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U.S. Naval Air Station Sunnyvale, California, Historic District
Naval Air Station, San Diego, Historic District
Crissy Field, Presidio of San Francisco
Hamilton Army Air Field Discontiguous Historic District
Space Flight Operations Facility
Torrey Pines Gliderport played an interesting role in the aviation industry of Southern California. Beginning in 1930, this site was used for motorless flight. Gliders were car-towed off the beach parallel to a 350-cliff so they could fly in the lift created by the prevailing westerly wind at Torrey Pines. The nearly flat land of the mesa east of the cliff was used for launching and landing, providing a natural emergency runway. Many aviation pioneers flew at Torrey Pines. On February 24, 1930, Charles A. Lindbergh flew in the lift at Torrey Pines in a flight along the coast from Mt. Soledad to Del Mar, thereby establishing a claimed distance record. In 1936, Woodly Brown, who previously flew off the beach, was the first to launch and land on top of the cliff at Torrey Pines. In the late 1930s, Hawley Bowlus, construction supervisor of the Spirit of St. Louis and owner of his own sailplane manufacturing company in San Diego, began flying at Torrey Pines. Bud Perl and Bill Beuby flew at Torrey Pines; the former's Class A license was signed by Orville Wright. The first three-day glider meet at Torrey Pines was held on December 31, 1939.
Torrey Pines was also the location for the development of several new technologies. The Dead-man pulley take-off system (1938) launched sailplanes from cars, instead of the earlier method of several men pulling them off the slope. The Robinson variometer (1939) was a very sensitive instrument used to determine rate of climb or sink in a sailplane. John Robinson designed both of these systems, as well as several highly maneuverable sailplanes named Robin #1 through Robin #4 (1936-1939). Oversized control surfaces with more overall movement were used to give the pilots an advantage while circling in tight thermals, doing aerobatics or having more control on landings. John Robinson's Zanonia sailplane, built and designed by Harland Ross, was the first airplane in the nation to use spoilers (air brakes) on the wings (1939). The spoilers helped reduce lift and slow the aircraft down for landings. An aircraft parachute recovery system invented by Bob Fronius was flight tested here in 1947 to save a "disabled" sailplane. The gliderport is unique in that it was the only legal site where unlicensed aircraft could fly in a civil airway, a license granted exclusively for the Torrey Pines Gliderport in 1938.
Flight operations at Torrey Pines were interrupted in 1941 when the gliderport property became the Army's Camp Callan. Military operations were conducted here until the end of World War II. The first annual Pacific Coast Mid-Winter Soaring Championship was held at Torrey Pines in 1947. John Robinson became the first three-time National Soaring Champion as well as the first American to fly over 300 miles cross-country, the first in the world to fly over 30,000 feet in a sailplane and the first in the world to earn a Diamond "C" badge (the most respected award in soaring). Richard Johnson, who held the title of National Champion in soaring seven times, participated in the Pacific Coast Mid-Winter Championships in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the late 1960s, radio-controlled model airplanes began operations at this location, and in the 1970s, hang gliders joined the flight operations. The Torrey Pines Soaring Council was established by the Parks Recreation Department, City of San Diego, in 1978 to provide advice and council regarding flight safety and other matters. Torrey Pines Gliderport remains in its natural condition, except for the addition of a runway, the foundation of a small army barrack, and areas graded for current sailplane operations.
The Torrey Pines Gliderport is located west of Torrey Pines Rd., bordering Torrey Pines Scenic Dr. and south and west of the Torrey Pines Golf Course, in La Jolla, California. Still an active site for motorless flight, year round paragliding and hang gliding are available, as is instruction. Find more information visit www.flytorrey.com or call 858-452-9858. The Torrey Pines Gliderport Historical Society also has further information
Admiral William A. Moffett is credited with the creation of the two Naval Air Stations commissioned in the early 1930s to port the two U.S. Naval Airships (dirigibles). The Naval Air Station Sunnyvale, California, was the Pacific coast location selected with help from northern Californian politicians and the leadership of the Chambers of Commerce from Mountain View to San Jose. More commonly known as Moffett Field, the U.S. Naval Air Station Sunnyvale, California, Historic District consists of a large number of buildings that were constructed from the 1930s on. By far the most famous and visible of these are Hangars #1, #2 and #3, which dwarf the surrounding buildings, standing as testament to the engineering skills of their builders.
Towering majestically in the northeast corner of Santa Clara Valley is Hangar #1 constructed in 1933 to house the Navy dirigible USS Macon. Named as a Naval Historical Monument in the early 1950s, the hangar is constructed on an amazing network of steel girders sheathed with galvanized steel. It rests firmly upon a reinforced pad anchored to concrete pilings. The floor covers eight acres and can accommodate 10 football fields. "Number One," as it is popularly referred to, is 1,133 feet long and 308 feet wide. Its walls curve upward and inward, to form an elongated dome 198 feet high. Unique and spectacular are the "orange peel" doors, weighing 500 tons each. The doors are operated by an electrical control panel. Each door is powered by a 150-horsepower motor. One of the most recognizable landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hangar #1 and the original base are significant in the history of Naval Aviation, defense and in the development of the Santa Clara Valley. Making use of the facility location and landing field, NASA Ames Research Center is located to the north adjacent to the original plaza boundary and at the north boundary of the historic district. It was here that some of the original moon rocks taken from the Apollo lunar landings were studied by NASA geologists.
