Goodyear has an even bigger airdock in Akron, OH.
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I knew I had a pic of the Macon inside Hangar 1. The Hangar is so large it will cloud up and rain inside! There had to be a certain moisture content in the air and the sun would warm up the top of the hangar and condensation would occur... It was pretty cool. Pam Milligan Vaughan: Capt. Wiley was the captain on both the Macon and the Akron. He was the man in charge in both the crashes of these two airships. He was later promoted to admiral. Go figure. His mom was a Gish and so was my grandmother. Cousins. Are the hangars still at Moffett Field? Lynn Macey: The frame is still there but the exterior was removed a few years ago because PCBs were leaking into the ground water. Google has signed a 99 year lease and plans to re-cover the structure. |
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| Lynn Macey commented on Pam's comment The frame is still there but the exterior was removed a few years ago because PCBs were leaking into the ground water. Google has signed a 99 year lease and plans to re-cover the structure. |
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| PlaneHistoria posted 1934 - Originally named Airbase Sunnyvale CAL. Now Moffett Federal Field. The USS Macon (ZRS-5) a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier," launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast, though most of the crew were saved. L.R. Wiley: My uncle was Vice Admiral Herbert Wiley. He served on each of the airships and survived each disaster. He went on to command the U.S.S. West Virginia at the battle of Surigao straight through the end of the war in Tokyo bay. They were a grand experiment with too few crew trained to handle unforeseen emergencies. Jim Leslie: L.R. Wiley Your uncle was a VERY lucky man, especially surviving the loss of the USS Akron...I believe only 3 survived. In the case of the loss of the USS Macon, I think only 2 were lost. Still, that he survived both losses is remarkable. The picture looks like it was taken in about 1935. Matthias Miller: L.R. Wiley your uncle retired as a Rear Admiral. Douglas Martin: L.R. Wiley yeah, it was probably your uncle that was threatening the pilot with court-martial if he did not put it on the deck of a pitching aircraft carrier..... the pilot did not want to do that...... your uncle was likely the cause in both accidents...... no wrecks....because he should have listened to the pilot and avoided the destruction. I met the pilot by the way. Randall Hurst: L.R. Wiley airship crews trained on hot air free balloons before being assigned to dirigibles. The crew of the Shenandoah survived it breaking in half in a storm over Ohio by “flying” the intact rear section as a free balloon for hours until able to land it safely. The crew in the forward gondola fell to their deaths, however. Chris Conlan: I live near moffett now, for many years the skin has been off the hanger. Just a large frame. It being restored now, scaffolding is everywhere. Roger Smith: The Los Angeles was the only airship the Navy had that did not crash. It was built by the Zeppelin company in Germany after WW1. It was scrapped during WWII. Dennis Kolb: There is also an existing dirigible building in Telluride Oregon. It is a museum. There were 2 the other used as a sawmill which later burped down. Rick Timberman: Later, (early ww2) the navy added two more blimp hangers.I lived next door (about 1/4 mile away) in the '50s & ^60's. I can remember patrol blimps coming and going. Great air shows. Steve Teetor: Rick Timberman One of the Goodyear hangers is in Pompano Air Park. I was getting my pilot's license there and they tried to recruit me, at least I was able to fly one. I was 17 and my plans were to go stunt, rotary, and commercial. Douglas Martin: It was not just lost due to a storm..... the pilot was ordered to land it on the pitching deck of a carrier.... threatened with court-martial if he did not put it on the deck. His superiors apparently did not understand physics. How do I know..... I met the pilot at sun n fun in Lakeland. I was in charge of parking aircraft..... I had a long talk with him about what went down..... he was also the pilot of the second one that crashed..... the navy was doing their experiments..... he was ordered against his judgment to land on the deck of a pitching aircraft carrier. Then they had the gall to blaming him for the accidents instead of pinning it on the higher ups who were on board the carrier and threatened court-martial both times. |
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| Robert E Duncan commented on PlaneHistoria Moffett Field is mostly NASA now, called Federal Airfield, Hgr 1 has been on myth busters TV show a few times, all the military bases around San Francisco Bay closed a long time ago. I was a P3 flight Engineer a few years during the Cold War. Hgr 1 was a training command, Hgrs 2 & 3 were tactical VP squadrons. After someone flew a P3 through Hgr 1 the doors at one end were welded shut. David Sliwa: Robert An unpiloted F8 crusader flew through Hanger 1, not a P-3. |
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| Airships |
This blimp, and its sister blimp USS Akron, could launch and retrieve airplanes for scouting. Note the brackets on top of the three airplanes below. That is what hooked to a bracket hanging from under the blimp. There is much more information on both the Airships and MontereyBay web pages.
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| MontereyBay Three Sparrowhawks fly above Moffett Field located in undeveloped Sunnyvale, California. Credit: Moffett Field Historical Society |
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