August 18, 2009 @ 11:25 am
Time Magazine just launched their online video section and one of the videos is this one shown above that tells the story of World War II fighter pilots in training and the planes that crashed during these training missions.
UPDATE: Wow, ok, Time Magazine’s video embedding sucks balls. Just watch the video here.
April 1, 2009 @ 1:34 am
Here’s a video report from The International Herald Tribune on the recycling and dismantling process of airplanes that are taken out of service because of old age. Most aircraft have a lifespan of about 30 years before they are put out of commission and this particular aircraft recycling center in France is seeing a large influx of planes coming into their yard whose service began back in the 1970’s.
While recycling old planes usually mean that companies are buying newer and more efficient aircraft, the report cites current economic hardships as the reason behind why some companies are choosing to hold back recycling for now in order to push their aircraft lifespans to 40 years. This certainly can’t be a good thing for the environment or for passengers.
February 6, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
Click image to see larger version
BBG linked to a Google Maps image of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and I was immediately fascinated by how many airplanes and jets were collected in that field in the desert.
I went ahead and looked up the area in Google Earth instead and found a bit more information and detail about the place. Plus, Google Earth allows you the ability to backtrack through a timeline to compare dated maps with the current map, and it’s fun to see the number of airplanes go down and up over the years. If you’ve got the newest Google Earth installed, it’s worth checking out the area. It really does look like a massive pattern on the ground from the sky due to the sheer amount of planes on the ground.
The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is also home to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, and it has garnered the nickname “The Boneyard” for the out of service aircraft that collects on its base. If I ever get clearance to go in here, I’d have a field day taking pictures. Cool huh!
