Well, we got up extra early this morning so we could be at PIMA Air and Space Museum when it opened at 9:00. We made it to the parking lot by 8:15. Imagine that, we were the first ones there. Dean had no problem getting up today because he REALLY wanted to do this "Boneyard" tour.
We waited for the doors to open and were the first ones signed up for the 11:30 tour. OK, it is now 9:05 and we don't have a tour until 11:30. We went to the other hangars, World War I and World War II, we had not visited the day before. As we browsed back through, we found "Hoot" Gibson's Thunderbird Flight jacket on display in the Main Hangar. "Hoot" is a retired astronaut who has flown quite a few shuttle missions, including being commander as well. We have had the pleasure to meet "Hoot" several times and he is quite a "hoot!" We also saw another plane that was used to create a character in the movies, PLANES. However, this plane has quite a story that goes with it. Take time to read about Lt. Louis E. Curdes.
We also went back outside and looked at a few of the aircraft we saw on the tram tour and wanted to see upclose.
We boarded our motorcoach bus and headed out for our "Boneyard" tour. We headed out to the military restricted base that houses all of the aircraft. On the way, we again spotted a student pilot on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
The tour guide explained to us that there were about 4,000 aircraft in the "Boneyard," which covered 2,600 acres on both sides. Of those 4,000 aircraft, 25% are to be returned to service. They are housed on 1 side of the "Boneyard" while the remaining aircraft are stored for parts on the other side. He explained that there are about 600 people who work there and they are all civilian. Many of them have military backgrounds so their experience is invaluable.
The guide explained why this area of the country was chosen to house these planes. The humidity that day was 10%. In the summer, the humidity can get as low as 3%. So Arizona was the best place because there isn't a lot of water, either from rain or humidity that will damaged the aircraft. He also told us about the white coating that many of the aircraft are wrapped in as soon as they arrive. That is for protection of certain parts from the elements, mostly sun and sandstorms. They have an area up in front where they test the product produced by different companies on like planes.
Then the bus went down the Row of Fame where he told us stories about these featured aircraft. There were quite a few planes on this row that had been ordered by the government. Once they were produced, monies weren't available so they were sent directly from the production line to the "Boneyard." What a waste when most of the planes that are still flying are 50 years old or older!
We also learned about the special type of soil called caliche clay. It is a type of clay soil mixed with granite dust, eroded and carried from the granite mountains nearby. This combination creates a surface so hard that they do not need to use cement for areas that would normally require an extremely hard surface.
National Historic Site #9 - Saguaro National Park (Rincon Mountain District and Tucson Mountain District)
In addition to the saguaros, we saw many other distinctive types of cacti. We have learned some of the names, but are still working on many of them.
After the scenic drive, we went to the Tucson Mountain District. Although it was similar, we thought the Rincon Mountain District was much more impressive. The saguaros were nice, but the groupings and clusters weren't as interesting. There was a fascinating rock balancing on the mountain side that caught our attention.
We used our navigation system and found a Red Lobster not too far away. We had stopped for burgers in between districts a little earlier at In-N-Out. We had eaten at In-N-Out once before out in CA.