The hangar's interior is so large that fog sometimes forms near the ceiling. A person unaccustomed to its vastness is susceptible to optical disorientation. Looking across its deck, airplanes and tractors look like toys. Along its length, maintenance shops, inspection laboratories and offices help keep the hangar busy. Looking up, you can see a network of catwalks for access to all parts of the structure. Two elevators meet near the top, allowing maintenance personnel to get to the top quickly and easily. Narrow gauge tracks run the length of the hangar. During the lighter- than-air period of dirigibles and non-rigid aircraft, the rails extended across the apron and into the fields at each end of the hangar. This tramway facilitated the transportation of an airship on the mooring mast to the hangar interior or to the flight position. During the brief period that the USS Macon was based at Moffett from October 1933 until it was lost at sea in February 1935, Number One not only accommodated the giant airship but several smaller non-rigid LTA craft simultaneously. Hangar One is one of the most important hangars in the world. Hangars #2 and #3 are significant more for their size than their unique styling or design. Along with Hangar #1, these two buildings help define the South San Francisco Bay Area from all distant directions. The style of the other buildings on the base is largely Spanish Colonial Revival, mostly built in the 1930s, with some International style buildings constructed in the 1940s and beyond. The Moffett Field Historical Society was founded in May of 1993. Until recently, their museum was located in historic "Hangar One."
Naval Air Station Sunnyvale is located near Mountain View and Sunnyvale, California, 35 miles south of San Francisco. From Highway 101 use the Moffett Field exit. The Moffett Museum has been located in Hangar One for several years, but relocated to an adjacent building after the hangar was closed due to potential toxic chemicals. If you plan to visit, inform the guard at the main gate that you are going to the museum and follow his instructions. Call 650-603-9827 or visit the Moffett Field Museum's website for further information.
The Naval Air Station, San Diego, Historic District, located on North Island in California, is associated with broad national and regional themes in the history of military aviation, representing the principle administrative and residential core of one of the earliest naval air stations in the United States, and the first on the West Coast. Climatic conditions, and the characteristics of flat terrain, good beaches and protected stretches of water, attracted the aviation pioneer and Wright Brothers' competitor, Glenn H. Curtiss, to North Island in 1910. Through the intervention of a local flying club, the landowner, the Coronado Beach Company, was persuaded to permit Curtiss to use North Island for his Aviation School. In January 1911, the Navy assigned its first pilot, Lt. T.G. Ellyson, to be trained by Curtiss at his school on North Island. Later that year, the Navy established its first naval aviation unit at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1911. However, because winters in the Northeast precluded flight operations, North Island was chosen for the aviation unit's winter quarters. In 1912 "Camp Trouble," as it was called, was established on the northeast corner of North Island, a site now encompassed by the Naval Air Station, San Diego, Historic District. Consisting of three airplanes, three pilots, three tents and some mechanics, this group stayed until April, then returned east. The Navy would not return to North Island until 1917.
The Army's Signal Corps Aviation School relocated from its original location at College Park, Maryland, to North Island, San Diego, from November to December 1912. The Army flyers established a tent camp at the north end of North Island, and for about a year, the Signal Corps Aviation School rented airplanes and hangars constructed for the Curtiss school. This was the first Army school to provide flying training for military pilots, and North Island was the school's first permanent location. None of the buildings from this early period, constructed on the north end of the island, are still extant. In July 1917, Congress authorized the President to proceed with the taking of North Island for Army and Navy aviation schools. There was a desperate needed for trained military pilots as the United States had entered World War I earlier in the year. President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order in August 1917 for condemnation of the land, which was still privately owned. The Army turned over the north end of the island to the Navy and relocated to the south end of North Island, the location of the Rockwell Field Historic District. The Navy's first occupancy of North Island occurred on September 8, 1917, but Congress did not authorize the purchase of North Island, for $6,098,333, until July 1919. Construction began on the permanent San Diego facilities in mid-1918. Naval Air Station, San Diego was completed too late to play any substantial role in World War I. After conducting the first-ever carrier takeoffs and landings in the Atlantic, the USS Langley was assigned to Naval Air Station, San Diego, berthing there for the first time in November 1924. This began a continuous use of North Island as the home port for Pacific Fleet carriers, and Naval Air Station, San Diego took on the duties of providing service and training to the personnel of these new components to the Fleet.
Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, military pilots worked hard at trying to make the public more aviation-conscious. The Naval Air Station, San Diego continued as an important player in this ongoing effort, due to its proximity to Hollywood, which allowed it to play a unique role in the promotion of air power. Several movies, among them Flying Fleet, The Flying Marine and Hell Divers, were filmed at the air station, with the full cooperation of the Navy. The Navy wanted to add the Army's Rockwell Field to Naval Air Station, San Diego, and tried for many years to acquire it. The effort was finally successful when President Roosevelt was persuaded to issue an Executive Order that required the Army to vacate North Island by 1935, in spite of the Army's struggle to remain there. At the same time dredge spoils were dumped into the tidal flats which increased the area of North Island by some 620 acres. By 1935 North Island was home to all four of the Navy's carriers--the USS Langley, USS Lexington, USS Saratoga and USS Ranger. During the 1930s activities at the air station were of fundamental importance to the development of combat tactics and logistical support systems that became the foundation for the subsequent success of the Pacific carrier war against Japan during World War II.
