Home Port for Sky Cruisers 1931-1935 TheU . . Maconis prepa,wl f fiorirs rsr flighl fromSunny rhe t!ale aval Air rarion on Ocrober 26.1933. A Royal Welcome for a Sky-Queen
Despite a veil of fog chat had settl ·don The towering hangar marked the the an Francisco Peninsula, it was ite of what one day would be Sunny a carruval·like scene n r the Mountain val Naval Air tation and later View-Sunnyvale border in the early Moffi tt Field, a hard-won trophy for hour.-ofMay 13.1932 the B y Area that offered job , national More than 100.000 people pre uge and hope for Ocp on enough to fill Stanford Stadium weary r •iden packed the bayside field · where d1cy Although thi· was th flrstand last huddled in cars or sat on bleachers sec time the Aler n would vi t the base, up by cone ionaires. its sister ·hip, the Macon, would be Vendors. Id hot dog . sandwiches a common sight in Bay Area skies and pit: . Sixcy-five tate croopers becwe n· 1933 and 1935 were called in to handle the craffic on As brief as it was, the era of the sky the :.till-uncompleted Ba hore Free· cruisersl eft i mark on the Penin u ln. way where c.1rs inched ahead four And when motori ts today pass by abrcasc en route to the site. the ginnc hangar that still tandsat The crow as.sembl d by the bay Moffotc F ield along the oil-crowd ed to gr et a Navy hip that was due to Bayshorc Freeway, they g can idea dock any time cl1at morn ing. But this of the size of the 'atr monster' that once new aircraft carrier' wouW not be flew over Peninsula rooftop and amvmg by water. found helter in sucb a den. uddenly, about 7 am. the USS For those who were th re, it wa a Akmn ilemly dropped ghostlike out never-to-be-forgotten rune. of tht: cloud . The rover dirigibl trctched two and a half times the length of a football fl ·Id across thesky. The crowd cheered "It was a never-to-bc-forgott n ight :· not d one old Palo Alco nm tory. As me Akron hovered above the crowd, it passed over the kelec nofa giant c.hrigibl hangar under con true· tion n arby. f The U.S . . Akron v1.m:1 the s1 o the/11111rc Sunn:>'iiale . ·a,"'{ AirSlt1rion "I Seean Air base"-ThePurchase of 1, Acres by theBay
Abomten yearsbefore thecelebrated Company built the famous Graf lil...-e never before to bring it to the arrivalof chcAkron day,chat che Zeppelin.The luxuryairship .one of the Bay Area. San FranciscoJa Mayor mes U.S. avy made itsmove to enter the few ever used forcommercial trans T.Rolph made a publicappeaJ fo r llghrer-chan-aircraft era . portation,drew internationalattention property large enough fora Naval base. Germany had found success in by circling theglobe in 1929. Duringthe search,a young real using giant airships forsco uting in Bue with the demiseof the estate ag n named laura Thane World War I, and theU. S. did not want Shenandoah , militarypersonn el in the Whipp! , of Niles acro th bay, came robeleft behind . U.S. were lessconvinced about the upon th Sunnyvale-Mountain At firsr the avy had ju t rwo rigid future f dirigibles. View ite. dirigibles, the USS Shenandoah and "When l firstcame in contactwith Whipple,one of only a handful theU S LosAn geles. rigid airships,l couldn'tsee anythmg of women realror..in those day , dis- Modeled closelyafter a German to them:·said RearAdmi .ralWi lliamA. covered that the 1,700-acre Yn igo zeppelintha t had been forcedd wn Moffi tt,chief of the Navy's bureau Ranch on the banks of the SouthBay over Franceduri ng the war, ch of A ronaucics in 1926. But once per might be available. Accompaniedby Shenandoah was assembledin 1923 suaded by hisofficers, he became a her mother, she paid thesire a vi it. at Lakehurst, .J. scronga vocate. "It is a nm w rthy Althoughapprehensive at fust, The LosAngeles, completed in thing that every officer who ha any Whipple was convincedwhen he got 1924, was constructed in Germany by thing to do with these hips... i · in there.According to her mother, theZep pelinCompany as part of favor of them and thinks they will be Whipple just gazed endle ly a the war reparations and delivered to the of great value to the Navy." spr ad of broccoli,cau liflower and United Stat on an agreement that ln 1926 the Navy announced that hay fi Ids. it would not be used for military it wasgoing to build two newairships, When asked what sh saw, purposes. boch larger and stronger chan the Whipple responded,"an airbase'.' But the Shenandoah'scareer was Shenandoah.They would becomethe Whipple recruited th help of the shortlived.The cigar- hapedcraft wa Macon and th Akron. San JoseCham berof Commerce tom apan in a severethu nderstorm With the announcement of the and th SanjoseMer curyHera ld. The over Ohio in September, 1925, mark new hips, theNavy began its search SanFran ciscoChronicle and the ing a maj r setbackfor the program. fi r a placeon theWest Coastbase to Chamberof Commercealso joinedin That year, theallies lifted a ban one of thedirigibles . Earlyind ications the driv . Soonju st about allof the prohibitingGennany from construct were thattop Navyofficials were Peninsula communitiesw re part ing itsown airships,and ch Zeppelin favoring San Diego, ac a base called of a regionalcampaign that w uld not CampKearny. be qual d until 1937 when cities But when Northern California cmea togetherin a similar fa hion to residents heard abou t the search, local build theGolden Gate Bridge. communitiesbegan working tog ther In an attemptto better their "During a tourof inspection of the chances forreceiving the base, Sant a Sunnyvale field, Moffett is saidto Clara, San Mateo, San Franciscoand have paid particular att ntion to the Alam da countiesset up a financing channelof thesouth h re port,which program.San Franciscoraised runsup toth edg of theairbase:· $330,000,while Santa Clara County saida PaloAlto Tim ry f theday. communities contributedm cof According to the st ry, the avy was the remaining$100,000 to buy the considering dredging thechannel land. Other citiesmade smaUdona· to accommodareaircraft carriers and ti n , uch a the$1 5,000given by otherNavy ships . Palo Alto. On Dec. 12, 1930, thenews arrived Thecom munitie eventually pur� fromback East. The new dirigible chased 1000acres of the bay ide basewou ld be built in Sunnyvale. land for$476,066 and cumcd around The news prompt d a quick and and ffe red it to the Navyfor $1 joyouscelebration th u hout the Bay In itssearch fo r a base, theNavy Area. Schools and bankscl d. checkedout dozensof Wes t Coa t A victory paradeof ca woundi way locari n , bu c narrowed itsselection alongthe PeninsulR.Fire whistles to two,Camp Kearn y and the Moun· blew andsir ensrang . rain View�Sunnyvale site. Tw o monthsla ter, President Th warm climate,favorabl wind HerbertHoove r ignedthe bill that currentsand theregional effort by authorized the Navy co accept the the Bay Area communiti s all worked Sunnyvale propertyfor $1 and appro in favorof theNorthem�al ifomia priated$5 million for con truction locati n. on thebase to beginas n aspo ible. But thecompetition was fierce. Noted a an FranciscoChronicle Reponsof theongoing contest were in edirorial:"What has been done with thenew paperalmost daily. San Sunnyvaleis anexample of whaL Oieg officialsbegan co discount the orthemand Centra l California can
Sunnyvale siteas being too f oggy. do when they play th game'.' But among those seeming co · de Thisgam e, the Bay Area won. with the Sunnyvale basewas Rear AdmiralMoffett, head of theNa vy' selectioncommitt ee. HangarNumber l 1tnder ams1niaion in 1932 Construction-" Set the Watches andPipe Dowd'
h Newspapers and Navalofficers tried ''Visualize the roofing over tree and functioned andlooked ve rymuch oftenin vainto explain to residents cityblocks 16 stories high with struc like thes pace shuttle loading docks how massivea hangar wouldbe con ruralsteel frameand y ou willhave thatwould come five decadeslater. structedat theair base . But there someidea of thesize of thehan gar," said Forthe Peninsula, the arrivalof the were few comparisonsto be made at Lt. Comm.Edw ard l.Marshall of base wasa boonin bad times. lt meant thattime . the Navy in 1931. "It willcover some an average of 500co nstruction jobs The hangar, 211 feethi gh, would thing more than eightacresof ground'.' a monthat a timewhen jobs were hard be taller than aUthe buildings in The basealso would be qe uipped to come by. the SouthBa y but one, the Bank of with a massivenine-sto ry mooring lt would provide a boostto the America towerin San Jose. Fur the mast that would basicaUy grab thegi ant local economythrou gh the 500 orso widthand girthof theairshi p shelter airship by thenose and lead it in people housedat thebase and it would i wthits massive ' 'orange peel" doors, and out of the hangar. bringnational attention toa growing, therewas nop araUel. The mooring mast ran on tracks but still-fledglingarea by thebay.
