The largest aircraft graveyards in the world. Do you know where to look for them?
When an aircraft — both military and civilian — goes out of service, it is retired in a kind of retirement. It ends up in a place where it is stored along with hundreds of inoperable machines. However, despite its name as an “aircraft graveyard,” finding itself there does not at all mean that the history of a particular machine has definitively ended.
An airplane is a very expensive piece of equipment. When it goes out of service, it is still very valuable. That’s why aircraft graveyards rarely resemble scrap metal depots. Aircraft that find their way to them are protected in various ways — for example, they are thoroughly washed to get rid of the salt that causes corrosion. It also happens that after finding themselves in a graveyard, several layers of a special coating are sprayed on the machine to reflect the sun’s rays.
This is all because the fate of the planes found in the cemetery is by no means a foregone conclusion. They may be left there only for a strictly limited period of time. And if not, it is very likely that they will be treated as a source of valuable spare parts — such as engines or electronics. Or marketable materials.
It also happens that, contrary to the original plans, aircraft from graveyards are restored to aviation life. One of…
