Thunderbird War Bird - History 1988

Forgive me for asking this, but something has just struck me as odd. As this aircraft has been beached at the Boneyard, why does it still have drop tanks on it? Don't they usually take everything external off of the dearly departed?

Meathook wrote:...but as you can see from the AMARG 'AAFG' login ID (sequence) numbers on both 80-0638 & 81-0815, "The Real #8" came in last'...Ha!

Both of my flights (one incentive and one cross-country) were in 81-0815...

Seems a shame to see them sitting in the sand......

Smitty

I know, damn shame huh, I flew in it myself many times same with 638.

Sto - to answer your question... No; whatever Alternate Mission Equipment (AME) configuration they come in with, stays on the aircraft (see photos for proof) it helps reduce storage areas plus once brought back to life, everything is overhauled like new anyway.

Here's one aircraft (proof) over on donor row; still with its TER-9 bomb racks still on it...

Part of "putting the aircraft to sleep" is the Black rubber roofing compound; then white latex paint is applied over that to reflect the heat.

First step is to apply 2" black electrician’s tape over
all the panel seams to ensure the 'Spray Lat' (latex) doesn't seep into the cracks.

Dane Anderson actually designed the current process when he was assigned to CLSS at Hill AFB.; I'm not kidding. He did that back during the first F-16 Regeneration effort Program (Peace Marble IV) at AMARC in 1994...

Here is what part of that process looks like - enjoy the photos (Dane is in one of the above postings standing by his old aircraft).

To answer a question from several posts back, no, there is not any real time limit, per se, as to how long a plane can stay in storage at AMARG and still be pulled out of storage and returned to flyable condition.

F-16As and Bs have been in the Boneyard for quite awhile now, and will remain there for a few more years until the AF is ready for them to be used as FSATs (drones).

For example, there were several E model Rhinos that had been sitting in AMARG since the 80s which were pulled out of storage and converted to drones.

Sad huh, for such warriors, to be sitting in the desert like that, waiting or hoping to be called upon again...if only they could talk, the stories they could share...amazing I bet, all of them

Hey Hook!!! Tom Ahlman here. Great info you've shared here!!!

Hey Tom!!

I'm lurking here, too!! How's it going??

Smitty

Little...mildly...off topic. As a 16 Crew Chief doing my time down at Lackland wearing the big hat, I try to find something significant aircraft related with each flight number I push. Example, my student flight was 105, so they knew everything there was to know about the Thud.

Current flight number is 679, so I'm loving every second of info that I can push onto them, they're chomping at the bit for more. Plus, since I spent the last 6 years at Nellis and have experience with the team and its members, so it feels a little like I'm back on the line again.