Top Shelf #14853

The Story

This cut-off airplane nose and cockpit came to rest under the trees and on top of this bus by way of a junkyard forklift. Limited to just thirteen acres, this rather old scrap metal yard was nearly out of room and bursting at the seams, as they say. I swear this guy never threw anything away. If this hoarder’s paradise couldn’t spread out, it had to go up!

The New Jersey countryside is an unlikely place to find an airplane graveyard, but planes of all types and sizes came in from nearby Fort Dix. Some ended up here as the military transports and smaller jets aged out over time. Of course, they had to be whacked into pieces small enough to be hauled to the junkyard by truck. The smaller helicopters and jets were still whole.

A hoarder’s paradise, most of the thirteen acres of ground was littered down to the edges of the narrow, tightly packed paths with any imaginable thing made of metal. The sheer density was surprising, the paths threaded around the taller stacks like a rabbit warren or a complex maze. Tricycles and lawnmowers, cars from the forties, old cranes, anything large and small made of metal, you name it. As you can see, even the junk school buses were packed to the gills with good old stuff, and likely to never be seen again.

But the highlight of this over-stuffed scrap metal yard were these large airplane pieces made of aluminum which were certainly a very interesting curiosity when mixed in and piled high with the traditional junk.

If you care to see the entire airplane graveyard gallery, it’s right here. Just for fun, I’d bet this airplane nose would have made an absolutely wonderful playhouse for kids!

Location: Camden County, New Jersey.