The principle historic buildings in the Naval Air Station, San Diego, Historic District consist of more than 20 military administrative, residential and operations buildings constructed with stucco-clad walls, red tile roofs and simple California Mission or Mission Revival style design elements. The visual focus of the historic district, and perhaps its most recognized edifice, is the Administrative Building, a two-story building with a monumental, 110-foot-tall central tower. This tower was functionally designed to carry aerological equipment, serving as the air station's pre-radio control tower. Of other aviation interest are the Seaplane Hangars, three buildings that are single-story, rectangular, open bay buildings and the Garage, a simple, one-story, flat-roofed, rectangular building that functioned to service the air station vehicles.
Naval Air Station, San Diego, Historic District is located in San Diego, California, on North Island, which in fact is not an island, but rather the extreme northwestern end of the Peninsula of San Diego. The historic district is roughly bounded Saufley St., I-4th St. N., Roe St., Murray St., Maxfield Blvd., Carson St., Quentin Roosevelt Blvd, Wright St. and Bay St. The Navy had contracted with the Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego to provide windshield tours of the base. These tours were suspended due to security concerns, but may resume shortly. Visit www.historictours.com/sandiego for further information.
Rockwell Field, located on North Island in San Diego, California, was originally called the Signal Corps Aviation School. It was the first U.S. Army school to provide flying training for military pilots, and North Island was the school's first permanent location. The Aviation School was officially established on North Island in 1912; existing historic and architecturally significant buildings reflect the use and development of Rockwell Field from 1918 to 1935. In 1910, climatic conditions, flat terrain, good beaches and protected stretches of water attracted Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer and Wright Brothers' competitor, to North Island, where he soon founded his Aviation School. In January 1911, Curtiss signed a contract with the owner of North Island to use the land for three years for a flying school, which was established in February 1911. Curtiss invited the Army and the Navy to send officers to his new school for flying training. The Army sent three airmen to the Curtiss school in early 1911, but they were ordered to Texas before completion of their training. During the winter of 1911 to 1912, the Navy sent three pilots to the Curtiss school for flying training. The Army's Signal Corps Aviation School relocated from its original location at College Park, Maryland, to North Island, San Diego, during November to December 1912. The Army flyers established a tent camp at the north end of North Island, and for about a year, the Signal Corps Aviation School rented airplanes and hangars constructed for the Curtiss school. None of the buildings from this early period, constructed on the north end of the island, are still extant.
On July 20, 1917, the Signal Corps Aviation School was named Rockwell Field in honor of 2nd Lt. Lewis C. Rockwell, killed in a crash at College Park in 1912. Also in July, Congress authorized the President to proceed with the taking of North Island for Army and Navy aviation schools. There was a desperate needed for trained military pilots as the United States had entered World War I earlier in the year. President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order in August 1917 for condemnation of the land, which was still privately owned. The Army turned over the north end of the island to the Navy and relocated to the south end of North Island, the location of the Rockwell Field Historic District. The Navy's first occupancy of North Island occurred on September 8, 1917, but Congress did not authorize the purchase of North Island, for $6, 098,333, until July 1919. The Army selected well-known Detroit industrial architect, Albert Kahn, to develop a site and building designs. Permanent construction of Kahn's design began in mid-1918. During World War I, Rockwell Field provided training for many of the pilots and crews sent to France. It also was the source of men and aircraft for the Sixth and Seventh Aero Squadrons, which established the first military aviation presence in Hawaii and the Panama Canal Zone, respectively.
After World War I, construction came to a complete standstill. Rockwell Field did not fare well into the early 1920s. It was demoted from one of the major Army Air Service training fields on the West Coast to an Aviation General Supply and Repair Depot in 1920 and redesignated again as Rockwell Air Intermediate Depot in 1922. By 1922 there were only 10 officers, two warrant officers, 42 enlisted men, and 190 civilians employed at the airfield. Lt. Jimmy Doolittle landed there in September 1922 after establishing a new record for the first transcontinental flight within a single day. The first nonstop transcontinental flight, originating at Roosevelt Field, New York, was accomplished by Army pilots and ended at Rockwell Field in May 1923. In June of that year, pilots from Rockwell Field conducted the first complete mid-air pipeline refueling between two airplanes. As the Navy's emphasis began shifting from seaplanes to the land planes used on aircraft carriers, its requirement for land increased. Eventually, agreement was reached within the War Department to grant the Navy complete control of North Island. After visiting the air station and the Army airfield on an inspection tour in October 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an Executive Order transferring Rockwell Field and all of its buildings to the Navy. The Army moved most of their aircraft to March Field in Riverside, California, but it took another three years to completely phase-out Army activities at North Island.
