Civil Aircraft at Mojave Airport, September 2001

(Download a higher resolution picture by clicking on any picture below.)

Mojave is home to many retired airliners. Pictures on the left side of the page were taken on this tour. Pictures on the right side of the page show the same airplanes taken on earlier occasions.

I am not associated with the Mojave Airport. I just have a lot of pictures of the Mojave Airport on display on my web site. If you want to see the retired airliners at Mojave visit the Mojave Air and Space Port web site.

Convair 990, N810NA NASA Landing Systems Research Aircraft has been moved to a position adjacent to the main entrance to the airport from Highway 58.

Convair 990, N712NA Galileo II and N710NA at NAS Moffett on July 3, 1983. N710NA was used at the Ames Research Center until 1983 when it was withdrawn from use. It was stored at Marana, Arizona until it was refurbished in 1989 for use at the Dryden FRC, where it was registered as N810NA. After serving as the Landing Systems Research Aircraft in 1993 and 1994, it was retired to Mojave.

The former Landing Systems Research Aircraft Convair 990, N810NA in storage at Mojave on July 27, 1997.

Link to NASA Dryden's Landing Systems Research Aircraft Fact Sheet.

Link to NASA Dryden's Landing Systems Research Aircraft Photo Gallery.

The nearest Boeing 727-227 is N927TS formerly of USAir Shuttle. Its Boeing construction number is 20837. It was delivered to Braniff as N430BN in 1974. Previous operators include People Express, Pan Am, Continental, Delta, and Trump Shuttle.

McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-63CF, N815CK formerly of Kittyhawk International. Its Douglas construction number is 46151. It was delivered to Air Congo as 9Q-CLG, Domain de la Encele. Previous operators include Air Zaire, African Air Charter, and American International Airways. Behind it is former Kittyhawk International DC-8-62CF, N818CK with construction number 45961.

Boeing 747-238B, N14024 formerly of Continental. Its Boeing construction number is 20534. It was delivered to QANTAS as VH-EBE City of Brisbane in 1972. It was also operated by People Express as N609PE.

McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10s formerly of American and Hawaiian Airlines.

Boeing 727-254, N912TS formerly of USAir Shuttle. Its Boeing construction number is 20438. It was delivered to PSA as N536PS in 1970. It was also operated by Eastern Airlines and Trump Shuttle.

Unidentified McDonnell-Douglas DC-9.

Boeing 727-254, N916TS formerly of USAir Shuttle. Its Boeing construction number is 20437. It was delivered to PSA as N684PS in 1970. It was also operated by Eastern Airlines and Trump Shuttle.

Boeing 707-320 carries registration N707CA, but internet references associate this registration with a 727-224.

Unidentified Boeing 727 fuselage painted as Air Force One. I just watched the movie Escape from New York and this was definitely NOT a prop in that movie.

McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30s N137AA and N144AA formerly of American Airlines. Their McDonnell-Douglas construction numbers are 47847 and 47848, respectively. They were delivered to Air New Zealand as ZK-NZL in 1973 and ZK-NZM in 1974. 47847 was sold to American Airlines in 1982. 47484 was operated by Malaysian Airlines System and Western Airlines before being sold to American.

Convair Cv-880 N815AJ formerly of TWA is the last intact 880 at the Mojave Airport. Its Convair construction number is 22-00-35. It was delivered to TWA as N828TW in 1961 and retired in 1974. The vehicle directly in front of the Cv-880 is used to tear apart old airliners.

Convair Cv-880 N815AJ formerly of TWA.

Convair Cv-880 N812AJ is being restored by Team Convair 880. Its Convair construction number is 22-00-23. Convair registered it as N817TW. It was delivered to TWA as N817TW in 1960 and immediately leased to Northeast Airlines. Warner Brothers bought it in 1990. Its left wing tip was removed during filming of the movie The Rookie, which featured Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen. Replacement parts have been piled next to the airplane.

You can buy The Rookie on VHS from Amazon.com

Convair Cv-880 N812AJ.

Read about the affort to restore a Convair 880 to flying condition at the Team Convair 880 web site.

Team Convair 880 has a personal history of the UC-880.

More of my Convair 880 photographs.

Convair Cv-990 N990AB formerly of Aerolineas Peruanas would be a good subject for restoration. Its Convair airframe number is 30-10-2. It was the second Convair 990 built and flew for the first time on January 30, 1961. It served Convair as a Cv-990 demonstrator, registered as N5602G. It was delivered to Garrett Airesearch on July 8, 1964 which leased it to Aerolineas Peruanas SA (APSA) on February 1, 1965. F. B. Ayer and Associates purchased it from APSA on August 21, 1973. It was stored at Tucson IAP, Arizona until 1980, when it was sold to Gulfstream American Corporation and flown to Mojave.

Convair 990 N990AB at Mojave, California on March 27, 1980.

Convair 990 N990AB at Mojave, California on May 3, 1980. Gulfstream American had already pulled the engines.

The interior of N990AB is still in fairly good condition. This photo of the cockpit was taken during the summer of 2001 by Alan Radecki.

The seats in N990AB are still intact as seen in this photo taken during the summer of 2001 by Alan Radecki.

Link to the Convair 990 Preservation Society home page.

More of my Convair 990 photographs.

Severed tails of McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-31, N985VJ and Boeing 707-131, N198CA. The McDonnell-Douglas construction number of DC-9-31 is 47208. It was delivered to Allegheny Airlines in 1968 and then sold to US Air in 1979. The Boeing construction number of the 707-131 is 17661. It was delivered to TWA as N734TW in 1959. It flew with the Israeli Air Force from 1975 to 1978 as 4X-JYI. Charlotte Aircraft Corporation registered it as N198CA and then retired it to Mojave. It was later used as a prop for the movie Speed, for which it was painted and given the phony registration N6232G.

You can buy the movie Speed on DVD at Amazon.com.

You can buy the movie Speed on VHS at Amazon.com.

Cockpit of the Boeing 747-200 that was used in the movie Executive Decision. it carries the markings of the fictitious airline Oceana.

You can buy the movie Executive Decision on DVD at Amazon.com

You can buy the movie Executive Decision on VHS at Amazon.com

Airplanes used as movie props at Mojave on July 27, 1997. The 707-131 that was used in Speed appears at center. The Convair 880 that was used in The Rookie is to the right of center. The 747-200 that appeared in Executive Decision is posed as if its nose gear has collapsed.

Boeing cockpit in the scrapping area with the tail of McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-31, N18563 formerly of Continental Airlines. Convair Cv-880, N812AJ and Cv-990, N990AB can be seen in the background. The McDonnell-Douglas construction number for the DC-9-31 is 47487. It was delivered to Texas International Airlines as N1310T in 1969. It was operated by New York Air from 1981 until NYA merged with Continental in 1987.

From front to rear, Lockheed L-1011s, N712DA, N724DA, N725DA, and N787DL formerly of Delta Airlines. Their Lockheed construction numbers are 193C-1088, 193C-1151, 193C-1162, and 193C-1126, respectively. The most distant L-1011 was delivered to Eastern Airlines as N333EA in 1976. Delta purchased it in 1991. The three L-1011s in the front row were delivered to Delta Airlines in 1974, 1978, and 1979.

Lockheed L-1011, N725DA at Los Angeles on December 25, 1986.

Lockheed L-1011, N724DA at Los Angeles on May 21, 1989.

Boeing 707-323B, N706PC has been owned by Omega Air since March 1989. Its Boeing construction number is 20177. It was delivered to American Airlines as N8438 in 1969. It was also operated by Ports of Call, Skyworld Airlines, Liberia World Airways, Guiana Airways, Air Gambia, and Globe Med.

Boeing 747-200, N459JS formerly of Air India.

720-023B C-FWXL formerly of Middle East Airlines now carries Canadian registration. Its Boeing construction number is 18021. It was delivered to American Airlines as N7535A Flagship Florida in 1960. Middle East Airlines purchased it in 1973 and registered it as OD-AGB. Pratt& Whitney of Canada acquired it as a spares source for their 720 testbed in 1995.

Embraceable Annie at the Mojave Airport on September 10, 2001. Hughes modified this 720-060B to serve as an Airborne Infrared Measurement System (AIRMS) Testbed.

Embraceable Annie at the Mojave Airport on September 10, 2001. She has had her JT3D fanjets replaced with JT3C straight turbojets.

The 720-060B AIRMS Testbed carried construction number 18977. It first flew on September 1, 1965. It was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines as ET-ABP on September 20, 1965. Ethiopian Airlines leased it to Middle East Airlines from January 1, 1966 to March 31, 1968. On December 7, 1972, it was seized by hijackers at Addis Ababa. A grenade detonated on board during the hijacking. AAR Allen Aircraft registered it as N440DS on January 19, 1988 and stored it at Marana, Arizona.

Hughes Aircraft Corporation acquired it on March 1, 1989 and registered it as N7381 in February 1990. It was flown to the Lockheed facility in Greenville, South carolina where an 8-foot by 6-foot port was installed on the left side of the forward fuselage. Hughes installed the Airborne Infrared Measurement System at the Van Nuys Airport in 1993. The 720 received the name Embraceable Annie.

It was transferred to the Air Force in October 1993. Data acquisition flights were conducted from the Mojave Airport and Edwards Air Force Base. It was returned to Hughes Aircraft on January 17, 1997. At the conclusion of the test program, it was retired to the Mojave Airport.

720-060B Hughes AIRMS Testbed, Embraceable Annie, N7381 was equipped with JT3D fanjets at the Mojave Airport on July 27, 1997.

Embraceable Annie was scrapped on October 17, 2003.

Link to the Mojave Airport page about Embraceable Annie

Much of the information on this page is from Jet Airliner Production List by J. R. Roach and A. B. Eastwood, Published by The Aviation Hobby Shop, 1992.

Pictures of former military aircraft at the Mojave Airport on September 10, 2001

Photos from visits to the Mojave Airport on September 5, 2002, January 21, 2003, and March 23, 2003.

Send a message to Brian.