AMERICAN SCENE: The Great Arizona Aircraft Apron

A prospector who stumbled out of the mountains that ring the Arizona desert might be forgiven for trying to blink away a mirage. Below, on the hot sands near Tucson, shimmers probably the largest collection of aircraft ever assembled in one place in the history of the world. Some of the 6,000 vehicles are arrayed in neat rows that seem to curve off to the horizon; others swarm and cluster like a plague of monstrous locusts. Spread over 2,500 acres is an air armada that seems big enough to start World War III...

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