The historic and architecturally significant buildings of Rockwell Field form the southeastern quadrant of what is today the Naval Air Station, North Island (NAS North Island). The buildings were designed in the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The Kahn-designed Mission Revival Field Officers Quarters (later married officers quarters) are reinforced concrete-framed, in-filled with hollow terra cotta tile and finished in buff color stucco. Kahn's Mission Revival Hangars (Buildings 501, 502 and 503 from 1918) are similar in materials with red clay-tile, gabled roofs. They were built to the same plan: a rectangle, 135 feet by 70 feet, with 30 feet clear to the ceiling. A low, flat-roofed, lean-to on the east side of each contained offices. Located on the bluff edge at the North Island end of the Coronado-North Island causeway, the Army-Navy Gate House/Meter Room (Building 505, 1918; later Meter House) functioned as the gatehouse for both Rockwell Field and NAS San Diego. This group of buildings reflects the War Department's plan to create buildings that would be appropriate for Southern California, and illustrates Kahn's "Spanish military" design implemented at Rockwell Field.
Rockwell Field is roughly bounded by McCain Blvd., Wright Ave., J Rd. E and Quentin Roosevelt Blvd. in San Diego, California. The Navy had contracted with the Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego to provide windshield tours of the base. These tours were suspended due to security concerns, but may resume shortly. Visit www.historictours.com/sandiego for further information.
Crissy Airfield was established as a U.S. Army Airfield along the San Francisco Bay in 1919 and was the sole airfield in the United States to remain in constant operation between 1919 and 1936. It became the first Air Coast Defense Station established on the Pacific Coast. The airfield is named after Mayor Dana H. Crissy who lost his life while participating in an army test flight. Crissy Airfield is renowned as the site of many aviation firsts during the 1920s and for its connection with many notable aviation pioneers. The airfield is closely associated with Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, an important figure in World War II aviation who was appointed as the first Air Service Officer for the Western Department as well as the first commanding General of the Army Air Forces. Arnold was instrumental in the establishment of Crissy Airfield which was completed by 1921. Other notables associated with the airfield are Carl A. "Tooey" Spaatz, George H. Brett, and Delos C. Emmons, all important figures in the development of air power during the interwar years and World War II. Among its many notable events were the June 23,1924 dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight performed by Lt. Russell L. Maughn, and the first attempt to fly from the mainland United States to Hawaii, led by naval Commander John Rodgers, on August 31, 1925.
The field is located on the northern shoreline of the San Francisco Presidio facing the Bay and on the site of a previous landfill completed for a 1915 exposition. Crissy Airfield is the only intact Air Coast Defense Station airfield in the Nation with the majority of its associated buildings still remaining as well. The buildings associated with the airfield include administrative buildings, buildings used for storage/technological purposes, three massive hangars and housing quarters. The housing is located west of the former airstrip along the elevated bend of Lincoln Boulevard with breathtaking views of San Francisco Bay. The buildings were primarily constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. By 1936, operations at Crissy Field were taken over by Hamilton Field in Marin County.
Crissy Field, part of the Presidio of San Francisco and a National Historic Landmark, is administered by the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is located on the north shoreline facing the San Francisco Bay in San Francisco, California. The site is open daily from dawn to dusk. Admission is free of charge. Please call 415-561-4323 or visit the park's website for information.
March Field in Riverside, California, was important in the development of the Army Air Corps, serving as the key training and bombardment facility on the West Coast between 1928 and 1943. The airfield is an example of incorporating city planning principles in the layout of military bases and as the first complete aviation post laid out and constructed during peacetime by the Quartermaster Corps and the Army Air Corps. The base is associated with architect Myron Hunt and stands as the only known military base to have been designed by him. On March 20, 1918, the airfield was named in honor of 2nd Lt. Peyton C. March, Jr. who was killed in an aviation accident at Fort Worth, Texas.
The field was utilized as a primary aviation training facility during World War I and continued serving in this capacity thereafter until 1921, one of only two primary pilot schools in operation after the war. However, after the passage of the Air Corps Act, March Field once again became a primary aviation facility from 1927 until 1931, when primary training was consolidated at Randolph Air Force Base. March continued to be the central base for West Coast bombing and gunnery training until 1941. Through the Air Corps expansion program March Field began its second phase with the construction of permanent facilities to reflect the regional topography, climate and history of the area, a trend incorporated into Army base construction during the mid-1920s. The new facilities were constructed in the Mission Revival style and are now believed to be the world's largest group of hollow-wall concrete buildings. Hangars, officers' quarters, industrial buildings, a hospital and base theater, are just some of the 228 buildings, structures and objects which comprise March Field Historic District. The buildings are generally surfaced in concrete, either stucco or poured concrete, and display clay Mission tile roofs.
March Field Historic District is bounded by Meyer and Riverside drs. and Graeber St. in Riverside, California. The March Field Air Museum is located adjacent to the March Air Reserve Base and is open 9:00am to 4:00pm daily, excluding major holidays. Please call 909-697-6602 or visit the museum's website.
