Bone Scavengers

A portion of the Mojave Airport is referred to as an airplane boneyard. In 1990 Eastern Airlines asked to store some planes in this dry desert air that makes it safe from corrosion. Soon other airlines chose this site for their surplus and over 200 planes were stored here. Some of the airliners were older planes that did not meet noise standards, or needed new engines; a few were new Boeing 747's awaiting British Airways' need overseas (which never materialized). Most became scrap and are now cannibalized for parts. The Mojave Airport is also a renowned civilian flight test center and home to some unique aircraft such as the Rutan Voyager (record for nonstop unfueled flight around the world), the Proteus (high-altitude telecommunications relay), and SpaceShipOne (first private manned spacecraft). Hollywood has come calling many times to shoot movies here such as Speed, Waterworld, Flight Plan, Die Hard II, and others.