Mojave Scrapyard 2002
17th February 2008

Going back to a visit to the USA in October 2002 and we have overnighted at Mojave in California. I make no secret that I am an aircraft nut and this are has to be one of the great aviation meccas with many stored airliners at Mojave airfield itself, the legendary Edwards Air Force Base just a few miles away as well as the China Lake weapons testing centre to the north east. This is not that far from where there used to be World War 2 bombers abandoned in the desert used as bombing targets until just a few years ago, several of which have been saved recently.

I was looking for a scrapyard located a few miles out of Mojave on State Highway 14 towards China Lake. I had heard that there were some aviation related remains in this yard so this was a Saturday morning walk round the perimeter fence to see what I could find. So...

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It is true! A remarkably intact early model Bell UH-1 'Huey' coded 'NJ' sits behind an area of what might be ovens or perhaps air conditioning units (?)
It is true! A remarkably intact early model Bell UH-1 'Huey' coded 'NJ' sits behind an area of what might be ovens or perhaps air conditioning units (?)
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Another goodie, appears to be the forward fuselage section of a Lockheed S-3 Viking plus an engine nacelle.
Another goodie, appears to be the forward fuselage section of a Lockheed S-3 Viking plus an engine nacelle.
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At a guess I would say this is an engineering mock-up of the S-3 Viking, it looks too clean to be a former in-service aircraft.
At a guess I would say this is an engineering mock-up of the S-3 Viking, it looks too clean to be a former in-service aircraft.
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What appears to be a crate with a coupled pair of older model turbojet engines. No idea what aircraft these are from, I am guessing they might be from a B-47 or even an early model B-52?
What appears to be a crate with a coupled pair of older model turbojet engines. No idea what aircraft these are from, I am guessing they might be from a B-47 or even an early model B-52?
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More aircraft junk piled against the fence. The canopy section to the right is incredibly rare, being off a very early General Dynamics F-111 'Aardvark'; I suspect that this is a test escape capsule ie the whole crew compartment module which would detach from the aircraft in an emergency situation.
More aircraft junk piled against the fence. The canopy section to the right is incredibly rare, being off a very early General Dynamics F-111 'Aardvark'; I suspect that this is a test escape capsule ie the whole crew compartment module which would detach from the aircraft in an emergency situation.
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The junk in this place was unbelievable, literally thousands of wooden crates filled with heaven knows what. Two aircraft in the background, a giant Sikorski CH-37 Mojave helicopter which used to be in store at Tucson Municipal airport, also a very rare General Dynamics F-111B which was originally developed as a U.S. Navy carrier-borne strike aircraft but was later cancelled.
The junk in this place was unbelievable, literally thousands of wooden crates filled with heaven knows what. Two aircraft in the background, a giant Sikorski CH-37 Mojave helicopter which used to be in store at Tucson Municipal airport, also a very rare General Dynamics F-111B which was originally developed as a U.S. Navy carrier-borne strike aircraft but was later cancelled.
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And the last image, an EF-111A 'Sparkvark' looms over an array of junk in this scrapyard located out in the high desert.
And the last image, an EF-111A 'Sparkvark' looms over an array of junk in this scrapyard located out in the high desert.
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An ocean of scrap...
An ocean of scrap...
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