It was one of the most talked about exhibitions at London’s Tate Britain last year. Fiona Banner’s inspired Harrier and Jaguar, which featured two retired fighter planes in the incongruous setting of the Duveen Galleries, captivated the modern art loving audience between June 2010 and January 2011. But aviation enthusiasts in particular will be shocked to learn that the decommissioned jets may have been sold for scrap.

(Image: cormac70, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Far from becoming sought-after works of art, like Damien Hirst’s sheep or Tracey Emin’s bed, the Harrier and Jaguar aircraft, which flew combat sorties over Bosnia and Iraq, appear to have found their way to a scrap metal merchant in Harrow, London. While it’s unclear whether these are the same planes, the evidence is persuasive.

(Image: cormac70, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

The Jaguar’s centre section is stripped of paint and remains highly polished despite currently sitting on the back of a trailer. The forward fuselage of the Sea Harrier, on the other hand, sports the same unconventiional paint scheme on its nose as the jet at Tate Britain, resembling a bird’s bill rather than the straight edge normally associated with aircraft radomes.  The aircraft’s fuselage also has the graphic feather markings seen on the Tate Harrier, strong evidence that this is the same jet.

(Images: Matt Brown,  cc-3.0; bixentro, cc-3.0)

According to Fiona Banner, Harrier and Jaguar are “ambiguous objects implying both captured beast and fallen trophy”.  While the Sea Harrier was transformed into a “captive bird”, with feathered markings on its surface similar to the Harrier Hawk, the Jaguar lay belly-up on the floor with posture suggestive of a submissive animal.  Now that the exhibition is over, many will be sorry to find that the aircraft may not have been saved.  The Harrier, after all, was substantially rebuilt for the exhibition after it crashed in 2000.

Next: Harrier and Jaguar: Lethal Warplanes Become Fine Art

Wreck of Harrier GR3 XZ988 Near Goose Green, Falkland Islands	Harrier and Jaguar: Lethal Warplanes Become Fine Art	End of an Era for Derelict “A1 Lightning” Fighter Jet	Crashed P-38 Lightning: The Maid of Harlech
The Last Lightning, RAF Binbrook	Buried MiG-25 Foxbat Jet Uncovered in Iraqi Desert, Now Preserved in US	The Mig-23 Graveyard, Balad	Farewell to the Harrier: The Jump Jet Jumps No More

Image courtesy of U.S. Federal Government

Images by Bob Jagendorf

The pictures show the Staten Island boneyard, where several old vessels languish semi-submerged offshore.  One of them is the famed Staten Island ferry that has appeared in countless films, including The Dark Knight, and is a well known sight in New York Harbor.  This corroding vessel is one of several redundant ferries in a fleet that has been tooing-and-froing New Yorkers between Staten Island and the city in one form or another since the 1700s.  The cruise liner (left) is the SS United States, built in 1952 and operated until 1969.  Despite appearances, the ship is said to be in sound condition and continues to boast the coveted Blue Riband, previously held by the British.  Various groups have pledged to refurbish the SS United States, perhaps even return it to service.

Desert Aircraft Boneyards

Images by PhillipC

The most famous desert boneyards can be found in Arizona.  This dusty moonscape is the final resting place for many military and civilian planes.  The hot dry climate creates perfect conditions to store surplus aircraft that may one day be revived and used again.  The faded metal machines lining the desert floor in their thousands make up an “air force” to rival many on the planet.  The mighty B-52 bomber (bottom right) has probably been loitering here since the end of the Vietnam War.  (Here’s one of the not-so-lucky ones: after years providing spare parts to the active fleet of F-14s, this former Top Gun is about to be shredded.)

Davis Monthan, Arizona

Images by omnibus

Arizona’s biggest and most famous boneyard, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, is a place like no other.  Home to around 4,000 surplus military machines, all of them inventoried and numerically identifiable, this is where the U.S. government sends its warplanes when their flying days are over.  Many will be scrapped after lying silent for years, others cannibalised for parts.  But some have a far more fiery fate in store for them.  The F-4 Phantom (above, top left and bottom right) is one of the most successful warplanes ever built, and is set to be honoured for its achievements by flying one final mission as a target drone to be blown out of the sky during missile firing trials.  It almost makes this sunken Phantom wreck seem like a lucky survivor.

Images by Webbaliah

The white latex (above right) covering the jet’s air vents, canopy, intakes and panel joins helps keep moisture out of all the nooks and crannies, limiting problems brought on by corrosion.  Combined with the dry heat of the fearsome desert sun, it explains why these Cold War warriors can be brought back to life after years of storage.  But for the battered jet at bottom right, the word “Rescue” looks somewhat ironic today.

Middle Eastern Boneyard

Images by jonmallard

The spoils of war!  Here’s a slightly different and certainly more redundant boneyard resident.  This captured MiG-21 has taken a battering over the years, and today looks more like a rusting trophy for the American soldier taking a break beneath its tail fin.  For this old MiG, the flying days are definitely over.  (View more abandoned Soviet hardware from Iraq to Russia.)

