TILLAMOOK AIR MUSEUM / HD

In 1942, the U.S. Navy began construction of 17 wooden hangars around the U.S. coastlines to house the K-class blimps being used for antisubmarine coast patrol and convoy escort. Two of these hangars were built at Naval Air Station Tillamook. They were commissioned in December 1942 and served the Oregon-Washington coastal area.

Construction of the two hangars was rushed to completion. Hangar B was the first one built and was completed in August of 1943. Hangar A (which was destroyed in a 1992 fire) was completed in only 27-days!

Stationed at NAS Tillamook was Squadron ZP-33 with a complement of 8 K-ships. The K-ships were 252-feet long and filled with 425,000 cubic feet of helium. With a range of 2,000-miles and an ability to stay aloft for three-days, they were well suited for coastal patrol and convoy escort. Naval Air Station Tillamook was decommissioned in 1948.

Since 1994, the remaining hangar has been home to one of the finest collections of privately owned WW II flying aircraft in the nation and has the distinction of being the largest wooden structure in the world!


HANGAR B

Length 1,072 feet
Height 192 feet (over 15 stories)
Width 296 feet
Area Over 7 acres
Doors 120 feet high (180 tons total) / 220 feet wide openings
Catwalks Two catwalks, each 137 feet above the hangar deck


http://www.tillamookair.com/

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Tillamook Air Museum
• Blimps
• Planes
• World War II

[Juscz]

Thanks for posting these great aircraft that seem to be extremely well cared for. The Bellanca A ir Cruiser is a special favorite of mine... thanks especially for including that one.

[daswurger]

Magnificent construction....nice collection,worth a visit.thanks for the video.

[chuck3star]

I just returned from a trip to Tillamook to visit the museum. It brought back many memories for me. I was stationed at NAS So. Weymouth, MA, where we had a very similar blimp hangar for the "K" ships. I lived adjacent to the base and the blimps were always flying over the house. Thier size always commanded attention when they were flying. People would stop all along the road to watch a landing airship. Very nice video, thanks for sharing.

[MsCshepard]

Some of my favorite memories of your grand father were our Oregon road trips. We drove the Oregon coastline many times. Some of his favorite memories were those spent piloting Naval airships during WW II. While he hated war, he was fascinated with the airships. On a few occasions we drove through Tillamook & visited the Air Museum & Blimp Hangar. I will always remember those fun, interesting times. :-)

[washingtonboy09]

i love this museum. What a beautiful place and video. I just got back from my trip there

[45bang]

omg beautiful!!! just beautiful!!