Bill's Aviation Log

Some interesting terrain down below.

An interstate highway heads north through the high desert.

We were following the valley that runs northwest leading to San Jose and into Silicon Valley when I looked down and saw the San Jose State College football stadium. This was the very stadium where our Mountain View Eagles played and won our three playoff games to win the Central Coast Section championship back in 1975: 48 years ago.

Safe on deck at San Jose Airport. While we were taxiing to the terminal, I looked out and saw a little high-wing taking off. This brought back memories. Back in 1976, on one of my first training flights in a Cessna 150, before I had even soloed, my instructor brought me over to this airport and we did low passes down one of the parallel runways. The instructor was teaching me how to maneuver down low over the runway. Just bank the wing in the direction I wanted to go. But this was the first time I'd ever flown so low; it was a nerve-wracking experience. In those days, San Jose only had a tower, not the Class C airspace it has today, and you could do things like this here.

Next I headed over to Sunnyvale to drive by our old house. We lived here from 1964 to 1969. My parents bought this house, which was brand new and was on land that had been an apricot orchard, for $18,000. The house is now worth something like $1.9 million dolllars. [I'm not sure when my parents sold it but it was long ago before real estate prices went crazy in Silicon Valley] It's a nothing house -- a little rancher with three small bedrooms, a living room, family room, and garage. See that large pine at left. I remember my Dad planting it in the backyard when it was a sprout. There used to be a lawn in the front yard and an apricot tree. But I must say, the house looks pretty good, all things considered.

I stayed overnight at the Navy Lodge, just outside of what used to be Moffett Field Naval Air Station, and is now Moffett Federal Airfield.

Saturday morning, I drove into the base and looked around.

Moffett Field was a big part of my life. My Dad, a career Naval Officer and P-3 Pilot, was stationed here for nine years. We lived in nearby Sunnyvale for six years where I went to elementary school. Later we lived on the base for three years -- the house still stands. I graduated from Mountain View High School not far out the front gate. My friends and I goofed off while Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were inventing the personal computer in a house garage five miles away! I worked my first jobs here. One of them was washing planes for the Moffett Field Flying Club. That led to me taking lessons and somehow getting my ticket. I came back to Moffett Field in 1994 for the decommissioning ceremony.

My first stop was to see the house where we lived from 1974 to 1977. My Dad was a Navy Captain at the time so we lived in the fancy quarters; Quarters "B" to be exact. It looks exactly the same as it did 48 years ago. I don't remember that very tall palm tree though.

In front of Hangar One is the headquarters building. This is where the Base Commanding Officer worked as well as the Admiral in charge of Patrol Wings Pacific. My Dad was on the COMPATWINGSPAC staff and worked in this building.

Across the street from the Exchange was the base pool, which is still operational.

Approaching the southern end of the big Hangar One.

Hangar One was built during the Depression era for the rigid airship USS Macon. The Macon was "flying aircraft carrier", carrying five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk aircraft for scouting purposes. Serving only a year, the Macon was lost in a storm off Big Sur.

A good look at the southern end clam-shell door frame.

In 2003, plans to convert Hangar One to a space and science center were put on hold with the discovery that the structure was leaking toxic chemicals. Options under debate included tearing down the hangar and reusing the land, and cleaning the toxic waste from the site and refurbishing the hangar for future preservation.

In April 2011, the exterior panels began coming down, starting at the top.

Hangar One's northern clam-shell doors are halfway skinned.

The restoration officially began in May 2022. Community members fought hard to save Hangar One; it was a victory nearly two decades in the making. Here's a good article about it: Link.

Google's Planetary Ventures will move into the vast space upon completion, but they have said little about the work it aims to undertake inside Hangar One. I'm glad the iconic hangar has been restored and will be standing for a long time to come.

Across the street from Hangar One is the old Officer's Club building.

I remember NASA's C-141 being bright and shiny 49 yeears ago. Now it is all covered with mildew. Maybe the firefighters use it for practice?

In the hexagonal upper deck of this building, a man named Tom Teshara worked as the West Coast Recruiting representative and prospect counselor for the U.S. Naval Academy. Through his efforts, over a span of 51 years, well over 1000 young men and women had the opportunity to attend the Naval Academy. I was one of them. I don't know that I would have been accepted to the Academy without his help. He died in 2017 at the age of 89. Bravo Zulu.

I drove around the south side to the other side of the field where Hangars Two and Three dominate.

Across from the hangars is the golf course. Base golf courses never die, and this one is no exception. The parking lot was filled on this glorious morning; the golfers were out in full force.

Driving back to the main side, looking down one of the 9,000 foot runways. Now Moffett Field is a joint civil-military airport. You have to have prior permission to land.

December 15, 2023 - Moffett Field, CA
Today I was flying out to California to attend a High School Football Team ceremony and reunion. The flight to San Jose Airport included a stop in Denver to change planes. I would be returning on Sunday. Denver Airport was jammed. I saw at least three other airliners zoom past underneath as we headed in. The terminal was wall to wall people. Taking off from Denver, we turned west and climbed over the Front Range. It was a clear day and the snow-covered mountains were very pretty.

Some interesting terrain down below.

I looked down, saw a little airport, and realized I knew this airport. I've landed there a couple of times on my southern Utah flights. It's Huntington Municipal Airport (69V), just to the northeast of that little lake. To the east, and out of sight, is one of my favorite places to fly: the San Rafael Swell. I'm sorry I didn't realize it was down there and take some pictures.

An interstate highway heads north through the high desert.

We have just entered the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Mono Lake is clearly visible at right.

Since we passed to the south of Mono Lake, I knew we must be just south of Yosemite Valley. I looked for Half Dome but could not see it clearly. I'm pretty Yosemite Valley is in this picture running left to right at center.

We crossed the Central Valley and are just about to enter the Coastal Range. Interstate 5 which runs parallel to the mountains is clearly visible, plus the aquaducts moving the precious water to those who need it.

We were following the valley that runs northwest leading to San Jose and into Silicon Valley when I looked down and saw the San Jose State College football stadium. This was the very stadium where our Mountain View Eagles played and won our three playoff games to win the Central Coast Section championship back in 1975: 48 years ago.

We came zooming in right over the tallest buildings in San Jose.

Safe on deck at San Jose Airport. While we were taxiing to the terminal, I looked out and saw a little high-wing taking off. This brought back memories. Back in 1976, on one of my first training flights in a Cessna 150, before I had even soloed, my instructor brought me over to this airport and we did low passes down one of the parallel runways. The instructor was teaching me how to maneuver down low over the runway. Just bank the wing in the direction I wanted to go. But this was the first time I'd ever flown so low; it was a nerve-wracking experience. In those days, San Jose only had a tower, not the Class C airspace it has today, and you could do things like this here.

Once nice thing about this short trip was that I didn't have to check luggage. I just had a carry-on so I was out of the terminal and into my rental car in record time. My first stop was nearby Levi's Stadium, home of my favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, since 2014. This is the first time I've seen the new stadium.

According to Google Maps, the 49ers Museum at the north end of the stadium was supposed to be open. But it wasn't. It's only open on game days apparently. Oh well. The Team Store was open, so I checked that out. If you want a 49er jersey, this is the place. I checked out the memorial to the second most famous play in NFL history: "The Catch". Who can forget Dwight Clark's end zone catch from Joe Montana in the 1982 NFC Championship Game, beating the Dallas Cowboys and sending the 49ers to their first Super Bowl. It marked the end of the 49ers being one of the worst teams in the NFL and the beginning of the 49er dynasty.

From the stadium parking lot, I could see the Great America amusement park. I remember when Great America opened; in fact, I went on opening day. In those days, Great America stood by itself surrounded by nothing by clear, flat land. Now this entire area is filled with office buildings. I'm surprised they were able to acquire enough land to build the football stadium and parking area.

