From the October 16, 2022, General Aviation News "The fate of World War II surplus aircraft" by Frederick Johnsen.
The war ends and there are a lot of aircraft that now have no job. So, what do you do with them?
Aircraft storage areas, typically in Arizona and the southwest became the new homes for the older and sometines war-weary aircraft. By early August 1945, with the war still underway, about 4,000 aircraft were already in these holding areas.
You could find the aircraft at airfields such as Wickenburg, Arizona, Ontario and Blythe, California.
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was in charge of disposal. Efforts to recoup costs involved selling their engines and accessories, while scrapping the aluminum frames.
In August 1945, Ontario, hosted 1,600 surplus warplanes, Blythe 877, Hemet, California, logged 27 and Phoenix had 236 and Wickenburg 680.
The Los Angeles RFC office estimated that it cost $8 per month per aircraft for storage and processing., including handling sales.
--GreGen
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