Hamilton Army Airfield, in Novato, California, was built as a bombardment base and the headquarters for the 1st Wing of the Army Air Corps, one of only three bases established for this purpose nationally. The base was utilized for the defense of the western section of the country until 1940. Hamilton Field also played a significant role during World War II in training and national defense by serving as an overseas staging area, acting as one of three major bases of the west coast wing of the Air Transport Command's Pacific Division and for its role in the Operational Training Unit Program. The base was named after Army Air Corps aviation pilot, First Lieutenant Lloyd Andrew Hamilton, originally from Marin County, California, killed while serving his country in World War I. However, the base had been previously known as the Air Corps Station, San Rafael. Construction of Hamilton Airfield commenced on July 1, 1932, with the majority of first phase construction complete by 1935.
Architecturally Hamilton Airfield is significant for its deviation in form and style from other airfields heretofore in existence. The airfield was designed in the Spanish Eclectic style and included planned landscapes which integrated natural oak groves, knolls and hills. However, perhaps most impressive of all was the development of the base as a planned community, an innovative approach in construction of Army bases which had only been adopted in the mid-1920s. Hamilton Field represented a growing trend in construction that reflected the climate, topography and history of the region in the architectural style of the base. Hence the buildings are of hollow tile or reinforced concrete construction with stucco exterior and Mission tile roofs. Architecturally the buildings consist of Spanish Eclectic with Mission, Moorish and Spanish Churrigueresque, Renaissance and Art Moderne elements. The district includes facilities such as officers' housing, a base hospital, a post theater and hangars. After the base's contributions in WWII the base was reassigned several times until buildings and land were transferred to the Navy, Army and Coast Guard. However by 1989 the Army was mandated to close its facilities on Hamilton Air Force Base.
Hamilton Army Air Field Discontiguous Historic District is located primarily on the southwest part of Hamilton Army Air Field in Novato, California. Much of deactivated base was transferred to the city, and Hamilton Field is now a residential community, please visit its website further information.
Rogers Dry Lake (also known as Muroc Dry Lake), at Edwards Air Force Base in California, has been used by the U.S. military since 1933 when a small advance party from March Field in Riverside came to design a bombing range for the Army Air Corps. The area proved ideal for flight, with 350 days a year of flying weather and the lake providing a ready-made emergency landing field; four years later the entire Air Corps was performing bombing and gunnery maneuvers here. The south end of the lake was used during World War II for training P-38 Lightning fighter pilots and B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell bomber crews. A realistic 650-foot replica of a Japanese Navy heavy cruiser, dubbed "Muroc-Maru," was used for strafing, identification and skip bombing practices before being removed in 1950.
Col. Benjamin W. Chidlaw and Lt. Col. Ralph P. Swofford chose Muroc Dry Lake in 1942 as the testing location for the then secret Bell-built XP-59A jet airplane. In September, America's first turbojet arrived at Muroc. Since 1942, Edwards Air Force Base (Muroc Air Force Base) and its tenant, the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility have played a leading role in advancing the capabilities of aerospace technology. Lakebed Runway 18 was typically the landing facility for the X-15, a hypersonic research vehicle that flew for nearly a decade at Edwards. Edwards Air Force Base also served as a support facility for flight operations of the NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter. NASA Space Shuttles, launched from Kennedy Space Center, have utilized Lakebed Runway 23 as a landing strip. Many participants of Edwards Air Force Base's flight testing programs have also played major roles in the American manned spacecraft program, notably NACA-NASA administrator Dr. Walter Williams and test pilot-astronauts Donald Slayton, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Joseph Engle. Rogers Dry Lake made possible the development and testing of generations of American aircraft, leading to the Space Shuttle.
Rogers Dry Lake, a National Historic Landmark, is located at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Due to heightened security, tours have been suspended until further notice. For a virtual tour please visit the base's website.
The Klamath River Radar Station B-71 in is a rare survivor of a World War II early-warning radar station, the first step toward the more sophisticated and pioneering early-warning radar defense network. Rather than using camouflage materials, the buildings of Radar Station B-71 were constructed to resemble farm buildings to disguise their true purpose. The station consists of three buildings: a power building disguised as a farmhouse, an operations building disguised as a barn and a functional wood frame two-stall privy or outhouse, now a partially collapsed ruin. The two major buildings were constructed for the Army by a private contractor specifically for the early warning aircraft station, and consist of block walls roughly two feet thick covered with wood-framed gable roofs with wood shingle finish.
As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor and in
the Aleutian Islands, the necessity of guarding
American coastlands became more urgent on the Pacific Coast than on the
Atlantic. The threat was further demonstrated when a Japanese submarine
shelled an oil refinery north of Santa Barbara, California, on February
23, 1942. Another Japanese submarine shelled Esteven Point in British
Columbia, Canada, on June 20, 1942, and again at Fort Stevens, Washington,
on July 21, 1942. On September 9, 1942, a Japanese submarine-launched
aircraft dropped incendiary bombs on Oregon forests roughly 40 miles north
of the Klamath River. The radar station south of the Klamath River, in
what is now Redwood National Park, was built in late 1942 and early 1943
as the northernmost California station in a network of 72 proposed stations,
65 of which were actually built, stretching from the Canadian border into
Mexico. The Klamath station was designated by memorandum dated November
6, 1942, from the Office of the Commanding General, IV Fighter Command,
as Station B-71, named "Trinidad." It was also referred to as
the "Klamath River" station.
