B-25 Boneyard in 1950

B-25 Boneyard in 1950

July 07, 1950 Photographer: Joe Scherschel

[Second Air Force]

I'm pretty sure that is Pyote again, the place where many CONUS trainers went to die. Notice the various B-29s with training codes in the background, and even a couple of camouflaged Superfortress verticals in the second photo.

Scott

[noizeedave]

Its a Saaddddd sight!

Im ready to go throw-up now!

[Steve Nelson]

What really makes one stop and think is the fact that none of those airframes were more than six or seven years old at the time!

As Indiana Jones said in 'Raiders': "It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.."

SN

[hang the expense]

They all look to have been there since before 1947 when the red stripe was introduced in the stars and bars.They look to have still had turrets in place as well,but no package guns.

[Django]

Package guns, as in the pairs on the side of the fuselage? Look in the 3rd photo.

[george]

Fascinating photos. You always hear about Walnut Ridge, Kingman, maybe Altus and Stillwater, but seems not much about Pyote. I knew they stored Forts and Superforts there, but was not aware of all those Billys going there to die. We passed right by Pyote summer before last on vacation, and it seemed so remote from everything. It must have been quite a sight to see all those bombers sitting out in the middle of nowhere back in the 50s.

[hang the expense]

Package guns, as in the pairs on the side of the fuselage? Look in the 3rd photo.

OK HAWKEYE,you are so right.I'm typing the keys by the brail method or might as well be.

[Second Air Force]

They all look to have been there since before 1947 when the red stripe was introduced in the stars and bars.They look to have still had turrets in place as well,but no package guns.

Most of the inventory at Pyote got there shortly after the end of the war or within a year or so later (the CAF B-29, for example, was transferred to Pyote from Grand Island in mid-January, 1947). The interesting thing about the Pyote aircraft to me is that so many of them were clapped out training aircraft. There were also near-new A-26s and low-hour B-29s and such, but there are a vast number of aircraft that weren't economical to rebuild even if there was a need for them.

The interesting thing about the B-25 photos is that it appears the real clunkers were sorted by someone, stripped, and chopped up, while those with some value are tied down intact, five years after the end of hostilities.

Both Pyote and Walnut Ridge fascinate me with the immense number of CONUS training aircraft that were sent to those fields to die.

Scott

[Robbie Roberts]

[muddyboots]

I know you're all going to want to beat me up, but I actuallu LIKE seeing all those aircraft sitting there ready to go to the smelter. The first thing pops into my mind when I see them is the fact that they aren't needed anymore. We've conquered the people that made them necessary...and that means they, like the men who flew them, can go back to what they were really intended to be: civilians. So I sort of get a warm fuzzy when I see them, and a maybe a little bit of awe that my Uncle, and My Papaw, and all those other men, went out and fought so well that they made our nation the Single most powerful nation in the history of the world. Swords into plowshares, fellas!

Does that make a lick of sense?

[Second Air Force]

It actually does make sense, Muddy. In fact, a committee was set up in 1943 to begin investigating what to do with all the hardware and military bases that would be redundant after the War ended. It is interesting to read some of the reasoning behind the process of beating swords into plowshares, almost two years before the Allies had secured the peace.

Scott