds, every one of them.

Another Ahab · Apr 8, 2015

Is that a Constellation:

- The civilian airframe

Modified for some electronic warfare role?

SETOYOTA · Apr 8, 2015

Ec121

Another Ahab · Apr 8, 2015

Another Ahab said:
Is that a Constellation:

- The civilian airframe

Modified for some electronic warfare role?

View attachment 552825

SETOYOTA said:
EC121[/QUOTE]

Got it, SETOYOTA! Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_EC-121_Warning_Star

steelypip · Apr 9, 2015

Another Ahab said:
Is that a Constellation:

- The civilian airframe

Modified for some electronic warfare role?

I perceive that you've never made it 10 miles west to look at the Connie in Udvar-Hazy. Yes that's an EC-121, which is the airborne filler for gaps in the DEW line.

My dad sent me an email with a story about him regenerating a C-54 out of AMARG back in the '60s for a special project. I wonder if it was one of the ones in photo 3...

pat038536 · Apr 10, 2015

This Scrapyard Contains the World’s Second-Largest Air Force

Lots of pictures in the article

http://www.vice.com/read/this-scrapyard-contains-the-worlds-second-largest-air-force-408

Another Ahab · Apr 11, 2015

steelypip said:
I perceive that you've never made it 10 miles west to look at the Connie in Udvar-Hazy. Yes that's an EC-121, which is the airborne filler for gaps in the DEW line.
.

No, I've been out to Udvar-Hazy; sure have ("Free", except for the $20 parking they hit you with: clever trick that one, right!?). Funny I recall all the WWII German wunderwaffen, but can't recall the Connie...

Another Ahab · Apr 11, 2015

pat038536 said:
This Scrapyard Contains the World’s Second-Largest Air Force

Lots of pictures in the article

http://www.vice.com/read/this-scrapyard-contains-the-worlds-second-largest-air-force-408

That's a very funky website. What a hoot.

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