The station was manned by members of the Army Air Corps quartered in barracks near the town of Klamath. One day's operation of the station required a crew of about 35 men to cover the 24 hours in shifts. The station reported by direct telephone to an Aircraft Warning Service Filter Office in Berkeley, California. As the threat of Japanese attack waned towards the end of World War II, the coastal early radar stations began to be phased out. But with the need for early-warning radar decreasing, the need for air-sea rescue radar increased, and effective July 1, 1944, the Klamath station was converted to emergency rescue service, with the SCR-271 radar replaced with the RC-150 IFF equipment. Station B-71 was thus one of only 22 radar stations on the Pacific Coast, which remained operational until the end of World War II. Station B-71 was abandoned and reverted to private ownership after the war, until the National Park Service acquired it with the creation of Redwood National Park.
Located in Redwood National Park in Northern California, Radar Station B-71 is located on Coastal Dr., just south of the mouth of Klamath River. From the south, take Newton B. Drury Scenic Pkwy. to Coastal Dr. (trailers and motor homes not permitted). A trail leads to the station from the road, although the buildings are not open. The park headquarters is located at Second and K sts. in Crescent City. Visit the park's website or call 707-464-6101 ext. 5064 for further information.
The Lighter-than-Airship Hangars in Tustin, California, are two of a series of hangars that were built in 10 different locations throughout the United States. These hangars mark a significant period of aviation history, when airships were an important part of the U.S. anti-submarine defense. Each hangar was capable of sheltering an entire squadron of six airships. All were built using the same plans and construction began during the early years of World War II. These airship hangars are among the largest wood-supported structures in the world, rivaled only by the other hangars built from the same plans such as the U.S. Naval Air Station Dirigible Hangar B. The hangars stand 189 feet high to the top of the wind indicator, and 178 feet to the top of the roof, and have long been considered landmarks in Orange County. The hangars are 1088 feet long and 297 feet wide, covering a total ground area of 298,188 square feet.
The hangars were completed in 1943 when the air station was Santa Ana Naval Lighter-than-Air Base. The hangars were constructed in three main sections; two identical supporting structures of concrete located at each end of the hangar with a massive center section covered by a wood-framed, 484,932 square-foot arched roof. The end sections consists of two pillars, six huge doors and a brace connecting the two pillars at the top. The pillars are used as "pockets" to house the hangar doors (three in each pillar). The brace is also used as a guide for opening and closing the doors. Fifty-one individual wooden braces support the roof. Following World War II, the base was decommissioned. During the period 1949-1951 the hangars were used as a museum for aircraft and a storage area. In 1951 the base was recommissioned and the hangars were used to house helicopter squadrons during the development of the vertical assault, a new military strategy to utilize the quickness and flexibility of helicopters in attacks. The base has recently been decommissioned again. Plans are currently being developed to adaptively reuse the hangars.
The Lighter-than-Airship Hangars are located on Valencia and Redhill aves., in Tustin, California. They are currently not open to the public but can be seen from these avenues.
Located in Alameda, California, the USS Hornet (CV-12) was part of a wartime buildup of U.S. carrier forces in a war that demonstrated the vital role of naval aviation. As early as 1910, the U.S. Navy recognized the potential value that flight would have in naval operations. Although naval aviation was utilized during World War I, aircraft assigned to warships generally provided only reconnaissance support for the fleet. The possibility of using airplanes as a naval strike weapon did not begin until the 1920s when aircraft capable of performing heavy bombardment against land or sea targets were built. Naval vessels capable of carrying several squadrons of such aircraft were developed concurrently. Thus the first eight carriers constructed by the U.S. Navy varied in size, speed, protection and aircraft complement in order to provide the greatest number of carriers capable of launching the greatest number of air strikes, yet still comply with treaty-imposed tonnage restrictions. Essex (CV-9), the ninth U.S. carrier authorized, was a product of these earlier designs. A total of 26 Esssex-class carriers were ordered by the U.S. Navy between February 1940 and June 1943 and 24 were completed. This was the largest class of carriers ever built by the United States and over half, including USS Hornet (CV-12), served as part of the Pacific Fleet during World War II.
World War II and the carrier campaigns of the Pacific firmly established the role of aviation within naval operations and the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship as the Navy's primary strike weapon. Serving as mobile air bases, carriers could maneuver aircraft around the open waters and scattered island chains of the Pacific. By employing a combination of scouting, fighter or bomber aircraft to control the enemy's air power, groups of carriers, screened by surface ships, could open the way for island invasions, cover and support amphibious operations, and help to hold the conquered areas. Thus carriers became an integral compound of nearly every campaign throughout the Pacific War. With aircraft that extended the fleet's firepower beyond the range of large caliber battleship guns, the carrier's status was elevated from reconnaissance platform to that of major surface combatant.
