Alice Airport

[NT5224]

I know there are great pics from the air  of international airports congested with grounded passenger aircraft, but I've just driven into the Alice airport and had to do a double take as I turned the corner onto the airport access road.

 

Dozens of aircraft dragged into the scrub and left there. Its quite extraordinary!  Not something I expected to see in my lifetime.

 

Alan 

 

 

[turboplanner]

Not surprising, since desert storage was pioneered in the US, low moisture issues.

 

[red750]

Check out this article and video.

[facthunter]

Alice Springs does occasionally get quite a bit of rain. Some of those planes require metres of reinforced Concrete to support their weight and pressure exerted by the tyres.. Be a disaster if they got seriously bogged. Planes that normally spend most of each day in the sky run out of available space if the major part of them are grounded.  Nev

[Jase T]

Alic also has this awesome restricted area just to the south west of the airfield....... I remember when it was the only P area in the country... Now its just an R but a very very serious R

 

[onetrack]

There's some serious level of ongoing maintenance right there - just checking tyre inflation pressures, checking for wasps nests, and other insect attacks, and possibly even moving the aircraft regularly to prevent flat spots on tyres, would just be the start of the constant work to ensure that the aircraft that are going to fly again, will fly without problems. A lot of those aircraft parked there, will never fly again, though, I'd have to opine - particularly the 4 engine ones.

[Jase T]

34 minutes ago, onetrack said:

There's some serious level of ongoing maintenance right there - just checking tyre inflation pressures, checking for wasps nests, and other insect attacks, and possibly even moving the aircraft regularly to prevent flat spots on tyres, would just be the start of the constant work to ensure that the aircraft that are going to fly again, will fly without problems. A lot of those aircraft parked there, will never fly again, though, I'd have to opine - particularly the 4 engine ones.

the engines have to be started every 7 days or 'pickeled properly' no other choice. I

[Ironpot]

This was yesterday.

[onetrack]

I sure wouldn't mind the income the owner of the aircraft parking hardstand is currently getting! Talk about being in the right place and right time, with the decision to start up the parking hardstand!