How many planes? by Kwicko

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

How many planes?

POSTED BY: KWICKO
UPDATED: Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:21
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 8:37 AM

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

So I was just poking around GoogleMaps, looking at satellite views of Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson. Poke around and see what you see:

http://tinyurl.com/cad7aw3

How many planes do you count? Any guesses?

You can zoom in and out, focus down on particular areas. I notice when you zoom in closer, you start seeing where some planes have been moved or removed.

I'm seeing stuff from the 50s (a half-dozen Martin B-57 Canberra bombers, for instance), 60s, 70s, 80s - In one view you can see a B1-B near a hangar; it may be undergoing routine repairs, or may be going to the boneyard.

And then I stumbled across these two:

They're a bit north-northeast of a large group of A6 Intruders and another large group of what appear to be some kind of training planes, and they appear to be a bit smaller than an Intruder. I can't recall having ever seen anything quite like them before. Any ideas? In the closest zoom, it appears there's a bit of a "lifting body" shape to them, no real fuselage to speak of, and no rear horizontal stabilizer (what looks to be a wing surface seems to extend beyond where the exhaust from a jet would be, perhaps), nor canards on the front. There also appears to be a very short, squat vertical surface at the rear.

I'm a bit flummoxed, but I figure these are probably remnants of some kind of X-plane from the 50s or 60s, or some research vehicle aimed at being a "space plane" from that era, or possibly an early attempt at a supersonic drone of a sort.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 9:04 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I dunno from planes, so usually don't respond to this kind of thread, but WOW OH SHIT those are a lot of planes! I played around with it a bit--the geometric shapes created by the "display" are purty, and the size differences fascinating...really weird!

Not only are some of them not planes, but rather PARTS of planes, all laid out in the shape of a plane, but those areas that look like empty rows, kind of like a farmer's field, are actually parts of some sort, laid out all neat and nice in rows. Kinda obsessive-compulsive looking, when you get down to it. Very strange...one would think if those parts were of any value, they wouldn't just lay them out in the open like that. Just really weird to peruse around...

I'll leave it to you guys to dissect the different kinds of planes and discuss same, I just found it strangely fascinating....

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 9:27 AM

KWICKO

It's one of their "dry storage" areas, Niki - the reason they're laid out like that is because of WHERE they are - dry, arid Arizona. Basically, if you plug all the openings (intakes, exhausts, pitot tubes, etc.), the things aren't going to rust or get filled with sand or anything, so they're safe as houses without having to be put indoors, which would be hideously expensive.

The ones that are chopped up have been cannibalized for parts, but are left in the same basic shape so if they need any other parts, they know just where to find them.

And the reason it's so OCD in its organization is because it's the military - a place for everything, and everything in its place. See, if it's organized well, then if you need, say, a pilot's seat for a Martin B-57 Canberra, you know just where to go to see what you've got. Of course, given RF technology, you could just as easily barcode all the pieces and be able to track them that way, but this is old-school, and still seems to work for these planes.

I love old planes, and I love junkyards. This place would be like hog heaven for me. I could easily spend days just wandering the rows and looking...

I've been searching online, Google, USAF, NASA, etc., and I can't find anything that really resembles those two arrowhead shapes. Closest I've come are prototypes for a NASA hypersonic project, but it's still not right. I'll keep looking.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 11:01 AM

FREMDFIRMA

I do believe that is a pair of Northrop Grumman X-47A Pegasus airframes.
They were tech demonstrators for a carrier based UAV primarily and none of them carried live hardware - the program was canned back in 2006 as the outright porkbarrel it was, and subsequently/immediately replaced by further pork in the form of the X-47B, which is at least flight capable, as it isn't generally known whether the 47A even managed a successful test flight at all, despite costing ridiculous amounts of money.

-F

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 12:57 PM

KWICKO

The X-47 is as close as anything I've found yet, other than the proposed hyperspace plane, but the layout just isn't right.

This view looks closer, but this is just an artist's concept:

There was a delta-winged X-15 variant designed to be launched from the back of the XB-70 supersonic bomber, and that's actually pretty darned close... but probably too big.

For size reference, the planes closest in the boneyard appear to be T-2 Buckeyes.

Everything I see in experimental X-planes and prototypes for NASA and the military seems to have either no tail (stealth models, UAVs) or twin tails, not the single stubby vertical surface seen in the pic.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 2:44 PM

DREAMTROVE

Per the link, yes, in the lower right by S Kolb near yuma Rd if I zoom in, a number of small planes appear that weren't there before. I see a number of little HU-25s

ETA: OIC, thousands of planes appear if you zoom in.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 3:43 PM

KWICKO

There's a time shift if you zoom in close - you'll see lots of planes vanish, or appear, so clearly it's made up of different passes at different times - maybe years apart.