Launched just 10 months after its predecessor, the USS Hornet (CV-8), was lost in battle, the new Hornet had a distinguished World War II career that included the invasion of Saipan and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the amphibious landing on Palau, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and strikes against the Japanese home islands. The USS Hornet and its air groups were credited with shooting down 688 planes, destroying another 742 aircraft on the ground, sinking a carrier, cruiser, 42 cargo ships and 10 destroyers and assisting in the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. The Hornet received seven battle stars and the Presidential Unit citation during World War II. The USS Hornet was reactivated for the Korean conflict and its last combat deployment was as an antisubmarine warfare carrier in the Vietnam conflict.
The USS Hornet's exceptional career was capped with the recovery of the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts at the end of these missions. Navy divers aided the Apollo 11 crew, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. and Michael Collins, back to the Hornet after the capsule hit the water. The Apollo crew, wearing containment suits because of the possibility of introducing alien bacteria, stepped from the helicopter, waved and entered quarantine. President Richard M. Nixon welcomed the astronauts back to earth aboard the carrier . "Hornet plus three" then steamed for home. The Navy announced the impending retirement of the USS Hornet on January 15, 1970, and the carrier was decommissioned on June 30.
The USS Hornet, a National Historic Landmark, can be seen at the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California. At Atlantic Avenue, turn left through the gate and into Alameda Point (formerly Naval Air Station Alameda). Turn left on Ferry Point and proceed along the water towards the cluster of large ships. Parking is available across the street from the USS Hornet. The museum is open from 10:00am to 5:00pm Wednesday-Monday; limited access on Tuesdays due to ship maintenance. Please call 510-521-8448, or visit the museum's website for further information and for directions from Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco.
The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel located at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, California, was a research facility used extensively to design and test new generations of aircraft, both commercial and military, as well as National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space vehicles, including the space shuttle. The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel was created by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), parent agency of NASA. Constructed between 1950 and 1955, this complex actually contains three wind tunnels. It represents the continual development of superior aeronautical research facilities after the end of the Second World War. These research facilities formed the foundation from which NASA would launch the American effort to land a man on the moon.
After the construction of the Variable Density Wind Tunnel at Langley in 1921, NACA built an impressive variety of technical research facilities upon which the American aircraft industry was based. These facilities enabled the American aircraft industry to dominate the skies in both commercial and military aviation. By 1945, America's lead in the field of aviation seemed to be evaporating. The technological achievements of the German missiles and jet aircraft indicated a lag in American aeronautical research. In 1949, Congress passed the Unitary Plan Act, under which the Federal government coordinated a national plan of facility construction encompassing NACA, as well as the Air Force, private industry and universities. The Unitary Plan resulted in the construction of a new series of wind tunnel complexes to support the American aircraft industry, including the Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel Complex.
Construction of this facility began in 1950-1951 and continued until 1955. Because no one wind tunnel could meet all the demands for additional research facilities simulating the entire range of aircraft and missile flight, NACA chose to build the Ames tunnel with three separate test sections drawing power from a common centralized power plant. The transonic test section spanned 11 by 11 feet, while the two supersonic sections were smaller: nine by seven feet and eight by seven feet. Giant valves 20 feet in diameter supplied air from one supersonic leg to another. The American West Coast aircraft industry quickly capitalized on the Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel Complex. The famed Boeing fleet of commercial transports and the Douglas DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 were all tested here, as well as military aircraft such as the F-111 fighter, the C-5A transport and the B-1 bomber. In addition to aircraft, in the 1960s and 1970s almost all NASA manned space vehicles including the Space Shuttle were tested in the Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel complex.
The major element of the tunnel complex is its drive system, consisting of four intercoupled electric motors. The transonic wind tunnel is a closed-return, variable density tunnel with a fixed geometry, ventilated throat, and a single-jack flexible nozzle. Airflow is produced by a three-stage, axial-flow compressor powered by four wound-rotor, variable-speed induction motors. For conventional steady-state tests, models are generally supported on a string. A schlieran system, one that allows regions of varying refraction in a transparent medium caused by pressure or temperature differences and detectable by photographing the passage of a beam of light, is available for studying flow patterns, either by direct viewing or by photographs. The details of the larger supersonic tunnel are much the same, except that it is equipped with an asymmetric, sliding-block nozzle and the airflow is produced by an 11 stage, axial-flow compressor powered by four variable-speed, wound-rotor, induction motors. The smaller supersonic tunnel is a closed-return, variable-density tunnel equipped with a symmetrical, flexible-wall throat and the sidewalls are positioned by a series of jacks operated by hydraulic motors.
The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, a National Historic Landmark, is also featured in the Santa Clara, California, Travel Itinerary. It is located at the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, California. Moffett Field is 35 miles south of San Francisco. From Hwy. 101 use the Moffett Field exit. The Ames Research Visitor Center is open 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday-Friday. Call 650-604-5000 for further information. Admission is free. There are no tours of the wind tunnels.
The Space Launch Complex 10 (SLC-10) is part of the Headquarters Air Force Systems Command Western Space and Missile Center (WSMC) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California. Built in 1958 for the U.S. Air Force's Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Testing Program, this complex was adapted for space flight purposes. SLC-10 is comprised of a blockhouse and two launch pads (east and west) and was one of two launch pads built by the Douglas Aircraft Company to support combat training launches of the SM-75 Thor IRBM. Vandenberg Air Force Base belongs to Strategic Air Command (SAC).
