An online auction site plans to sell 27 million pounds of scrap from surplus military aircraft that have been stored at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Government Liquidation, a Scottsdale-based private firm that contracts with the Department of Defense, plans to sell the materials during an auction at the end of the month.
The auction, billed as one of the largest of its kind, will feature scrap aluminum, steel, magnesium, titanium and rubber that came from aircraft stored at D-M's Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, commonly called the "boneyard," according to a company news release.
The aircraft — including Navy A-4 Skyhawk attack jets and Air Force C-141 Starlifter cargo planes — already have been stripped down and handed over to Government Liquidation, said Terry Vanden-Heuvel, a spokesman for D-M's storage yard.
People are also reading…
D-M crews strip the aircraft of all their military components and drain any fluids or other hazardous materials, Vanden-Heuvel said.
The scrap metal is then sold by Government Liquidation, which gives most of the proceeds back to the government.
The company, which holds the exclusive contract with the Defense Department to sell military surplus and scrap metal, returns 77 percent of the net sales from the auctions, the news release said.
This type of scrap sale is common, though the company said the April sale involves the most metal it has ever auctioned for the government.
While the press release said the latest sale of scrap metal will be held to make room in the boneyard, Vanden-Heuvel said the unit, which has thousands of mothballed aircraft, isn't running out of real estate.
Besides the Skyhawk, a Vietnam-era attack jet, and the Starlifter, a jet cargo aircraft developed in the '60s, the auction also includes scrap from Navy S-3 Viking multirole attack jets, T-34 trainer planes and HH-3 Jolly Green Giant transport helicopters.
Auction info
• The online auction for scrap metal from old military aircraft stored at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is scheduled to run April 21-25.
• For more info, visit: http://cgi.govliquida tion.com/auction/view?auctionId=1650637
Did you know
D-M's maintenance and regeneration center is home to more than 4,000 military and government aircraft.
Officials began using it as a storage facility for bombers and cargo planes after World War II because of Tucson's dry climate, which slows the corrosion of aircraft.
In 1964, the Defense Department consolidated its various aircraft storage centers, moving them all to D-M.
Besides operating as a storage facility for aircraft, the D-M unit also performs maintenance on and upgrades to aircraft in service.
Source: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
