As boneyards go, this place is pretty lively.
Before many Tucsonans have even started their morning commute, a pair of aircraft mechanics are already crouched over the open cockpit of an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet, disarming the ejector seat and removing the explosives.
Nearby, a towing crew pulls a Navy P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft over to the “flush farm” to be drained of its fuel. Then, they hook up to a different F-18 and haul it to the “wash rack” for perhaps the last thorough cleaning it will ever get.
Meanwhile, about a mile away, a small army of specialty painters fans out across a dirt lot to spray protective coating on row after row of mothballed C-130 Hercules transport planes.