Tillamook Air Museum
| Tillamook Air Museum | |
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| Established | 1992 |
| Location | Tillamook, Oregon, United States |
| Type | Private: aerospace |
| Website | TillamookAir.com |
Tillamook Air Museum is an aviation museum located south of Tillamook, Oregon at Tillamook Airport . The museum is housed in a former military blimp hangar, called "Hangar B", which is the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world.[1] Tillamook Air Museum has been described as "one of the country's top private World War II aircraft collections".[2]
Constructed by the US Navy in 1942 during World War II for Naval Air Station Tillamook, the hangar building housing the aircraft is 1,072 feet (327 m) long and 296 feet (90 m) wide, giving it over 6 acres (24,000 m2) of space. It stands at 192 feet (59 m) tall. The doors weigh 30 tons each and are 120 feet (37 m) tall. Hangar "B" is one of two that were built on the site originally, Hangar "A" was destroyed by fire in 1992.[3][4]
A portion of the blimp hangar is now leased by the Hillsboro, Oregon-based American Blimp Corporation which is the largest manufacturer of blimps in the United States.
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[edit] Collections
The museum features a collection of over 30 aircraft. This is a listing of some of the more notable:
- Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy
- Aero L-29 Delfin
- Bellanca Air Cruiser 1938
- Boeing PT-17 Stearman
- Chance Vought A-7 Corsair
- Chance Vought F4U-7 Corsair 13372
- Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina
- Douglas AD-4W Skyraider
- Douglas A-26 Invader
- Douglas A-4B Skyhawk
- Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber
- C-47 Skytrain
- Fairchild GK-1
- Martin AM-1 Mauler
- Grumman F-14A Tomcat
- Grumman FM-2 Wildcat
- Grumman TBM Avenger
- Kaman HTK -1 Helicopter
- Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon
- Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune
- Lockheed P-38 Lightning
- Messerschmitt Bf 109
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
- Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar
- Nord 1101
- North American P-51 Mustang
The Museum also features an exhibit hall with a large collection of rare historical wartime and aviation artifacts including pieces of the great German airship the Hindenburg and a WWII Luftwaffe flight jacket.
[edit] See also
- Evergreen Aviation Museum, in McMinnville, Oregon: houses the Spruce Goose
- List of aerospace museums
- Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
- Moffett Federal Airfield
- Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon
[edit] References
- ^ Larsen, Jeff Short Trips: Slice of history and a wedge of cheese Seattle-PI 2002-03-21 retrieved 2008-04-24
- ^ 10 great places to remember World War II USA Today 2004-06-04 retrieved 2008-04-24
- ^ Tillamook Air Museum: Building
- ^ U.S. Naval Air Station Dirigible Hangars
[edit] External links
- Photos of aircraft at Tillamook Air Museum at Airliners.net
- Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- Hardt, Ulrich H. Naval Air Station Tillamook/Tillamook Air Museum in the Oregon Encyclopedia
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Coordinates: 45°25′13″N 123°48′17″W / 45.420391°N 123.804835°W
