See Aircraft Boneyard at Kingman Airport, Arizona

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You might not know it from looking at it today, but the Kingman Airport played an important role in WWII Army history. Built at the beginning of the war as an aerial gunnery training base, the airfield became one of the Army Air Corps’ largest. At the end of the war, it was closed for that purpose and reopened for another one. Kingman Airport, or rather Storage Depot No. 41, became an aircraft boneyard. What’s that, you ask? It’s a place where old aircraft are stored. In this case, it was also the place where airplanes were taken apart and salvaged. In fact, 5,483 airplanes were scrapped there. Here’s how it worked! After everything was taken off the airplane that could be reused, the metal was put into a furnace and smelted. While it was open, the furnaces at Storage Depot No. 41 ran 24 hours a day and could consume up to 35 planes a day. By the end of the war, $7.5 million dollars worth of aluminum, steel, fuel, and oil was recovered at Kingman’s storage depot. Today, you’ll find the Kingman Army Airfield Historical Society Museum next to the airport. Go visit to hear stories and see artifacts from the airfield’s history! TIPS: The museum is just down the road from the Kingman Airport terminal.

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