I lived in Arizona for three years until I moved back to New York in July 2001. However, just before leaving, a friend of mine named Andy told me that there were a bunch of American, Hawaiian and United DC-10's in storage awaiting their new fate as MD-10 upgrades for Fed-Ex at the Phoenix Goodyear Airport. The Goodyear facility included two large aircraft hangars totaling more than 240,000 square feet of space, more than 65,000 square feet of support shops and office space. In addition, there were also associated taxiways and ramp space for aircraft parking. The location would accommodate work on as many as four DC-10s at a time.
The first phase of the MD-10 modification began by converting the DC-10 passenger jets to freighters. The second phase was installing the McDonnell Douglas Advanced Common Flightdeck which, required a crew of only two rather than the three-person DC-10 crew. Honeywell Air Transport Systems of Phoenix would provide the advanced avionics systems for the cockpits.
These are pictures from June 6th 2001
Large Panoramas
The following pictures are from July 1st 2003
In July 2003, I was in Phoenix, Arizona for my fathers birthday party. I decided to take a short trip to Goodyear to see how much it had changed since September 11, 2001. My father gladly agreed to watch my son, Nicholas, while I headed south to Goodyear. Upon arrival, I snapped a few shots at the front gate and was very glad that I had taken a small bottle of water with me. The temperature was 112 degrees and I wasn't ready for the long, arid day. I took a few shots and continued my attempt to get close to the aircraft storage lineup that I filmed on my last trip.
I then turned my sights on getting up to the fence and getting the really close shots. I never tried this before but I was looking for very high quality shots. While driving my father's truck, I spotted a freshly plowed field and pulled over. It looked like sand but felt more like talc power. When my foot hit the sand it sank about four inches. This strange sand was so hot that it was burning my ankles. After walking through this crap for about 1/4 of a mile, I finally reached the fence.
I took shots for about an hour. I was overheated, dehydrated and ready to pass out but I couldn't stop snapping away. I wanted as many shots as possible and I was thinking that if I didn't end up in ER then I didn't try hard enough!
And then it happened... A man started walking towards me. He shouted, "What are you doing?" I did what I always do, I shouted back, "Hey, look at this!!! These pictures are great!". He walked over to me and I showed him my shots. He yelled over to his co-worker, "Get this guy a glass of ice water." He told me that I didn't look good and that I should seek some shade (preferably with an air conditioner) and should get lots of liquids ASAP. He told me to meet him in the parking lot in three hours for a quick tour and to keep my camera away until then. He gave me his Delta cup filled with ice water and walked away.
I headed toward the truck to call my father and apologize for being so late. My father's reply was, "Don't be ridiculous. HAVE FUN!!"
The Cup!
Man it was HOT!!!
Passing the north side of the airport, I couldn't pass by the aircraft without stopping for a few pictures. I stopped only because I was able to keep the truck running with the AC on!
Large Panorama
I kept myself busy for the next three hours. I took shots of this DC-7. I was informed, later on, that this DC-7 was purchased many years ago by a church group that reportedly was going to use this aircraft to fly away when Armageddon happened. The oil stopped leaking from the engines many years prior to this shot being taken!
Lufthansa also uses this airport for pilot training.
Finally, three hours later, my new "friend" kept his word and took me into the hangars. We walked in when a 737-400 was going through a D-Check. The plane was in itty bitty pieces all over the place. There were main gears sitting next to lavatories and seats. We walked outside to see a white MD-11 all sealed up except for the pilots window. We went past a bunch of U.S. Airways Airbus's that were being worked on. There was a DC-10 that was used for rock group tours. I got to take pictures inside of an 777 inlet.
My tour lasted about an hour however, I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I would have liked. It was still awesome and this was an experience that I will never forget. It truly was a day in paradise but, without any palm trees!