Next I headed over to Sunnyvale to drive by our old house. We lived here from 1964 to 1969. My parents bought this house, which was brand new and was on land that had been an apricot orchard, for $18,000. The house is now worth something like $1.9 million dolllars. [I'm not sure when my parents sold it but it was long ago before real estate prices went crazy in Silicon Valley] It's a nothing house -- a little rancher with three small bedrooms, a living room, family room, and garage. See that large pine at left. I remember my Dad planting it in the backyard when it was a sprout. There used to be a lawn in the front yard and an apricot tree. But I must say, the house looks pretty good, all things considered.

Nearby is the elementary school I attended. Looks pretty much the same.

I stayed overnight at the Navy Lodge, just outside of what used to be Moffett Field Naval Air Station, and is now Moffett Federal Airfield. Saturday morning, I drove into the base and looked around. Moffett Field was a big part of my life. My Dad, a career Naval Officer and P-3 Pilot, was stationed here for nine years. We lived in nearby Sunnyvale for six years where I went to elementary school. Later we lived on the base for three years -- the house still stands. I graduated from Mountain View High School not far out the front gate. My friends and I goofed off while Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were inventing the personal computer in a house garage five miles away! I worked my first jobs here. One of them was washing planes for the Moffett Field Flying Club. That led to me taking lessons and somehow getting my ticket. I came back to Moffett Field in 1994 for the decommissioning ceremony. My first stop was to see the house where we lived from 1974 to 1977. My Dad was a Navy Captain at the time so we lived in the fancy quarters; Quarters "B" to be exact. It looks exactly the same as it did 48 years ago. I don't remember that very tall palm tree though.

Heading into the base. The Space Shuttle replica is new. NASA has a big presence on the base these days. The original base was commissioned on 12 April 1933 and dedicated NAS Sunnyvale. The base was renamed NAS Moffett Field on 1 September 1933 after the death of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, who is credited with the base's creation. From the end of World War II until its closure, NAS Moffett Field saw the development and use of several generations of land-based anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft, including the Lockheed P2V Neptune and Lockheed P-3 Orion. On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center. [I was present at the closing ceremony]. NASA Ames now operates the facility as Moffett Federal Airfield. Since being decommissioned as a primary military installation, part of Moffett has been made accessible to the public.

Moffett Field's dominating feature is Hangar One, the huge airship hangar. Shenandoah Plaza is the grass area to the right, named after the USS Shenandoah, the first of the U.S. Navy's four rigid airships.

In front of Hangar One is the headquarters building. This is where the Base Commanding Officer worked as well as the Admiral in charge of Patrol Wings Pacific. My Dad was on the COMPATWINGSPAC staff and worked in this building.

This building on the right side of Shenandoah Plaza was the old dispensary; where I used to get dreaded shots as a kid.

Passing by the old Bachelors Officers Quarters (BOQ).

This used to be the movie theater building.

This vacant paved lot is where the Navy Exchange used to be.

From the side. Part of the exchange was a cafeteria, where my friends and I worked one summer.

Across the street from the Exchange was the base pool, which is still operational.

An old P-3 Orion on static display stands guard. During the Cold War, Moffett Field was home to six P-3 squadrons, plus the Replacement Air Group (RAG) training squadron.

Approaching the southern end of the big Hangar One. Hangar One was built during the Depression era for the rigid airship USS Macon. The Macon was "flying aircraft carrier", carrying five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk aircraft for scouting purposes. Serving only a year, the Macon was lost in a storm off Big Sur.

The airship hangar is constructed on a network of steel girders sheathed with galvanized steel. It rests firmly upon a reinforced pad anchored to concrete pilings. The floor covers eight acres and can accommodate six football fields. The airship hangar itself, measures 1,133 feet long and 308 feet wide. The building has aerodynamic architecture. Its walls curve upward and inward, to form an elongated dome 198 feet high. The clam-shell doors were designed to reduce turbulence when the Macon moved in and out on windy days. The "orange peel" doors, weighing 500 tons each, are moved by their own 150 horsepower motors operated via an electrical control panel. The airship hangar's interior is so large that fog sometimes forms near the ceiling.

