Airplanes and more airplanes in Tucson

An SR-71 at the PIMA Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

TUCSON, Ariz.--I've just finished my tours of the PIMA Air and Space Museum and the Arizona Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility here, and boy have I seen a lot of airplanes.

I'm visiting the two facilities as part of my Road Trip 2007 around the Southwest. They are basically side by side, and house approximately 300 and 4,300 planes, respectively.

At the Air and Space museum, it's a mix of military, NASA and civilian planes, including an SR-71, the plane that brought the hostages home from Iran in 1981, plus many others.

At AMARG, it's almost entirely military, with row after row of fighter jets, cargo planes and many, many, many others.

I've seen a lot of planes in my time, but nothing like this. I mean, that was nearly 5,000 planes in a couple of hours. I feel like I should be somewhere in mid-air.

I'll post a full story and gallery on these facilities later, but I wanted to give you a taste now.

An F-14 Tomcat at the Arizona Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)