by Jack
As some of you may know, I am a volunteer at the Chico Aviation Museum, so naturally I like aircraft and I enjoy giving tours, especially to kids who want to learn about aviation. Because of my life long passion for planes I really, really, hate to see perfectly good airplanes destroyed for scrap metal! I’m talking about historic planes that could be put on display for the public that paid for them! This is what the future holds for the aircraft shown below.
Once crushed, they’re worth about $800 each in scrap metal…big deal. These are our planes and we (the public) deserve to at least have first choice if we are to preserve them in a public museum or not. That seems only fair…oh wait…uh, remember what we were talking about earlier, bureaucracy? Bureaucracy is lame and its uncaring, right? Yeah, it is and this is a perfect example of a terrible bureaucratic mistake.
How stupid is it that we should destroy these incredible planes when we could have save them for posterity at our museum, thus creating an even better aviation attraction for visitors to Chico? We sure could use their tourism $$$, right? (F-111 shown on right) Gov. is so foolish this way, they have no vision, no imagination, but it doesn’t mean we have to think like government. 
We have an F-15 Eagle (shown top left) in our hanger right now, but we definitely could use any of these planes for our outside display! What a draw they would be too.
To save these planes for historical reasons is to honor our veterans that flew them. We must salvage what we can – when we can, otherwise they will be forever lost. Think of the WWII aircraft we could have preserved and what it would me to us today. Now think how many future generations would enjoy seeing these jets up close. Arrrgggg….we might as well be burning books or slashing rare paintings!
(F14 Tom Cat on left) The U.S. Government has authorized the destruction of a number of F111’s (center #1), F15’s, at least one F4, one A4(center #3) and one F14 (center #2) starting in mid-May of this year at Davis Monthan, the famous airplane graveyard in Az.
It pains me to think, these beautiful old war birds I’ve listed and shown below are going to be crushed into oblivion.
In 1973 the fly away cost for the F-111 Bomber was 10.3 million dollars. The F-14 Tom Cat was priced at $38 million in 1998. The older Tom Cats (made in the 1970’s) were sold to our dear friends the Iranians just before the Shaw was deposed. The A4 Skyhawk was first sold for about $850,000, but that was pre-1960. And government wants to crush them for scrap value now, such a crime….it makes me sick.
(A4 Skyhawk on right)
Want to see one slick aircraft museum that is next door to Davis Monthan? It has the best virtual tour I’ve ever seen. Click here: http://www.pimaair.org/visit/virtual-tour
Good for the government. We should get rid of all your war toys and then the world would be a safer place.
Toys? You don’t have a clue.
Painful. Unfortunately I have not the wherewithal to make a difference.
My uncle trained at this Army airport and then flew in the European theater.
Off Topic —
Killing Jews Is Worship.
Hamas television statement.
Hamas, has not said whether or not it approves of the message.
DUH
For what its worth, the Chico Air Museum is reviewing this case to see if they can obtain an aircraft before destruction. A long shot, but at least they were interested enough to look into it.