Aaaah...NOT.
That is for the START II Treaty B-52's.
A C-141 is not a weapons launching platform.
[img]http://www.btinternet.com/~codacomsystems/AMARC/Gallery/640/C141B_Area24_Disposal.jpg[/img]
A row of cut Lockheed C-141B Starlifters in area 24 awaiting outside contractors to transport them the short distance to a metal processing facility.
It was inevitable that owing to the rapid retirement of so many Lockheed C-141 Starlifters to AMARC it would not be long before the large scale scrapping of the type began.
With no airframe life remaining there is no chance of them returning to the USAF active inventory and with so relatively few C-141 left operational there is no requirement for a large number of reclamation aircraft at AMARC.
Due to the size of the C-141 initial scrapping is being carried out in situ using the same method that has been used on the scrapping over the years of the mighty B-52 Stratofortress. A crane with a slipper gear raises a 13,500lb guillitine blade to a height of approx 60 foot and then drops it, severing the aircraft with ease. This technique appears simplistic but it proves extremely effective.
To make their removal more manageable three or four cuts are made to each aircraft , one to each wing, one to the tail section and sometimes one cutting off the nose section. HVF West, a local metal processing company, are responsible for the removal and processing of the remains at their facility located a few miles from the AMARC main gate. Here the aircraft sections are ground down into very small metal fragments which will be ready for smelting down into ingots for recycling.
HVF West have been heavily involved with AMARC for a number of years, most notably with the disposal of the B-52 bombers cut up as part of the START II agreement.
The C-141 cutting work was started during July of 2003 targeting the older arrivals over in the reclamation area. By mid August areas 23 and 24 have been cleared of the type, many examples from area 3 have also been cleared.
It is unknown how many have been marked for disposal but there could be another 100 destined to this fate.
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Chopped under satellite view for treaty conformance with the Russians.
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