Hanging out and working at Moffett Federal Airfield (formerly Naval Air Station), KNUQ. Sitting on the south end of the San Francisco bay……the departure ends of RW 32L/R are the bay….Moffett was formerly home, as a Naval Air Station, to west coast Patrol (VP) squadrons and Patrol Wing Pacific Fleet, consisting of Patrol Wing 10, Reserve Patrol Wing 4, and the west coast VP RAG training unit. Several squadrons of active duty and Navy Reserve P-3 Orion, and formerly P-2 Neptune, were based here. The California ANG 129th Rescue Wing is a tenant unit here with their HC-130 and HH-60G aircraft. On 1 July 1994, Moffett Field NAS was deactivated as part of the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) selections. The base changed to a Federal Airfield, and the major tenet unit at the time, NASAs Ames Research Center, became the base manager. Moffett is one of a few airfields on the US coasts that had large airship operations, and hence, had giant airship hangars. Moffett has three of these hangars, with Hangar 1 being of metal construction, and. Hangars 2 and 3 of wood construction. Of the 17 of these hangars built in CONUS, only 7 survive, with 5 being in California: the three here at Moffett, and the two at the former MCAS(H) Tustin, California. These hangars are National Historical structures.
Some interesting stuff to see here. Hangar 1 is undergoing renovation, due to its metal structure having been leeching hazardous materials into the soil over the years. The hangar itself covers 8 acres….1,133 feet long x 308 feet wide x 198 feet high. The hangar, in the right atmospheric conditions, can even get fog building inside of it, and rain. An amazing structure to see, along with Hangars 2 and 3 on the east Air Guard side of the field.
Another interesting thing is that Google corp negotiated a deal to allow their corporate jets to operate out of here; in turn, Google is financing a bulk of the rebuilt of Hangar 1.
Some interesting aircraft exist at the field also, both active and retired. One, is a rare A-model Lockheed C-141 Starlifter that is a NASA airborne observatory. Nearly all of the entire fleet of C-141s were converted from A models to B models in the very early 1980s, with their fuselages lengthened and aerial refueling ability added. Only 5 or so C-141As were not converted to B models, this being one of them. This particular jet, was kept as an A model since Lockheed used it as a demonstrator for a proposed civilian version of the Starlifter that was never produced. Known as the Gerard P Kupier Airborne Observatory and registered as N714NA / NASA 714, this jet was a deep space airborne telescope that operated from 1974 to 1995, before it was replaced by a modified Boeing 747SP known as SOFIA, or Strategic Observatory for Infrared Astronomy airborne telescope, that was retired just this past December to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. The C-141 did such notable work as taking measurements of the planet Mercury, and discovering an atmosphere on the former planet Pluto.
The Sikorsky S-72 here, registered N741NA / NASA 741, is one of only two ever built, and was known as the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft. The S-72 was a hybrid rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft. It had a standard main and tail rotor, but also incorporated an airplane wing (detached from the airframe here). The rotor system was powered by two GE T58 engines, a standard engine of the Sikorsky H-3 Jolly Green / Sea King series of helicopter. Additionally, the wings mounted two GE TF34 turbofan engines, which was the standard A-10 Warthog and S-3 Viking engine, for fixed wing flight. The landing gear for the S-72 was modified main landing gear from the Northrop F-5 Tiger fighter jet. Prior to the advent of the V-22 Osprey aircraft, the S-72 project was meant to create an aircraft that could transition from helicopter, to airplane, and back to helicopter, with both hover ability like a helicopter, and high speed like an airplane. This was done by transitioning from the rotors being powered, to the fixed-wing engines providing power, and the rotors stopping and now acting like small fixed wings, assisting in lift of the main wing. The S-72 also featured the first helicopter ejection seats, which when activated, the five main rotor blades were successively blown off by explosive bolts, the canopy was jettisoned, and the seats fired. The S-72 project was a joint venture by NASA and the US Army from 1976-1979, and continued to fly with NASA until 1994. The second S-72 airframe is in storage at the US Army’s aviation center at Ft Rucker, AL.
Photo credits: Mike Daftarian
Some interesting stuff to see here. Hangar 1 is undergoing renovation, due to its metal structure having been leeching hazardous materials into the soil over the years. The hangar itself covers 8 acres….1,133 feet long x 308 feet wide x 198 feet high. The hangar, in the right atmospheric conditions, can even get fog building inside of it, and rain. An amazing structure to see, along with Hangars 2 and 3 on the east Air Guard side of the field.
Another interesting thing is that Google corp negotiated a deal to allow their corporate jets to operate out of here; in turn, Google is financing a bulk of the rebuilt of Hangar 1.
Some interesting aircraft exist at the field also, both active and retired. One, is a rare A-model Lockheed C-141 Starlifter that is a NASA airborne observatory. Nearly all of the entire fleet of C-141s were converted from A models to B models in the very early 1980s, with their fuselages lengthened and aerial refueling ability added. Only 5 or so C-141As were not converted to B models, this being one of them. This particular jet, was kept as an A model since Lockheed used it as a demonstrator for a proposed civilian version of the Starlifter that was never produced. Known as the Gerard P Kupier Airborne Observatory and registered as N714NA / NASA 714, this jet was a deep space airborne telescope that operated from 1974 to 1995, before it was replaced by a modified Boeing 747SP known as SOFIA, or Strategic Observatory for Infrared Astronomy airborne telescope, that was retired just this past December to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. The C-141 did such notable work as taking measurements of the planet Mercury, and discovering an atmosphere on the former planet Pluto.
The Sikorsky S-72 here, registered N741NA / NASA 741, is one of only two ever built, and was known as the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft. The S-72 was a hybrid rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft. It had a standard main and tail rotor, but also incorporated an airplane wing (detached from the airframe here). The rotor system was powered by two GE T58 engines, a standard engine of the Sikorsky H-3 Jolly Green / Sea King series of helicopter. Additionally, the wings mounted two GE TF34 turbofan engines, which was the standard A-10 Warthog and S-3 Viking engine, for fixed wing flight. The landing gear for the S-72 was modified main landing gear from the Northrop F-5 Tiger fighter jet. Prior to the advent of the V-22 Osprey aircraft, the S-72 project was meant to create an aircraft that could transition from helicopter, to airplane, and back to helicopter, with both hover ability like a helicopter, and high speed like an airplane. This was done by transitioning from the rotors being powered, to the fixed-wing engines providing power, and the rotors stopping and now acting like small fixed wings, assisting in lift of the main wing. The S-72 also featured the first helicopter ejection seats, which when activated, the five main rotor blades were successively blown off by explosive bolts, the canopy was jettisoned, and the seats fired. The S-72 project was a joint venture by NASA and the US Army from 1976-1979, and continued to fly with NASA until 1994. The second S-72 airframe is in storage at the US Army’s aviation center at Ft Rucker, AL.
Photo credits: Mike Daftarian
