When commercial aircraft are retired they don’t go off to a giant aircraft hanger in the sky – many go to this airplane graveyard in the Mojave desert.
Mojave Airport and Spaceport (MHV) in California, USA, has an accompanying airliner storage and reclamation yard for commercial airliners.
While it might seem eerie, but the vast area, far from major cities and other airports, and dry, low-humidity desert conditions make it the perfect location.
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In the middle of the dusty landscape, you’ll find commercial aircraft like large Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, and Lockheed aircraft owned by major global airlines.
Aging and ailing aircraft are sent there when they reach the end of their useful lifetime.
Some that are beyond repair are scrapped at the Mojave aircraft boneyard.
Meanwhile, other airplanes can be revived and refurbished in hopes of resuming active service.
One example of this is the Qantas Airlines’ fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s.
During the global lockdown during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, they were sent to the Mojave aircraft graveyard.
The last 747-438(ER), VH-OEJ, named ‘Wunala’, left Sydney Airport, Australia in July 2020.
Flight QF747’s was takeoff witnessed by hundreds of spectators and airplane spotters alike.
The 17-year-old aircraft embarked on the last leg of the final flight on July 24, 2020, departing LAX to Mojave Airport.
Check out this footage of a Boeing 747 sitting in the boneyard with no engines appearing to try to take off one last time.
The apparent getaway attempt was down to high winds of over 70 mph and gusts of up to 100mph in the low-pressure zone back in 2012.
With its landing flaps deployed and lack of engines, cockpit avionics, and other interior elements making the tail heavy, it appears to try to take to the skies one last time.
Mojave was also the site for the world’s largest aircraft ‘Roc’, which launched the first powered flight of a hypersonic vehicle at Mach 5.
While you can no longer tour in person, you can do a Mojave Air and Space Port Virtual Driving Tour.
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