In case you're like me and thought the only remnants of F-14s were in Iran, a few in the boneyard, and some in museums, this odd find may interest you..
Too bad there are no BuNos visible...maybe some of the parts will have them. Then you can trace it back to what aircraft it was.
How they got there and have trees growing through them is pretty interesting. I would almost imagine the F-14s and F-4 collided and went down over there, it's such a random place. But there is no burn evidence plus all the instruments and control panels have been removed. Really weird. Anyone know where this is?
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
I should go over to Korea before last E models bow out... if I haven't missed them already. Pity they already got rid of the D models.
Luckily I managed to catch the last QF-4Es before they were withdrawn in December last year. Unfortunately they will not end up in any museum but they are now all ground targets at White Sands....
Wow. That's only a couple of hours drive from me. Tempting....
4H_V-man
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Come to think of it, this thread reminds me of a time when I was at Area 51 in 2000. I had heard rumor that there was an F-4 that had crashed in the mountainside just north of Rachel NV near Area 51. No one seemed to know what happened to cause the crash but the weird part was that the USAF did not do a recovery of it, they just left the wreckage their. There weren't any reports as to what happened or what happened to the aircrew that I or anyone else know of or could find. It was just abandoned. So, I went to the approximate location of the crash and drove up as high as I could, then had to hike the rest of the way. I found it and alot of it was still fairly intact. It was in 2 locations primarily, one about 50 yards from the other. It looked almost as if it had split in half on impact and the other half got thrown to its resting place 50 yards away. Someone had been there as things like the instrument panels and the ejection seats were missing. I don't have a good feeling about the aircrew though. While rummaging around the site, I found the remains of a HGU-33P chin strap, with a piece of the fiberglass of the helmet still attached. I also found one flight suit 1LT bar. I couldn't believe this stuff was still there. I also found the sole of a flight boot that was melted. The site itself was eerie, the personal effects made it simultaneously creepier and sad.
I wish I knew who the aircrew was and where there family is so that they can be contacted to let them know that there are some personal effects up there. But, I guess sometimes, like in the case of the F-14s and F-4 in this thread, <shrug> they just abandon them.
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
Looks like they were scrapped and then dumped. The Tomcats have every screwable panel removed, and every instrument has been removed. Odd to see the F-4 still has the throttle quadrant...I'd give some money to have that!
Come to think of it, this thread reminds me of a time when I was at Area 51 in 2000. I had heard rumor that there was an F-4 that had crashed in the mountainside just north of Rachel NV near Area 51. No one seemed to know what happened to cause the crash but the weird part was that the USAF did not do a recovery of it, they just left the wreckage their. There weren't any reports as to what happened or what happened to the aircrew that I or anyone else know of or could find. It was just abandoned. So, I went to the approximate location of the crash and drove up as high as I could, then had to hike the rest of the way. I found it and alot of it was still fairly intact. It was in 2 locations primarily, one about 50 yards from the other. It looked almost as if it had split in half on impact and the other half got thrown to its resting place 50 yards away. Someone had been there as things like the instrument panels and the ejection seats were missing. I don't have a good feeling about the aircrew though. While rummaging around the site, I found the remains of a HGU-33P chin strap, with a piece of the fiberglass of the helmet still attached. I also found one flight suit 1LT bar. I couldn't believe this stuff was still there. I also found the sole of a flight boot that was melted. The site itself was eerie, the personal effects made it simultaneously creepier and sad.
I wish I knew who the aircrew was and where there family is so that they can be contacted to let them know that there are some personal effects up there. But, I guess sometimes, like in the case of the F-14s and F-4 in this thread, <shrug> they just abandon them.
Thanks, for a moment there I thought you had a lead. But this article mentioned that it was in San Bernardino County, CA. I was in Lincoln County, NV.
Interesting though!
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
I think I actually have identified the pilots and even the serial number of the aircraft. I guess since 2000 there has been an exponential amount of additional information that has made it onto the web since then. Now if there is a way to contact next of kin...
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot