Blimp Hanger from Closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

by Linda Brody

Title

Blimp Hanger from Closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

Artist

Linda Brody

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

One of two closed Blimp Hangers at the former Marine Corps Air Station, located in Tustin, California.

Marine Corps Air Station Tustin,was a United States Marine Corps Air Station. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft in the U.S. military inventory. While it was active, all U.S. Presidents in the post-World War II era landed in Air Force One at this airfield. The El Toro "Flying Bull" patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944. It survived virtually unchanged until the close of the Air Station.

The Blimp Hangers each measure 1,072 feet (327 m) long by 292 feet (89 m) wide by 192 feet (59 m) tall. The two structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks. Built in 1942 of Oregon Douglas fir, these structures are among the largest freestanding wooden structures in the world.

Designing and building the two structures in 1942, during wartime, on a hyper-accelerated schedule, and with a nearly all-wood design, is what earned the hangars their 1993 listing by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks of the 20th Century.

This hanger had a partial roof collapse in October 2013. In the background you can see a crane helping to hold up some of the roof area. This damaged hangar, is the best preserved of the two, and is slated to be handed over to Orange County as the centerpiece of a proposed 85-acre regional park. Now county leaders say they are worried about inheriting a building that could cost millions to maintain or refurbish and no longer has a practical use.

https://www.tustinca.org/765/Tustin-Hangars
https://www.tustinca.org/DocumentCenter/View/1163/The-Tustin-Hangars-Titans-of-History-PDF

This photograph has been featured in the following Groups:
ABC Group - A for Architecture
The Road to Self Promotion
10+
CONTEST: 2nd PLACE - ABANDONED BUILDINGS OR INDUSTRIES - May 2019
Images that Excite
Nikon Full Frame Cameras
Southern California Artists Collective

Some of my artwork appears on products sold at Zazzle. Check out the following website: http://www.zazzle.com/linda116.

If you like my art, please take a moment to "like" and/or comment. I would be most appreciative if you would share on Facebook, Pinterest, etc. This will help promote my art online and enable it to be found by others on internet searches. Thank you so much.

Uploaded

August 24th, 2015

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