Photo Funday — hangar door hanger Photo Funday — a photo and
informative caption for the weekend Naval Air Station Richmond
existed in Miami, in part, as a lighter than air ship base for
K-class blimps during WW II. A hurricane devastated the base in
September 1945. All three hangars were destroyed in the 170 mph
(272kph) winds and subsequent fire — along with 25 air ships and
368 aircraft. Each hangar was massive, covering 7 acres (2.8
hectares) with their 1088 feet length (404.8m) and 297 feet
width (110.5m). Their heights were in the neighborhood of 17
stories. The hangars were of wooden construction with metal
doors and concrete hangar door frames. The only large remaining
feature of any of the NAS Richmond hangars is this single frame
that is now used as a radio tower support. The site itself is
now home to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. One of these hangar
designs exists at the Tillamook Air Museum which was described
in the post, Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and the Tillamook
Air Museum.