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Comment by meerita | Hacker News Reader

Question for the locals: I don’t live in the USA, but I’d love to visit the boneyards someday and get inside some planes to take pictures. Are the boneyards open to the public? Do you need permission?

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Depends. Taking pictures in front of or around the planes is no problem, but majority are pretty much sealed off. That said, most of the bigger aerospace museums have several planes and helicopters with cockpit and cabin access.

Also if you’re talking specifically about the planes in the boneyards, would not recommend doing that in the desert. You will find some other “visitors” like rattlesnakes, scorpions etc. that have made the plane their habitat.

https://www.holloman.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/31...

Yes, I was referring to that :), not the museum ones (I've been to other museums, and I understand the constraints).

Snakes... on a plane.

Replace the snakes with steaks!

https://secretmanchester.com/steaks-on-a-plane-bolton-greate...

I used to work at an airport listed in this reference actually. Their boneyard was fully behind the fence and no public access would be granted. Even as staff we never went there because you've got massive aging equipment.

It would be an untenable liability to be having around them especially the public. Some of the chassis were there for years.

There are lots of great aviation museums in the USA, highly recommend visiting them. Many allow various degrees of access inside the aircraft, even more so if you chat up the museum staff. I don't imagine the boneyards will.

According to the site, many airplane boneyards are limited access sites and do not provide tours. You can always call or email them and ask though.

Not quite "open to the public," but very visible from public areas and close enough for you to get a good luck. Also, some offer tours or have attached museums.

It used to be that the Davis Monthan AFB offered tours, but sadly, those have ended for security reasons.

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