AMARAC storage

[Perun]

Hi mates. Does any one know procedures and time needed for deconservation of aircrafts stored at AMARAC site? Are those aircrafts airworthy? I wonder if stored F-4 Phantoms and other aircrafts could be put into service and how much time would it be needed? Scenario is for 3rd WW in 1989. Also could those F-4 reinforce West German, Spanish and UK air forces even if it is another variant used in their air forces

[RETAC21]

29 minutes ago, Perun said:

Hi mates. Does any one know procedures and time needed for deconservation of aircrafts stored at AMARAC site? Are those aircrafts airworthy? I wonder if stored F-4 Phantoms and other aircrafts could be put into service and how much time would it be needed? Scenario is for 3rd WW in 1989. Also could those F-4 reinforce West German, Spanish and UK air forces even if it is another variant used in their air forces

http://www.amarcexperience.com/ui/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=192

Come war, sure as many airframes as possible would be reactivated, but in 1988-89 most airframes there would be early model F-4s, F-102s, F-106s, F-105s and their Navy equivalents of the Vietnam era. They would be used to support AF reserve or ANG units which would be using the same airframes IMO rather than pass them to allies that would use different models (Germany, Britain) or were phasing them out (Spain) while the F-4E was pretty much in use in the ANG. 

I suspect attrition would be more of a problem in terms of pilots as the Air Forces would need to produce them fron staffs and the civilian world, which wouldn't lead to them being current.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

UK was using the F4J, so I could possibly see more of those coming over. I think reactivation from AMARC would take too long.

There is a good podcast on fighter pilot podcast that gives a good overview on how the place works, episode 77.

 

https://www.fighterpilotpodcast.com

[Dawes]

Unless the aircraft were fairly recent arrivals at AMARC, reactivation would be pretty protracted. The time required would probably be months, not weeks. If you were trying to reactivate, say, 20 F-4's you might need to cannibalize another 20 just for parts.

[TrustMe]

The USAAF just recently reactivated a B52 that had been sitting in the desert for god knows how many years. If I can find the news link ill post it here.

[Captain Hurricane]

Hi Perun

Here's a couple of quite useful links about the general processes they use to refurbish planes at AMARC that might be of interest to you:

https://youtu.be/WSXenyilHqE

https://youtu.be/L1s-1nHdIgs

Hope they are of some use in answering your question.

 

[Perun]

I found this:

“Wise Guy” was selected and some pre-planning and structural inspections began December 2018 in preparations for a formal kick off January 2019. The inspections were completed by the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, a part of the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group, at OC-ALC, and a contract non-destructive inspection team from Boeing, says an official release.

A team of 13 to 20 maintainers worked on the B-52 at AMARG, to prepare it to be moved to Barksdale AFB for further repairs, a move that could be successfully completed on May 14, 2019.

...

When the aircraft touched down at Barksdale, phase two began, bringing “Wise Guy” up to common fleet standards. The activities were completed in little less than one year and the B-52 could be then transferred to Tinker AFB for the last phase: the PDM process, a series of heavy checks, normally executed every 48 months on the B-52, during which the aircraft is almost completely disassembled and each part is inspected and all defects are fixed before they are rebuilt and sent back to their home stations as they were (almost) brand new.

 

 

https://theaviationist.com/2020/12/17/wise-guy-is-back-regenerated-after-10-years-at-the-boneyard-b-52h-flies-again-after-pdm-at-tinker-afb/

 

So this means four-five months for B-52 in peace time conditions and after ten years of boneyard. With modernization and all inspections it takes about one year. I guess that for smaller aircraft which were in boneyard for short time (one to five years) and in wartime it would take up to four months. I dont know could air force find working crews. This is my assumption. Am I correct?

[rmgill]

With war footing more men and funds would be thrown at such an evolution. 

[Stuart Galbraith]

This reminds me, I was looking on the Eastern Orbat site the other day, and the Soviets had their own AMARC.

http://www.easternorbat.com/html/mig-23m_storage_eng.html

If you look on Yangadzha, you can even still see the presence of some Su-15's and some Mig-25's.

God, would I like to walk around there. I would love a Mig23 joystick and throttle assembly to modify for DCS. 😁

[seahawk]

On 6/5/2021 at 12:19 AM, Dawes said:

Unless the aircraft were fairly recent arrivals at AMARC, reactivation would be pretty protracted. The time required would probably be months, not weeks. If you were trying to reactivate, say, 20 F-4's you might need to cannibalize another 20 just for parts.

AMARC had different levels of storage.

- aircraft stored in flyable condition -> ready within days (Type 3000 storage today)

- aircraft stored in near flyaway condition -> ready within weeks (Type 1000 storage today)

- aircraft stored in fully preserved condition -> ready within months (Type 1500 storage today)

- aircraft stored for reclamation purposes (Type 2000 storage today)

- aircraft stored awaiting disposal (Type 4000 storage today)

Edited June 22, 2021 by seahawk

[Perun]

Is there any way to know how many aircrafts is in various storage types, period is late 80s early 90s

[seahawk]

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36702478.pdf

[Josh]

You would also have the problem of finding pilots with sufficient training to use the type you were taking out of storage. I assume the USAF had some ability to mobilize reserves and call people back to duty in this regard, but I suspect that any WWIII situation would be long over before aircraft could be returned to service with pilots in completely coordinated squadrons. You might have better luck integrating individual aircraft as attrition replacements into existing squadrons, so long as the aircraft were roughly the same in terms of maintenance and other training. I still doubt it would be significant or useful in the time frame of NATO/WP conflict, though it would still be done anyway if only to reconstitute US and allied air power in a post war world with other potential flashpoints (assuming anyone survived).

[On the way]

On 6/4/2021 at 11:54 AM, Perun said:

Hi mates. Does any one know procedures and time needed for deconservation of aircrafts stored at AMARAC site? Are those aircrafts airworthy? I wonder if stored F-4 Phantoms and other aircrafts could be put into service and how much time would it be needed? Scenario is for 3rd WW in 1989. Also could those F-4 reinforce West German, Spanish and UK air forces even if it is another variant used in their air forces

U mean AMARC?

[On the way]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:48 AM, Josh said:

You would also have the problem of finding pilots with sufficient training to use the type you were taking out of storage. I assume the USAF had some ability to mobilize reserves and call people back to duty in this regard, but I suspect that any WWIII situation would be long over before aircraft could be returned to service with pilots in completely coordinated squadrons. You might have better luck integrating individual aircraft as attrition replacements into existing squadrons, so long as the aircraft were roughly the same in terms of maintenance and other training. I still doubt it would be significant or useful in the time frame of NATO/WP conflict, though it would still be done anyway if only to reconstitute US and allied air power in a post war world with other potential flashpoints (assuming anyone survived).

Yes, absolutely, the conflict will be over long before anything can be made flyable again. If the US were to get into an air war of attrition with someone, they will be calling on allies around the world to make up the losses. Countries like Singapore already have F-16 and F-15 training detachments based in the US, you can bet the USAF will be requisitioning those aircraft. As well, countries like the Dutch also have a F-35 detachment for training and weapons trials, and those planes are probably going straight into the USAF inventory. If the war drags on, I can see countries like Singapore, Japan, Israel, etc flying their US made jets into American bases to be flown by american pilots. Like in 1973, when the IDF received USAF planes directly.