Storage Procedures
There are four categories of storage for planes at AMARG:
- Long Term – Aircraft are kept intact for future use
- Parts Reclamation – Aircraft are kept, picked apart and used for spare parts
- Flying Hold – Aircraft are kept intact for shorter stays than Long Term
- Excess of DoD needs – Aircraft are sold off whole or in parts
AMARG employs 550 people, almost all civilians. The 2,600 acres (11 km2) facility is adjacent to the base. For every $1 the federal government spends operating the facility, it saves or produces $11 from harvesting spare parts and selling off inventory. Congressional oversight determines what equipment may be sold to which customer.
An aircraft going into storage undergoes the following treatments:
- All guns, ejection seat charges, or classified hardware are removed.
- The fuel system is protected by draining it, refilling it with lightweight oil, and then draining it again. This leaves a protective oil film.
- The aircraft is sealed from dust, sunlight, and high temperatures. This is done using a variety of materials, ranging from a high tech vinyl plastic compound, called spraylat after its producer the Spraylat Corporation, of an opaque white color sprayed on the aircraft, to simple garbage bags. The plane is then towed by a tug to its designated "storage" position.
The Group annually in-processes an undisclosed number of aircraft for storage and out-processes a number of aircraft for return to the active service, either repainted and sold to friendly foreign governments, recycled as target or remotely controlled drones or rebuilt as civilian cargo, transport, and/or utility planes. For instance, Turkey has purchased several Vietnam-era jets in recent years that had been stored on site. There is much scrutiny over who (civilians, companies, foreign governments) and what kind of parts they may buy. At times, these sales are canceled, the Air Force for example reclaimed several F-16's from AMARG for the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Courses which were originally meant to be sold to Pakistan, but never delivered due to an early-90's embargo.
Read more about this topic: 309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group
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