O/T Aircraft bondyard

[GeneMO]

A co-workers SIL works for a company in Walnut Ridge AR. that is parting out the very first Boeing 777 to be scrapped. We were down there yesterday and got to poke around. That thing is HUGE !! He said Boeing was really ticked because they had been the only source of spare parts. It is unbeleivable the price they get for some of that stuff. Kinda like the struggle all old iron folks face, it was worth way more in spare parts that what it was flying. I'll try to figure out how to post some pictures when I have more time.

Gene
 

[russ hamm]

At the air museum in midland, texas i saw pictures of scrapped out ww2 planes after the war. I think that was in arkansas also. That was how folks got bomber tires for thier combines and such, components like that were sold as surplus for many years. They had a picture of a large plate of steel hung from a crane that they used like a guillotine to cut the big bombers up with. Many of the nose art was saved off of the bombers at that time, a lot of them hanging up in the gallery at midland.
 

[Mark]

I am surprised they are scrapping a 777 already. Surely the airframe couldn't have enough hours on it by now. I don't know how long the 777 has been in service...but not long! Something has happened to cause structural damage beyond repair to force that unit into salvage so soon.

I often hear people lament the scrapping of military aircraft. Well, who is going to keep them and maintain them after Uncle Sam is finished with them? The costs are staggering and unless you're a multizillionaire, the fuel costs alone are prohibitive. Like a truck or a tractor.... they have a service life and when it is exceeded, they get recycled.
 

[GeneMO]

As you can see I cant spell "boneyard"

According to this guy the plane was only 10 years old and was for sale, they could part it out for more than the asking price and they were in the business of scrapping planes. I'll get pictures up soon.


Gene
 

[big fred]

Was it a United plane? Might have been one of those that was used for flight test, so it would have additional flight hours and would have probably seen greater stresses than a airframe that had only been used in revenue service. Otherwise, it would have to be a relatively new airframe, as I worked on that plane back in '92-'95, and had moved on before the first revenue flights. I do recall visiting the factory where the first ones were built, and without any of the interior they really look huge.
 

[GeneMO]

Big Fred, No, this plane did not have any "incidents" against its airframe, otherwise it would have been virtully worthless, similar to a salvage title on a car. It was just worth more in parts than its asking price.


Gene
 

[Eric SEI]

Do you know why the military scrapped so many planes after WWII? They were afraid that if they still had prop planes on hand and a new war broke out that congress would want them to use the old stuff first, which could cost a lot of lives.

They weren't fast enough. Much of the Korean War was fought using B-29s, Mustangs, Corsairs, and Skyraiders. They actually restarted the Skyraider line and built more, they were in use even in Viet Nam.