Us Air Force obligated to keep aging planes

Us Air Force obligated to keep aging planes

It is only 7 a.m., but John Nimrichter has been pulling parts from outdated military airplanes for an hour. These things get sizzling hot, he says, looking up at a 1950s-era B-52 bomber sitting on the baked desert just south of Tucson. You’ll lose your breath. Driving up and down endless rows of mothballed fighters, bombers, helicopters and cargo planes, Nimrichter and a crew of 63 fellow Air Force mechanics mine them for replacement parts for aircraft still in use. Many go into planes on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan,