Mojave, California - Airplane Graveyard

My dad drove my family out the the airplane graveyard because he had to drive up there for his work and it was on our way to Edwards AFB. It was a really cold Sunday morning when my family got to the town and took a joy ride. I saw some really old jets and other planes, including a C-130. Also the air/space port have a little park with a rocket, and Space Ship One on display now. [Felicia Avendano, 11/22/2008]

I'm in the film industry in Los Angeles and they use this airport for filming a LOT! I've worked on several commercials, movies and TV there, including "Hot Shots" and "Jag." They also launched the first non-NASA manned space flight "SpaceShipOne" from there. [Tony Potter, 04/25/2007]

This is a storage area for surplus and obsolete airliners. It is also a major site for aircraft modification work, research (Burt Rutan, designer of SpaceShip One, has his facilities here) and test flying for commercial companies. The blue and white jet at the main entrance is an extremely rare Convair 990, a commercial failure from the early 1960's. This is also one of the few places in the US to see Vietnam-era F-4 Phantoms in operation -- they are turned into target drones at the BAE Systems hangar here. Mojave is a good place to see strange and rare aircraft, in addition to its proximity to Edwards AFB, the Air Force's test center with its own population of unusual planes. [Jim Atkins, 05/27/2006]

I live in Mojave and work on the airport. It is both an aircraft graveyard and long term "flyable" store. The graveyard supplies only parts from aircraft that have exceeded their service life. The "flyable" storage aircraft can be returned to service with the proper maintanance. [Mark Harvey, 04/07/2006]

Near the intersection of the 14 and the 58 freeway, you will notice to the southeast, LOTS of airplanes. I don't know the whole story, but there appears to be an active airport nearby, where jumbo jets fly in and out everyday. I suspect this is a jiffy lube for 747's. The planes themselves are fenced off, but the airport is open to the public. There are several very tall, thin hangars which look like they could have rocket ships inside or something. There is also an animal shelter in the middle of the airport. Very strange. Most of the planes are stripped of their windows and engines. There are several junked heavy-duty military planes, and I am guessing this used to be a military base. [Steve Biloba, 04/20/2005]