The SLC-10 blockhouse, with its supporting electrical equipment, is intact. The blockhouse was used to control launches from both the east and west pads. The blockhouse is a self-contained reinforced concrete building capable of withstanding the dangers of catastrophic vehicle failures at lift-off. The missiles launched from the pad were liquid fueled. At SLC-10W, the fuel and liquid oxygen storage tanks, four nitrogen storage tanks, two high pressure storage tanks, and their associated pipes are still intact and in good condition. The launch vehicle erecting-launching mount and the launch shelter (prefabricated building) are still in place and in good condition. SLC-10W is the best surviving example of a launch complex built in the 1950s at the beginning of the American effort to explore space.
The first launch from SLC-10E occurred on June 16, 1959, by the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, as the Thor missiles had been developed in England. In order to support the nuclear testing project at Johnston Island, the entire launch complex was dismantled and transported to that remote Pacific atoll between January and March 1962. The desire of Headquarters USAF to proceed with the Burner I/Altair satellite program led to the decision to rebuild the SLC-10W. Construction began in May 1963, using equipment shipped from England where the 60 IRBM sites were being dismantled, and was completed in October 1963. After the pad was used for missile/launcher twist testing in its IRBM configuration from March to April 1964, it was partially torn down for modifications to support space launch operations. The pad was back in commission in October 1964, ready to support the Burner I/Altair series of satellite launches. On January 18, 1965, the first THOR Burner I space booster was launched. Twenty launches, using THOR/Burner IIs, THOR Burner IIAs and Thor/Block 5D-1s were performed at this site between 1968 and July 1980. On July 14, 1980, the last LV-2F THOR Space Booster in existence became the 32nd THOR to lift off from SLC-10W.
Space Launch Complex 10, a National Historic Landmark, is located at Vandenberg Air Force Base 10 miles NW of Lompoc and 17 miles SW of Santa Maria, California. The Vandenberg AFB public tour program recently resumed after it was suspended two years ago due to heightened security levels at this active base. Tours are available the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, security and mission permitting. Tours depart from the visitor's center parking lot at 10:00am, take visitor by bus through the base and include a tour of the Heritage Museum, which provides mock-ups of missile silos, an old missile control station and decommissioned rocket engines. Tour duration is two hours, and participants are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure time. Reservations are required at least two weeks in advance and visitors need two forms of photo identification. No walk-ons are permitted. For reservations and more information call the 30th Space Wing Public Affairs office at 805-606-3595.
The Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF) is located at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. This facility is where spacecraft tracking and scientific data are received and processed from the JPL's Deep Space Network. The JPL from the beginning of its association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 has served as the primary NASA center for the unmanned exploration of the planets. The first version of the Space Flight Operations Facility was built in 1958 to support the Explorer 1 satellite. This mission control center was in a single room that housed all the communications, recording and other support necessary for Explorer 1. By 1961, with the coming of Project Ranger to explore the moon, it was obvious that a more elaborate mission control center was necessary. A new SFOF, replacing the Explorer 1 control center, was constructed as the focal point of the Deep Space Network--the hub of the vast communications network through which NASA controls its unmanned spacecraft flying in deep space.
Located in a three-story square building with a standby powerhouse extending from the basement on the west side, the new SFOF was constructed in 1963. All parts of the building, except for portions of the basement and the standby powerhouse, are air-conditioned to precise tolerances. At the heart of the SFOF is the Network Operations Control Center, which provides a centralized point for NASA's Deep Space Network. The Network Operations Control Center has two separate functional elements: Network Operations Control and Network Data Processing. The Network Operations Control Center houses consoles, video displays, projection screens, status and operation displays, closed circuit television communication links and telephones necessary to control and monitor deep space flight operations. The Network Data Processing Center houses the computers and the data storage and processing facilities necessary to support the Network Operations Control Center. Other areas of the building house offices, public viewing areas and additional support facilities for the Network Operations Control Center.
The Mariner, Viking, Pioneer and Voyager projects that have explored the planets and solar environment have all been controlled for at least part of their missions in this facility. The vast harvest of scientific information concerning the planets and the universe gathered by these spacecraft first saw the light of day and were read by technicians working in the SFOF. The SFOF is the symbol of the technology that explored the planets and brought back new discoveries to Earth, and it is the resource most closely associated with the unmanned planetary exploration program of the JPL and NASA. The Space Operations Facility is still an active NASA facility supporting various ongoing NASA projects and its equipment is continually modified and upgraded.
The Space Flight Operations Facility, a National Historic Landmark, is located at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at 4800 Oak Grove Dr. in Pasadena, California. Visitors must contact the JPL Public Services Office to make an advance reservation for a free group or individual tour. All tours are two to three hours in duration and commonly include a multi-media presentation on JPL entitled "Welcome to Outer Space," which provides an overview of the Laboratory's activities and accomplishments. Visitors 18 years of age or older must present valid photo ID. Please call the Public Service Office at 818-354-9314 to make a reservation or visit the JPL website for further information.
Sources: U.S. government, public domain information from Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms - National Register of Historic Places