Blue sky thinking: Disused jets in U.S. Air Force 'graveyard' given new lease of life by world's best graffiti artists



A cemetery of disused war planes in the scorching Arizona desert has been given a new lease of life – as part of an art project.



‘The Boneyard Project’ resurrects disused warplanes that lie in the famous Boneyard in Arizona by letting graffiti artists paint them.



More than 30 of the world’s best urban artists worked on five ruined US Air Force jets, vividly bringing them back to life with paint and colour.



Revival: A painted Douglas DC-3 called 'Phoenix of Metal' by artists 'HOW & NOSM' and currently on display in Tucson

The brain child of art patron Eric Firestone, the project seeks to resurrect disused planes from throughout America’s military history.



Mr Firestone explains: 'The first part of the Boneyard Project, 'Nose Job', made its debut in the summer of 2011 with an exhibition of nose cones taken from military aeroplanes and given to artists to use as eccentric- shaped "canvases".

'The second instalment in this series: Round Trip: Selections from The Boneyard Project, features five monumental works created on military planes by a dynamic selection of popular graffiti and street artists from around the world.'



Jason Wawro, who produced the stunning imagery of the Boneyard Project, said ‘The project to me is once in a lifetime event.



Brought back to life: Artist Saner has decorated part of a disused war plane to give it new life

Giving art wings: A painted Lockheed Jetstar called 'Spy Tigers' by Andrew Schoultz, painted in the Arizona desert

Makeover: A painted Beechcraft C-45 model airplane called 'Naughty Angels' by artist Faile, part of the one in a lifetime event

New interpretation: A painted Douglas DC-3, called 'Warning Shot' reimagines the old military plane

Team effort: 30 of the world's best urban artists worked on the ruined jets to bring them back to life

Work in progress: Andrew Shcoultz works on a Lockheed Jetstar airplane called 'Spy Tigers' in the heat of the Arizona desert

Plane tastes: A painted Douglas DC-3 Nose Cone called 'Jerky Jermal' by artist 'Bast' brings an old plane back to life

A lick of paint: A reinterpreted Douglas DC-3 entitled 'Warning Shot' by artist 'RETNA'

'It represents a visionary concept in art, to take full sized discarded planes and have artists re-imagine them is something that has never been done before.



'After witnessing what went into making this project happen I know that a project of this scale will not come again for a long time.



'This is exhibition is something completely different, it has to be seen to be believed, and when it's gone it won't ever come again.'



Huge canvases: Some of the disused Boneyard planes took a few days to paint while others took weeks

Unusual canvas: Artists were able to paint the whole exterior of the planes - and some chose to cover every last inch

Finer details: The intricate patterns require close attention to detail, with many of the Boneyard planes taking several days to complete

Eagle-eyed: Planes in the art project are brought back to life with vivid colours and images

Dead planes: Most of the fighter jets sit in a patch of U.S. desert waiting to be used as spare parts for current models

Showcasing urban talent: The discarded plane canvases will be on display until mid-May

Grouping together to swap walls for jets: Some of the projects were collaborations between urban artists from all around the world

Job complete: Artist Retna leans against a graffiti-covered Douglas DC-3, called 'Warning Shot', which retains some elements of the United States flag

An idea sure to take off: Andrew Shcoultz is one of the 30 artists who painted disused planes as part of the innovative project

Brought back to life: Artists swapped walls for wings in the project aimed at resurrecting disused war planes in a new guise

He added that some pieces took three days to paint, while others took weeks with breaks in between. Some were completed by one person, whereas others had five working on them at a time.



The exhibit expands on the nose cone art that has its roots in pre-World War II fighter planes.



The Boneyard houses more than 4,400 aircraft, B-52 flying fortresses, F14 Tomcats and the notorious A-10 Thunderbolt 'tank busters'. It is a 2,6000-acre patch of U.S. desert, where $35billion worth of outdated planes is kept as spare parts for current models.



Plane cemetery: Squeezed up against each other, these B-52s are stored at what has been dubbed 'The Boneyard' in Arizona

End of the line: Google Earth image showing the 2,600 acre site, which is home to 4,200 aircraft. Of these, 80 per cent are used as spare parts for the current U.S Air Force fleet

Some planes are merely stored at the base between deployments, but for more than 80 per cent of the 4,200 aircraft that call it home, it is a cemetery of steel - 350,000 items to be called on when needed.



The desert is a perfect place to store the mass of steel, because low humidity and rainfall means very little rust occurs. In addition, the hard soil means they can be parked up without the need for building concrete ramps.

