We've been to Tillamook Airport a few times. But until now we haven't made it to the Tillamook Air Museum. (cheese always took priority).
The Air Museum is housed in Hangar B. Hangar A and Hangar B were military blimp hangars. They were built in 1942 to house the blimps that were used for coastal patrol and convoy escort during WWII. Hangar B was built first and took 9 months from December 1942 to August 1943. Hangar A? Hangar A was built in 27 days. Hangar A was destroyed in a fire in 1992. Hangar B is now home to one of the top 5 privately owned aircraft collections in the world.
The photos don't really show the size. But Hangar B is huge. You can see if from miles away. It's the largest clear span wooden structure in the world.
- 192 feet tall - that's 15 stories
- 1072 feet long
- 296 feet wide
- Over 7 acres in area
- The doors alone are 120 ft high
The letters on the roof of the hangar? Each letter is 100ft in height. And the lines in each letter are 20ft wide. It took 2 weeks to paint them on.
Inside the hangar is a collection of 30+ aircraft, a cafe, gift shop and theatre. Entry is normally $9.00 for the museum and an additional $3.00 to tour the Guppy. The day we flew in was the day of a show and shine, so entry was only $5.00 for the museum and the Guppy. Nice.
I want a Mini Guppy. It has bunk beds behind the cockpit, so you can have a real nap. Although our hangar is not big enough to house this thing, and hubby is not allowed to buy any more planes.
We spent a good couple of hours wandering round, reading the history, watching the film, eating tacos and shopping in the store. Hubby's Dad would love the planes here - they're all war era planes. But I'm about aviation museum-ed out for the next year or so!