HABS No. CA-2669-B
Travis Air Force Base, B-36 Hangar (Travis Air Force Base, Building No. 810) H Between Woodskill Avenue and Ellis, adjacent to Taxiway V and W Fairfield Solano County California
PHOTOGRAPHS
WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DA TA
Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service Western Region Department of the Interior San Francisco, California 94107 HAB5 C...AL HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY "I~- t=A 112 Travis Air Force Base B-36Hangar ~G- / Building No. 810 HABS No. CA-2669-B
Location: Building 810 is between Woodskill Avenue and Ellis, adjacent to Taxiway "V" and "W." U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute quadrangle, Elmira, California (1980), Universal Transverse Coordinates: 4235340.591897.
Significance: Building 810 is significant as an excellent example of a double-cantilever, medium bomber hangar used for maintenance of the B-36. It was one of the first such double-bay bomber hangars erected nationwide by the Strategic Air Command (SAC). The B-36 was SAC's first long-range, intercontinental bomber carrying nuclear weapons, the only aircraft during the early years of the Cold War capable of reaching-and returning from the Soviet Union. This maintenance hangar, in response to the size of the bomber, was monumental. Similar structures were built at SAC installations between 1952 and 1957. The double-cantilever, B-36 hangar was one of the first symbolic military structures of the Cold War; its physical size foreshadowed the moleholes and alert apron of the B-52 and KC-135 tanker (Geo-Marine, 1996).
Description: This building is an oversized, steel frame, and open-truss hangar, with a flat roof, reinforced, concrete slab foundation and metal-deck roof. Clad in corrugated metal siding, it is 66'-0" high and measures 268'-0" by 370'-0" with an 18'0" by 55'-0" offset and four 9'-0" by 37'-0", 6-inch wing additions. The primary (north) and rear (south) fac;ades are defined by full-fac;ade motorized sliding pocket doors dominated by two parallel rows of multi-light steel industrial ribbon windows provided for access of the large aircraft. Various modifications are visible at the west elevation.
The interior is dominated by a vast open expanse of metal trusses. The small portion of the building's center is enclosed, and presumably contains office and storage space. Additionally, the westernmost portion is enclosed, encompassing office, shop and storage areas. Missile . triangulation stations, brass plates set in reinforced concrete piers independent of the hangar floor, occupied a significant portion of the northern half of the shop area. Travis Air Force Base B-36 Hangar (Building No. 810) HABS No. CA-2669-B (page 2)
Historical Context: The B-36 hangar was initially developed in mid-1947 by the engineering firm of Roberts & Schaefer of Chicago as a monolithic, rib-and-shell vault structure designed to accommodate two B-36s, and named the V.V.H.B. hangar. Only three hangars of this type are known to have been constructed. In 1951, a second prototype was developed, with only one hangar constructed by Pacific Iron and Steel of Los Angeles. SAC selected a third design, that by the Kuljian Corporation of Philadelphia, named a double cantilever, heavy bomber hangar, or "DC" hangar. Its truss roof was designed to permit easy extension without complex structural modifications while incorporating a fully open plan inside. The truss was derived from the three-dimensional space frame patented by Charles W. Atwood in 1939, and was the result of innovations for the movable truss patented by Komad W achsmann and Paul W eidlinger in 1945. The mobile truss was designed for extension in all four directions from two central trussed bents. Wachsmann, a German architect-engineer, had immigrated to the United States during World War II with the aid of Albert Einstein, and had also patented a prefabricated modular house with architect Walter Gropius.
The Air Force adopted three sizes of the "DC" prototype: a single bay designed to accommodate two B-36s, a double-bay designed for three B-36s, and a triple-bay for five B-36 bombers. By October 1957, the Air Force had constructed 50 hangars on 44 bases, many sited immediate to key nuclear weapons storage and production sites. Three quarters of the hangars were of the single-bay type, and only six were of the triple-bay type. Travis AFB received its first B-36 from Vaulted Vultee Corporation in 1951, with its inventory reaching 43 by 1953. The original drawings for the B-36 hangar were completed in July 1952 by the Kuljian Corporation of Philadelphia, and modified for Travis AFB in December 1952.
Building 810, constructed in 1955, is a double-bay "DC" hangar, measuring 90,471 square feet for the maintenance of this aircraft. Minor modifications were introduced in 1957, according to the designs of Ned H. Adams and Associates. In 1960- 1961, this structure was modified by Earl and Wright to accommodate a GAM-77/ GAM-72 assembly, guidance, and maintenance shop (housing missile racks); the west fa9ade was extended for GAM-72 storage, and SAC administrative offices were added at the east end. A missile assembly shop was added to the west end in 1965.
In response to SAC's leave-taking of Travis AFB and housing by the Military Airlift Command, three prefabricated maintenance stations were added in the center of the space in August 1966 to service C-141 transports, according to the designs of Hudgins, Thompson, Ball & Associates. These were again removed in 1970 to accommodate C-5A maintenance. Travis Air Force Base B-36 Hangar (Building No. 810) HABS No. CA-2669-B (page 3)
Sources: Geo-Marine, 1996. Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, Inventory of Cold War Properties. United States Air Force Mobility Cold War Series Report of Investigations No. 7. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Texas.
Jones & Stokes Associates (Sacramento, California). 1997. Historic American Buildings Survey Documentation for Travis Air Force Base, Building 925, HABS No. CA- 2269-A. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, California.
Neufeld, J., 1990. The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960. Office of Air Force History, Washington, DC., as cited in Geo Marine. 1996. Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, Inventory of Cold War Properties. United States Air Force Mobility Cold War Series Report of Investigations No. 7. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Texas.
Schaffel, K., 1991. The Emerging Shield: The Air Force and the Evolution of Continental Air Defense, 1945-1960. Office of Air Force History, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, DC.
U.S. Air Force, 1996. Base General Plan, Travis Air Force Base, California. Various. Real Property Record, Travis Air Force Base. ----- Various. Architectural Plans, Travis Air Force Base.
Project Information: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) recordation of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP) Q Area and the Air Defense Command (ADC) Readiness Area for Travis Air Force Base was prepared pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the U.S. Air Force, the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Prepared by:
Andrea Urbas, Architectural Historian Earth Tech, Inc. 1461 E. Cooley Drive, Ste. 100 Colton, CA 92324
John Snyder, Photographer PS Preservation Services, Inc. P.O. Box 191275 Sacramento, CA 95819 Travis Air Force Base B-36 Hangar (Building No. 810) HABS No. CA-2669-B (page 4)
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