MASDC and Tucson International Airport
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I toured the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center (MASDC) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with my father, Richard Lockett, on April 24, 1972. I then photogaphed an Arizona Air National Guard North American F-100F Super Sabre and a Continental Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 at Tucson International Airport.
General Dynamics WB-57F Canberra 63-13286 being prepared for storage as as BM0006. It was deliverd to the Air Force as Martin B-57B Canberra 52-1589. General Dynamics modified it by extending its wing span from 64 feet to 122 feet 5 inches, enlarging its vertical stabilizer, and replacing its 7,220 pound thrust Wright J65-W-5 turbojets with 16,000 pound thrust Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-11A turbofans and a pair of detachable 3,300 pound thrust Pratt & Whitney J60-P-9 turbojets.
Aircraft intended for display in the Pima County Air Musem were tamporarily stored on the south side of the base. Boeing WB-50D Superfortress 49-0351 had been stored at MASDC since October 6, 1965. The boxy fairing on the top of the fuselage housed a particulate air sampler to capture radioactive particles downwind of Soviet nuclear bomb tests. After several years on display at the Pima County Air Musem, it was restored to airworthy condition, named Flight of the Phoenix, and ferried to Castle Air Force Base to be displayed in the Castle Air Museum.
Two years later Boeing WB-50D Superfortress 49-0351 on display in the Pima County Air Musem on March 31, 1974.
Eighteen years later Boeing WB-50D Superfortress 49-0351 on display in the Castle Air Museum on March 1, 2000. The particulate air sampler was removed during its restoration.
Douglas C-133A Cargomaster 59-0527 was retired to MASDC as CU023 on June 30, 1971.
Two years later Douglas C-133A Cargomaster 59-0527 on display in the Pima County Air Musem on March 31, 1974. At that time the museum was in possession of two Cargomasters. All identifying marks had been obliterated on the Cargomaster visible in the background of this picture. It was probably C-133B, 59-0531. The aircraft had been transferred to the Army for use as a ground instruction airframe on July 26, 1971. It returned to MASDC in October 1973 and was stored there until March 1974. The aircraft then was moved to the Pima County Air Museum compound and stored there until July 1978. Registered to the United States Civil Aircraft Register as "N2276V" in July 1978, the aircraft was moved to the old airport compound of Tucson AP. It was scrapped at Tucson International Airport in January 2001. Its owner was the Cargomaster Corporation of Anchorage, Alaska.
Nineteen years later Douglas C-133A Cargomaster 59-0527 on display in the Pima County Air Musem on Novemnber 23, 2001.
NASA General Dynamics F-111A 63-9777 was the first F-111 to be equipped with the ejection module. It was retired to AMARC as FV0008 Jul 29, 1971. It was acquired by Fritz Enterprises of Taylor, Michigan on April 1, 1997.
Search and rescue HC-97G 52-2714 of the 303rd ARRS was built as a KC-97G Stratotanker. Its construction number is 16745. It was retired to MASDC as CH0517 on April 14, 1972, ten days before this picture was taken.
Douglas C-133A Cargomaster 54-0137 arrived at MASDC for storage on January 7, 1971. It was transferred to the Navy and stored until January 12, 1976 when it was sold as scrap to Kolar, a local scrap dealer at Tucson. It was registered as N2251X in May 1978. Restored to the register (with a blank ownership) by Dross Metals (DMI Aviation) in March 1985. The aircraft was moved from MASDC to the Kolar scrapyard compound and stored there from November 1982 to August 1988. Then it was moved to the DMI scrapyard compound. Shorn of its wings, its fuselage survived until at least April 1999. The aircraft may still be at the DMI scrapyard.
Continental McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 N68041 taxiing to Runway 11 Left for an acceptance evaluation flight. It first flew on March 15, 1972. It was delivered to Continental on April 14, 1972. It was transferred to Continental Micronesia in January 1994 and returned to Continental on May 15, 1998. Emery Worldwide Airlines acquired it on December 6, 1999 and converted it to a freighter. Arrow Air aquired it on October 24, 2004 and ceased operations on July 1, 2010.
Arizona Air National Guard North American F-100F Super Sabre 56-3944 landing on Runway 11 Left. It was seen on a pole at Brooks AFB, Texas marked as Weightless 2 in 2003. It is currently displayed at Hermeskeil Flugausstellung in Hermeskeil, Germany in 2009.
Continental McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 N68041 on approach to land on Runway 11 Left following its test flight.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is home to Fairshild-Republic A-10A Warthogs, Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call Hercules, Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawks of the Customs and Border Protection Serice, and AMARG.p>
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