Ed and John think it will take them an entire day to see the Pima Air and Space Museum, so they decided to do the 309th AMARG Tour (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center) separately. AMARG or the "boneyard" is a place where military planes are stored for one of a number of reasons: 1) the plane has been temporarily pulled out of service either due to not being needed at the moment or needing upgrades; 2) the planes are no longer being flown by the US but are being flown by other countries, so plane parts will be sold off to the other countries; 3) the planes are being cut up and sold as scrap. Tucson was chosen as the location of the "boneyard" due to the climate and the soil conditions --- there are no rain or humidity issues and the dessert soil is hard enough that the planes can be parked on the soil --- no tarmac required.

20121208-20121207__MG_1351.JPG
Ed's art shot at the entrance to the Pima Air and Space Museum.

20121208-20121207__MG_1358.JPG
I really liked the look of this plane with the extra propellers and the radar.

20121208-20121207__90P5282.JPG
Size doesn't matter, there are big planes and little planes at the "boneyard".

20121208-20121207__90P5289.JPG
I find it amazing to see the row upon row of store aircraft. The white wrap is used to prevent the sun from damaging sensitive parts of the aircraft.

20121208-20121207__90P5295.JPG

20121208-20121207__90P5303.JPG
I believe this plane was a prototype. The nose cone is a chemical laser. We heard that the nose cone will be put in a museum and the remainder of the plane will be cut up for scrap.

20121208-20121207__90P5314.JPG
The wheels and other parts of the planes have been removed. Many of the pieces will have been sold for parts and the remainder of the plane is being cut up for scrap.

20121208-20121207__90P5318.JPG


After we finished our AMARG tour we drove back to the trailer, put on warmer clothes, loaded the dogs into the truck and headed for Mount Lemmon the highest peak in the area at 9157 feet. We heard it can be 20 to 30 degrees F cooler at the top of the mountain than in Tucson.

20121208-20121207__MG_1438.JPG
The first part of the drive took us through saguaro cactus country. The hillside was just covered in them. Saguaro grow slowly, perhaps an inch a year, but to a great height, 15 to 50 feet. The largest plants, with more than 5 arms, are estimated to be 200 years old. An average old saguaro would have 5 arms and be about 30 feet tall.

20121208-20121207__90P5354.JPG

20121208-20121207__MG_1468.JPG
As we drove higher up the mountain, the vegetation change. The saguaro disappeared and trees and rock formations appeared.

20121208-20121207__MG_1463.JPG

20121208-20121207__90P5379.JPG
Near the top is the village of Summerhaven and Ski Valley, a ski hill. From the parking area at the ski hill you can look down at the valley and hills in the distance.

20121208-20121207__90P5389.JPG
Summerhaven is a cute village of small homes and cabins. There was evidence of a forest fire. Searching the Internet, I discovered that a devastating fire occurred in 2003 when over two thirds of the homes in the town were destroyed. The scars of the fire are visible with the remains of the burnt trees dotting the landscape and only foundations standing where homes had been. A number of the homes have been rebuilt but it will be a long time before the memory of the fire disappears from the landscape.

20121208-20121207__MG_1484.JPG