With their ideal climate and sparsely populated land, Arizona and the southwestern states were used extensively to train Air Force and Navy pilots. The height of this training took place from World War II thru the 1960’s. With the many air bases training thousands of pilots came many mishaps. There were over 500 aircraft accidents in Arizona alone during WWII, and over another 600 by the end of the 1960’s. Fortunately, many of the crews were able to bail out and survive the crash, but tragically, there were many that did not.

Over the last 18 years I have located more than 400 crash sites in the rugged deserts and mountains of the southwest. As an avid hiker and vintage military aviation historian, I enjoy hunting for old aircraft wrecks so I can preserve their history by photographing and documenting these historical aviation remnants of the past. I find that each crash site, as well as the pilots or crewmen I am fortunate to track down, has a unique and intriguing story.

Enjoy some of their stories in this little-known chapter of aviation history.  Trey Brandt

Vintage Airfield Souvenirs