A good look at the southern end clam-shell door frame. In 2003, plans to convert Hangar One to a space and science center were put on hold with the discovery that the structure was leaking toxic chemicals. Options under debate included tearing down the hangar and reusing the land, and cleaning the toxic waste from the site and refurbishing the hangar for future preservation. In April 2011, the exterior panels began coming down, starting at the top.

The old gas station. There was no such things as self service in those days. Attendents, mostly Navy wives, would fill your car with gas.

The Moffett Field Historical Society Museum building. Unfortunately, the museum was not open yet and I did not have time to stick around and visit it.

The reskiining of Hangar One is coming along nicely. In November 2014, Planetary Ventures LLC, a Google subsidiary, signed a $1.16 billion, 60-year lease. Google also agreed to invest an additional $200 million to renovate and restore the structure. Finally, Google pays $1.3 million a year to NASA to park their Boeing 767-200 and Gulfstream V jets. Talk about a high hangar rent! Googleplex -- the corporate headquarters complex of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. -- is less than a mile to the west of Moffett Field.

Hangar One's northern clam-shell doors are halfway skinned. The restoration officially began in May 2022. Community members fought hard to save Hangar One; it was a victory nearly two decades in the making. Here's a good article about it: Link. Google's Planetary Ventures will move into the vast space upon completion, but they have said little about the work it aims to undertake inside Hangar One. I'm glad the iconic hangar has been restored and will be standing for a long time to come.

Across the street from Hangar One is the old Officer's Club building.

Amazingly, the Moffett Field Commissary is still selling groceries to military retirees. I can remember riding around the commissary, in a shopping cart, being pushed by my Mom.

The old Gym Building, where my friends and I discovered racquetball. In those days, the racquets were made of wood, with holes drilled in them!

The northern end of Hangar One is where the Moffett Field Flying Club used to be. Just to the right of that little control tower. I used to watch the P-3s taxi by as I washed the club planes: four C150s, a Cessna 206, a Mooney, a Bonanza. In those days, it cost $15 an hour to rent the C150 wet, and $15 an hour for the instructor. This is where I learned to fly.

I remember NASA's C-141 being bright and shiny 49 yeears ago. Now it is all covered with mildew. Maybe the firefighters use it for practice?

In the hexagonal upper deck of this building, a man named Tom Teshara worked as the West Coast Recruiting representative and prospect counselor for the U.S. Naval Academy. Through his efforts, over a span of 51 years, well over 1000 young men and women had the opportunity to attend the Naval Academy. I was one of them. I don't know that I would have been accepted to the Academy without his help. He died in 2017 at the age of 89. Bravo Zulu.

Another look at the venerable P-3 Orion.

I drove around the south side to the other side of the field where Hangars Two and Three dominate.

One summer, I worked in the cafeteria in Hangar Three.

Moffett Field's Hangars Two and Three were built at the beginning of World War II as part of a coastal defense program. The Hangars are still some of the largest unsupported wooden structures in the country. US Navy established ten lighter-than-air bases across the United States during World War II as part of the coastal defense plan. Six of the original seventeen of these wooden hangars still exist: two at Moffett Field, one at Tustin, California, one at Tillamook, Oregon, and two at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Across from the hangars is the golf course. Base golf courses never die, and this one is no exception. The parking lot was filled on this glorious morning; the golfers were out in full force.

The golf shack includes a little restaurant and bar. I worked here for a few months prior to going off to college. It hasn't changed one bit.

Driving back to the main side, looking down one of the 9,000 foot runways. Now Moffett Field is a joint civil-military airport. You have to have prior permission to land.

But they do allow low passes! In July 2019 I was flying around the west coast in my RV-7. I asked Moffett Field tower for permission to do a low pass and they gave it to me. Here I am rolling in on 14L.

A close-up of Hangar One. As you can see, back in 2019 the re-skiining hadn't started yet.


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December 15, 2023 - Moffett Field, CA