Spanning 16.5 miles this graveyard of planes stores 4,500 aircrafts.

Overlooking the aircraft boneyard, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

Davis-Monthan United States Air Force Base is home to 4,400 aircraft and 13 aerospace vehicles. Spanning 16.4 miles it is the largest aircraft boneyard in the world.

(Image: Getty)

In Tuscon, Arizona lies the largest aircraft boneyard in the world where thousands upon thousands of unused planes lie in rows next to each other. Davis-Monthan United States Air Force Base is a graveyard to 4,400 aircraft and 13 aerospace vehicles.

These include those from the US Air Force, US Army, US Navy, US. Marine Corps, US. Coast Guard, as well as NASA. The environment of Tucson offers ideal weather conditions for long-term aircraft storage thanks to its low humidity and the relatively infrequent and insignificant amount of rain it receives. But why in this unassuming neighbourhood is there thousands of planes no longer in use?

Take a look as to why so many planes are dumped here in our picture gallery below - don't forget to click on the next page for more!

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is the largest aircraft boneyard in the world

Following the surrender of Japan in September 1945, the United States Air Force had a huge surplus of aircraft and required a place to store them.

At the time, Davis–Monthan Army Air Field was a bomber training base that had the room to store aircraft.

(Image: Getty)

Rows of planes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

The aircraft facility is the perfect place to store planes as Tuscon receives barely any rainfall a year providing the perfect environment for storing aircraft for a long period of time. 

(Image: Getty)

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

Tucson has a hot desert climate that gets less than 11 inches of rainfall a year - storing unused aircraft in arid, desert environments is preferable to wet or humid climates.

By the spring of 1946, more than 600 Boeing B-29 Superfortress and 200 C-47 Skytrain aircraft were being stored at the site.

(Image: Getty)

Military aircrafts at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

In 1965 even more planes were added to the site as the Department of Defense decided closed the United States Navy aircraft storage facility in Phoenix.

There all surplus military aircraft were sent to Davis-Monthan.

(Image: Getty)

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