Search results for ""Author Jim Dunn""

The United States military stores more than 4,000 aircraft in the Arizona desert at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Known as the Boneyard, this facility is much more than a place where aerospace vehicles come to die. Here some aircraft are maintained in both short- and long-term storage, while others serve as a parts inventory on the wing holding valuable spare parts in known locations ready to be harvested, overhauled, and returned to the fleet when needed. When an aircraft has yielded all the parts necessary to keep its brethren in the air, its carcass eventually meets the scrapper's torch. AMARG's storage rows are home to massive fleets of F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 fighters, aerial refuelling tankers, C-130 and C-5 transports, helicopters of varying sizes, and bombers from the frontline B-1 to B-52s that are much older than the pilots flying them around the globe today. Among the rows are special use aircraft including the AWACS, P-3 maritime patrol bombers, aeromedical evacuation aircraft, and reconnaissance planes that serve a variety of missions, along with celebrity aircraft such as MiG killers that dominated the skies in aerial combat. As well as bringing the reader up to date with recent activities at AMARG, including the intake of new aircraft types, regeneration and the return to the fleet of aircraft formerly in storage, this book presents new, never-before-seen images that provide a visual tour of the Boneyard.

Read more less

Since its establishment during World War Two, Navy squadrons have been deployed to the high desert outside of Fallon, Nevada, to hone their aerial combat skills. Today, Naval Air Station Fallon, with its 14,000 ft runway - the longest in the Navy - hosts squadrons and carrier air wings conducting refresher training and work-ups prior to their next fleet assignments. High Desert Deployment explains how these deployments make, and keep, the squadrons combat ready. Stunning images show the colorful history of various squadrons along with the markings the aircraft display. The popular CAG-birds that fly the squadron's colors into battle are shown in all their glory. The local base aircraft of NAS Fallon are also profiled, including the famous aggressor ""Bandits,"" as well as the aircraft used to train Top Gun crews. Also, the base features an extensive air park collection of past aircraft including several MiG fighters, as well as gate guards that honor the aircraft history of the US Navy. High Desert Deployment highlights the aircraft that are such a vital part in the war on terror, the ones that are, at this time, deployed around the world to project power to maintain our freedom.

Read more less

The end of the Cold War created a golden opportunity for reducing the defense burden and providing taxpayers with a "Peace Dividend." For the United States Air Force, this resulted over the past six years in drastic reductions: 23% in aircraft inventory, 30% in personnel, and 32% in the number of bases and other major installations. Well-known and long-serving aircraft, such as the A-7D/K, the B-52G, the F-4C/D/E, the F-111A/D, the FB-111A and the SR-71, have been withdrawn from active and reserve components, and some states, such as California, have lost nearly half of their Air Force bases. Illustrated with over 410 color photos, this new book provides a rich pictorial record of aircraft (including old and new markings) and units which no longer exist, and offers a visual chronicle of organizational changes between 1988-1995.

Read more less

This fascinating story begins with post-World War Two sales of surplus Mustangs to various foreign governments and a few civilian customers. More than a decade later, in 1957 and 1958, the US Air Force auctioned off its remaining inventory of P-51s. These Mustangs became high-speed executive transports in the days before the introduction of the LearJet and other corporate aircraft. Soon after, in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, as the warbird movement was gaining traction, many of the remaining Mustangs came onto the civilian market. Today, these warbirds are the stars of airshows around the world. The effort to restore them to as close to their original wartime condition as possible has reached new levels of authenticity. With over 140 images, accompanied by service histories, this book shows the fighters where they should be seen - in the air.

Read more less