Neon Bonyard

Image by Lord Jim

Images by Lord Jim

Even glitzy neon signs are eventually scrapped and recycled. It’s hard to image that these bright and gaudy specimens that once lined the boardwalk or hung above some roadside diner could end up amongst the rubbish.  But Lord Jim’s images show how they can still look cool in abandonment.  With the sunlight beaming down and the neon lighting turned off, the yellow duck looks positively hypnotised.

Image by Elsie esq.

Image by lawrence baulch

Images by vitalyzator

Finally, abandoned trains are a stalwart feature of many a proud boneyard.  Their sheer size and weight means they can sustain years and neglect – not to mention provide valuable amounts of scrap metal.  These proud machines lie derelict at the end of an arduous life and a job well done.  It’s possible some of them might be renovated by museums, but for most this is an unlikely prospect.

Related Articles:
Abandoned Aircraft, Airfields, Airbases and Airport Terminals
Abandoned Railways, Trains, Stations, Tunnels and Bridges
Desert Oddity: Lost Aircraft of the Mojave

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Image by Senior Airman Alan R. Wycheck

(Image via U.S. Federal Government, released into public domain)

Ever wondered what happens to a state of the art aircraft at the end of its useful service life?  For those that don’t go on to museums, fate is often dealt out by the unforgiving arms and jagged claws of mechanical diggers.  And while it’s a crying shame when it happens, it’s certainly an impressive sight to behold…

Image by Alan Radecki

(Image published under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic)

Along with the heavy machinary, “scrappers” now use hand-held gas saws to accomplish many of the “finer details”, as you can see in the video below where they literally slice through a massive airliner’s fuselage by hand. (Ironically, the most crude of instruments is enough to finish off aircraft that were once at the forefront of technology.  Even the Stealth Fighter isn’t immune.)

Below you can see the way the U.S. Air Force’s mighty B-52 Stratofortress‘ are disposed of – via the guillotine.  The B-52 may be the most impressive bomber ever to grace the skies, but it’s no match for this huge plate of metal, crashing down from above to sever the wings from the fuselage.  The latter is then chopped into several large chunks of twisted metal, allowing passing Russian spy satellites to survey the devastation and monitor the disposal of certain aircraft types to satisfy post-Cold War arms limitation treaties.

For further reading, be sure to check out Weburbanist’s article: 15 Radical Ways to Recycle Airplanes and Parts, as well as Airplane House and Boat Conversions by Dark Roasted Blend.  And don’t miss this great series as photographer Alan Radecki gets up close and personal to some not so fortunate aircraft.

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Image by Marcelloo

Modern aircraft are at the forefront of cutting edge technology and science, defying the laws of physics on a daily basis through a myriad of computer-controlled interventions.  But once their service lives are over, military aircraft in particular can go from being multi-million dollar front-line hardware to mere scrap value.  For example, these Royal Air Force F4 Phantoms were tasked to NATO right up until the moment they were stripped of their useful fittings and towed onto the dump at RAF Wattisham.  The pictures that follow detail yesterday’s technology lingering on in today’s world.

Image by liako

Appearing the overhang a sheer cliff, this forlorn U.S. Air Force Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star was forced down on 23 December 1957.  Here it is today, at the “National Weapons Museum” in Gjirokastra, Albania.

Image by Acred99

Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0

The wreck above is a Nakajima Ki-49 Hellen abandoned after a US air raid on Madang during World War Two. The base was rendered completely unserviceable and several aircraft were left there when a replacement airfield was built. The original site is far bigger than Madang’s current airfield.  A restoration effort was considered but the price estamate was too high – it must have been one serious bombing mission…

Image by GJC1

The tails pictured above belong to a redundant group of English Electric Lightnings.  These particular aircraft were retained at RAF Cranfield after the type’s retirement, put to work as trials aircraft during the early service life of their successor, the Tornado F3.  Once their duties were finished, these old Lightning’s were towed to a corner of the airfield to await their fates – preservation or scrapping.

Image by Looper5920

Destroyed military hardware is evident all over Iraq today – some of it left over from Operation Desert Storm almost 20 years ago, and some from the current conflict, like the old Mig 21 above.  This aircraft can be found at Al Asad air base in western Iraq.  Behind it is a Mig 25, a development of the Mig 21 but nevertheless in an equally sorry condition.

Image by Ammar shaker

Derelict RSAF T-28A Trojan, one of four acquired in the 1950s, at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah.

Image by animosaurus

It’s amazing what people can stumble across in the long grass!

Image by DanieVDM

Old planes even come in handy as theme park rides, like this ageing Dakota.

Image by Spillone

And finally, this old Stuka dive bomber, a World War Two veteran, has definitely seen better days!

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