Moffett Field Museum — Attraction in Mountain View

We traveled to Moffett Field to visit the NASA Ames Research Center which is located on the base. Most of the base is still restricted because it's still controlled by the military but we did close enough to take some photos of the huge hangers, which was adjacent from our destination. Not much to see, other than telling the story about this place.

In 1920's, the Navy draws up plans to build an airship base on the West Coast similar to Lakehurst.

94 communities vied for the base, with the Navy choosing Sunnyvale at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. Even though the country was in the depths of the depression, the community managed to raise $476,000 to purchase 1000 acres for the Navy.

In February 1931, President Hoover signed a bill authorizing the Navy to accept title to the land and construction began in October. $2.5 million was allocated for the construction of Hangar One.

In April 1933, the Navy commissioned "NAS Sunnyvale." During that same month, Rear Admiral "William A. Moffett" lost his life when the USS Akron crashed off Barnegat Light, N.J. Two months later, the station's name changed to "Moffett Field" in honor of the late Rear Admiral.

In September 1935, the U.S. Army took over Moffett and immediately became disenchanted with it, mainly due to the high cost of Hangar One's maintenance. Moffett eventually became headquarters of the Army's Western Flying Training Command.

In 1939, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory was established. After Pearl Harbor, the Navy desperately needed Moffett back to start West Coast blimp operations.

In January 1942, the deflated blimps, in storage at Lakehurst, were shipped by rail to Moffett and inflated.

In February 1942, the first flight of Air Ship "ZP-32" was conducted and during March and April, three more "L-ships" were appropriated from Goodyear's advertising fleet.

In April 1942, the Navy recommissioned the station. Goodyear began a program to ship new deflated blimps from Akron, Ohio to Moffett for final assembly and inflation.

In October 1942, the Navy placed the first airship completed by this program into service and by November, construction began on Hangars Two and Three.

In August 1943, Moffett opened two smaller stations at Watsonville and Eureka, California to provide more patrol coverage of the Pacific coast, north and south of Moffett.

Spring of 1944, the Navy began to scale down on Air Ship operations, especially along the West Coast where Japanese submarines had never become a serious threat.

In June 1994, as a result of the "1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission's decision," NAS Moffett closed and became "Moffett Federal Airfield." Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA), formerly Naval Air Station (NAS) Moffett Field, is currently operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"NASA has continued the tenant program begun by the Navy, hosting several other organizations at MFA including the Naval Reserve, the California Air National Guard, and Onizuka Air Force Base. Control of on-base and off-base housing was transferred to Onizuka Air Force Base. Currently, NASA is continuing to operate MFA as a restricted federal airfield, but is also considering various other uses of the property that will support its mission."

In 1995, the city of San Jose passed a resolution stating that if the federal government decided to discontinue its operation of Moffett Airfield, the airfield should become a civil airport for the long-term benefit of the Santa Clara County.

In 1999, the US House of Representatives Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee approved $14 million to construct the new composite maintenance hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View for the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard. In an effort to get the Air National Guard to stay on site, the city of Sunnyvale played a major role in helping to get the...

I went to moffet feild for the wings of freedom air show. Antique airplanes from WW2, from May 17 to 25, (last week in May ) honors memorial day. This place and the event is a little known treasure! I will be back! Space museum, free airplane display, military museum, antique church still in use. And of course the old blimp hangers still standing. It is thiugh, a shame the county has not fixed the damage they did to the main hangar. It is a national monument to the era of derigables. The entire place is facinating look back at our country's national defense, research, and evolution particularly of flight. And once you see it, you too, will be facinated. It is not expensive to go there. Great for family's or singles. You will wish for it to preserved, and you will be inspired. You won't want to drag yourself away. I guarantee, you will have fun. Everybody I know who went loved it....

The Moffett Field historical society museum is a small museum run by a dedicated core of volunteers. The volunteers are usually ex-military people or from military oriented families. The museum was well-staffed when I was there. There were many people working on the displays. The displays are a selection of well-rounded memorabilia and some simulator cockpits and actual flight simulators. I think the primary audience for this museum are people who are interested in the United States Navy. There are a large number of uniforms and equipment from various decades. There are a large number of ship and aircraft models. There is also a fairly large library of written material. I did not go outside and see the aircraft that they have on display. The museum staff is also interested in connecting with people who would like to donate their time or...