Anyone see the flying helicopter yet? There's a large chopper similar to a Sea King flying over the area in one zoom. I'll see if I can dig it up.

ETA: Here it is:

Little better view:

I love when Google catches stuff like this.

ETA: BTW, when you zoom in close, Google switches to a 2011 view, from a 2012 view from further out. There are some new solar panels installed along Golf Links Rd., I see. And a new facility built near those two planes, which were there in 2011 and 2012.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 6:48 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
if you plug all the openings (intakes, exhausts, pitot tubes, etc.), the things aren't going to rust or get filled with sand or anything, so they're safe as houses without having to be put indoors

Holy shit, there are places like that? (Just teasing, but the concept IS hard for a temperate-rainforest person to grasp!)

I can just see how much fun you guys would have there. All I can do is look at it and (once my brain gets past the lovely geometry) feel my stomach sink at all the waste of natural resources, sorry. But I can appreciate your enjoyment, nonetheless.

And thanx, I wondered why the view shifted when I zoomed. Makes sense.

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 7:30 AM

KWICKO

Niki, I understand that side of it, too. And my stomach sinks at the waste of MONEY, too. Looking closer, I see F/A-18 Hornets in desert sand camouflage paint, meaning they're likely veterans of our recent overseas adventures.

And there are several B1 bombers, which have a hefty price tag as well.

What you don't see here are the now-retired F117 Nighthawk (or "Wobbly Goblin", as their pilots affectionately named them) stealth fighters, because those are scheduled to be destroyed at the infamous "Area 51", allegedly, where some of the Have Blue prototypes that spawned them have already been buried.

Further poking around last night uncovered two more of those oddballs, parked between a pair of helicopters, which is handy for estimating their size. They really aren't much more than about 30 feet long or so, maybe 35'. As jets go, that's pretty damned tiny, especially for military use.

Oh, and then there's what looks like two stages of a missile, minus the payload/warhead.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 8:31 AM

FREMDFIRMA

I think you may be right - those do seem to be some unnamed X-15 variant, probably for function/equipment/flight testing, and very likely unmanned.
They may have been used to function test the equipment eventually placed in cruise missles, perhaps.

-F

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:22 AM

KWICKO

I'm kind of wondering if they were something that would be mounted atop a missile or rocket and lifted to the edge of space and then lit off. I'd still love to know just what they are, though, dang it.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:43 AM

KWICKO

Closer, but still no panatela.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/hypersonic-plane-could-fly-s
ydney-to-london-in-49-minutes-20110811-1inoa.html

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:03 PM

KWICKO

BOOM, motherfuckers!

I found it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_D-21

It was a drone project, Mach 3+, a semi-follow-on to the SR-71/A-12 Blackbird project (explains the blended wing/fuselage and the delta-with-curved-front wing shape and the conical ramjet intake at the nose).

No more than 38 were ever built, apparently.

There. Now I can rest.

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:10 PM

BYTEMITE

Googled "arrowhead shaped aircraft."

Picture of a similar craft.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15075
0&d=1298987851

http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missiles.html

My guess is a orbital drone reentry payload for cruise missiles.

See the D-21 in the upper left corner.

Lots here.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&authuser=0&site=imghp&
tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1199&bih=210&q=X-51&oq=X-51&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1609.2456.0.2664.4.4.0.0.0.0.179.460.3j1.4.0.ckwqrh..0.0...1.1.8.img.zMU57GQfY14#hl=en&authuser=0&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=D-21+drone&oq=D-21+drone&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l3.471594.473470.11.473878.10.10.0.0.0.0.206.1257.4j5j1.10.0.ckwqrh..0.0...1.1.8.img.uKbkX4uoB8k&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.cGE&fp=a63cc16da5733732&biw=1199&bih=210

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:10 PM

BYTEMITE

Aw. Ninja.

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:20 PM

KWICKO

Byte -

Good find!

As someone who appreciates old cars and old planes, it kinda bugs me to see stuff like this just tossed out, when it seems like kind of an important chapter in the Cold War, and something that you'd think a museum would want. Apparently a few are on display in museums.

The thing looks like the idea behind it was to take all the best aspects of the SR-71 Blackbird and remove the weak link - the pilot. Take a ramjet engine (the faster it goes, the faster it wants to go, basically), staple some stealthy blended wings to it, and blast it across the Soviet Union and Red China at will, secure in the knowledge that it flies higher and faster than their best SAM missiles of the day...

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:21 PM

KWICKO

Oh, and I was googling "ultra high speed unmanned aircraft" when I stumbled upon the D-21. Arrowhead-shaped aircraft got you there faster than my searches! You have Google Fu to be reckoned with, Byte.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

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