Blimp Hanger in Orange County catches fire!

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

The north hangar is where several friends worked in the late 1980s (each hangar housed 4 heavy-lift USMC helo squadrons - all of their CH-53s fit inside with a LOT of room to spare.

I have gone from the ground room of those door structures up the vertical leg, across through the roller-track access (more than 10' headroom and 30' wide - there were owls nesting in there) and back down the far side leg to ground level - in 1989-90.
 
Giant WWII Airship Hangar Decimated By Raging Fire

Tustin-Hangar.jpg
 
Hangar No. 1 (north hangar) building in 1942:

Tustin CA 1942 Hangar1 construction.jpg


Original occupants:

Tustin blimps inside.jpg


1970s-90s occupants:

Blimps and Helos2.jpg


Tustin CA hangar CH-53s.jpg


In 2003 looking south - No. 1 middle, no. 2 background:

Tustin CA 2003.jpg


And, because every subject needs a conspiracy theory... here is the 2010 Tustin City community plan - it shows hangar No. 1 (the one that burned) torn down to make way for a school:

Tustin CA 2010 plan.jpg


Here is a history of the base & hangars, with lots more photos:
 

Attachments

  • NAS-Santa-Ana-History.pdf
    6.4 MB · Views: 18
The hangar that burned had suffered roof damage in a 2013 windstorm.

hangar 1 roof damage 2013.jpg


Fortunately, the South Hangar is under the control of the City of Tustin, and they have spent approximately $680,000 on capital improvements to the South Hangar through June 30, 2019, - and around $2,000,000 since then on repairs and improvements as part of a larger plan to fully refurbish the structure for long-term preservation and (non-aviation) use (estimated final cost $10-15 million).
 

Attachments

  • Nov 2022 Tustin City agenda item for hangar 2.pdf
    1.2 MB · Views: 18
Last edited:
Blimp! Not quite, that is an Airship hangar. Guess the remains will be levelled.

Eng
Sad deal. When I was a kid in '59, I was with a Cub Scout Pack visiting Earhart Field in Oakland as guests of the SF Sea Scout Crew. The Navy had a blimp tethered and would lower it and change out Cubs to ride in it. Very cool. Later that same year I thought the Blue Angels flew an F9 Cougar threw the airship hanger at Moffet Field. I was pretty little and far away and could be mistaken. Decades later, ('86?) I was invited by my bud, who worked for Ames at Moffet, for the debut of the Blue Angels and their new F14s. My bud was a "Tunnel Rat" who helped build the test clubs in the converted airship hanger, the largest wind tunnel on the planet. The shops bone yard had neat junk, amongst other things a Gemini capsule, and an X15 fuselage. He let my boys climb all over that stuff. They had a 100-gallon saltwater aquarium made out of 6" octagon shaped plexiglass that was for monkey's space endeavors. It had a hairline crack and had been in the scrap heap. Boss facility. PAX
 
It's possible, though the USN had ten air stations that had Blimp Hangars, three being on the west coast: NAS Tillamook, NAS Moffett and NAS Santa Ana.
NAS Santa Ana did not have a runway acceptable for those Corsairs and Hellcats (nearby MCAS El Toro was the fixed-wing base in the area).... it was most likely Moffett, which was also a fixed-wing field.
 
NAS Santa Ana did not have a runway acceptable for those Corsairs and Hellcats (nearby MCAS El Toro was the fixed-wing base in the area).... it was most likely Moffett, which was also a fixed-wing field.
Sure it did - the mooring circle was 2000' in diameter and had landing markers for fixed wing aircraft.
 
And that marked runway was used for light aircraft, not massed fighters. The formal runway was not added until later.

Tustin CA 1943:

Tustin CA 1943.jpg



Santa Ana CA 1945 AAF airfield directory - note that no runway is indicated:

Santa Ana CA 1945 AAF airfield directory.jpg



Tustin LTA as NAS Santa Ana ~1945.jpg



The 1945 photo looks like construction on a formal runway is underway - here it is in 1960, but the base was still not used for fixed-wing aircraft:

MCAS Tustin ~1960.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back