A final salute to Moffett Field’s historic Hangar 3

Historic Hangar 3 undergoes demolition at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., on Monday, May 20, 2024. Hangar 3, built during World War II, will be gone by next March. There was an era when the cavernous structure, one of three hangars at Moffett Field between Mountain View and Sunnyvale, had the attention it deserved. Inside its historic wooden walls, generations of proud servicemembers moored and maintained the aircraft that defended us from predators.

Hangar 3 and its two siblings have been a famed part of the Peninsula’s landscape, punctuating the eastern horizon like giant gray anvils. Hangar 1 is easily viewed from Highway 101; Hangars 2 and 3, more distant, are best seen from the public Golf Club at Moffett Field. Hangars 2, left, and 3, right, at NASA Ames Research Center on Monday, May 15, 2006. Hangar 3, considered unsafe, began demolition in Dec. 2023. It will be completed by March 2025. A mural in the breezeway of Hanger 3 at Moffett Federal Field. The decaying hangar, built during World War II, is being demolished and will be gone by next March.

They are sharing painful memories of friends who died in the skies, and the relief of watching others return safely. Inside Hangar 3, murals of each squadron’s mascot — a marlin, a black cat, a phoenix, and more — were proudly painted on walls. Hectic during the day, Hangar 3 could feel haunted at night. There were owls in the rafters — and a visiting fox.

Hangar 3 was built in a hurry, without rigorous research and testing, according to NASA historian James Anderson. The United States desperately needed blimps to conduct submarine surveillance operations along the Pacific Coast. Huge 121-foot-tall doors, rumored to be resistant to nuclear blast, rolled on rails. A pair of catwalks, 15 stories high, provided access to vast upper reaches.

“The job was to keep watch over the Soviet navy — both their surface ships and, especially, their submarines,” said retired Captain Tom Spink, board chair for the Moffett Field Museum.

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