Hangar Number 1, home basethe of U.S.S. Macon,seen above . Reader lntereat :.�-""·�'.':!.. '""'-�..;..:- � • All New•�- -Worth Printin1 l .5�. 1fo�t-11trturt?1fitntl� NO, 135. VOL. CXXI. SAN JOSE. CALIFORNIA. S�TURDAY MORNr'rfo. MAY 14, 1932.-TW ENTY: EIGtft PAGES. Ransom Letter ron.'A .. r· She . Lindy ldentifies ' Gave Secret Key 'GIANT AlCOHOl 1100, 000 Greet Ak :Slain Babe As To Abductors , PlANT SEIZED ! Docks At Sunnyvale; Jli-dgram Mighty Man NEARSAN JUAN: Today Marks Historic Event S i x Men Jai :ed in Raid by - · · ------ ------· Epochal Flight Ends at 7 :07 . Sheri f! Emig D cpulies and ; ' I P. M . : Extra Caution Balk· Hunt Launched Federal Agents. I Home Port For Sky Cruisers ed Morning Landing . Body Cremated After Sor Commander Lauds Behavior rowm� father Lays Fam ., of Oraft: Says Base Ideal ily's Last Doubts. l in Every Respect. Relentless Search for Crim· I 11w> U. 8 , 8. Akroo, nit n•vf'• inals Under Way Spurred pr1�,r ind I h, ·,,mien larn , &II"• Ah\l ,. mr.or""1 .,,... SanL• Cl111ra. ,••ti.t·r . on by Presi dent. :u>II •1 -: 07 o·cioa Jut ,.,f'nLni. A. •' rM•·d r,f mnrf' tha.n 100.000 iM• ha 1u1.r11n11: from :l.dJ01nlo1 l"'Oll dA, Run· drNl.� mo,"' ,,1,.,.-t-d ll tmm l\lt· ro11r:dln1 �..,....l�\\ •, II Th,. hL•tllt1C •n-h•al. mU:tm1: Unclt Slllm·.s ""-"I coa.,t 1lrihtl) ba.M " I, sunn)"Vall' an nu�ntln, realttJ, •W j M «lrbrat.,.d ..-l • ll tmpre.Yl\"t: tttt· monf 1.1 J ,u·l+'<'IE th1A 1it:ttn00n al lh,. A.Ir -'l•Unn. Jl"lnt ,1ich1('(1 o,·,r tht- ••t ri.,14 at u:ae11, 'f o"clot'� )'Htl!n1a)' momJ.nc ...... he h&.d crul&'!d hlilh ov � Uu1 n.rd unnorlc�d at IJ:ol.-. o·c-lack dur· lnir Ll'\r nlli:ht of "'il(ll bdon..-.::.....\..hm Akron did not land in a, tempi.a COT.. e:rlnl( thrtt: Mun l'f'.•ttrd•.Y lnOr'TI• 1n1 ti.Pr.::� of lho dtU!!rmlned cau tion ,,., htr .sldpPfr, Llt1.1t . COlll m�.ml�r ct,1..rtt., E. Roc;end1hl. n• 1'J·hour d"l•.Y In l&ru1ln11: .-u DO tau,� of .Pitt.PT Oirld or alnb1p, ht ' l!':s:pl a.t.nC'd. * I. * Pictures on Pages 2· 1.2 ,.. rr c ... · l tt;� �l� h mp�.::. • ;or�C:i 1 ntcled Wnh ,hf' tpodt11occ- ca., \ on. a , W ., tepJ)C"d' da.•n the 1an"a' rl"Qta • h,-r t'llnlrol rar-, 1 -ii\ &Plitn41d abfp.·· ht- add.C'.'dl ., bl., I DQlf:f'(! aftetUonaLl!'IJ at thr moua... u,nou.s l:luJ.. or h.la it!QmmAnd w ah• awun1 •boYf' hlm In Mr moortna ·- c,lrelt. "'She tnrt•• t'l'f17 i..&. CDCOIUJl,.. . terrd on ht.r trip from. t.tcho.nt. 1.n4 aurmou.nutt tve'r, •ntTt OOD· dill.on .supe1'bl1, "'An f'Xceiltnt t1eld."" he conum.l u h.lA •0Uu11t•n&rr0wect eye. iooll' In lhl opon of tho ,00.1..,. JIMl acchN of Ulil aJ�blp 6oc:k. • bu114- ln,r Ju.,< ..,..,nd !ho m_,n, mut. •·w:, btlld lh&e. UlM De14 It �e bal on tllr cout ror IJn.h.lp ooe:taUDfll I 1, unch,nud." Mid u.. us>on With • rro,d nf , �r-111.rnr.r- Co tt• ld«! lho 1 •h ... re
"It means in short thatSan J se and, despitethe pall thatsur still · Mackey,"Enr er in thel og that the and the bay regionare on thethr eshold rounded thedemise of the Akron, Sunnyvale stationis placed in commis of the mostglorious era of prosperity theSu nnyvaleNaval Air Station was sion at I l:30 a.m. Set the watches in theirhistory: '' commissioned. and pipe down'.' 13utthe one problem B ninsulan "Theair base is the result of the A few day later, the landing field were quick co recognizewa traffic. finestcooperation of the bay region:· at the base wasgiv en itsofficial name. Said theSan Francisco Chronicle aid State PublicWo rkso· eccor Moffett AirFie ld now awaited the in 1931: Earl leeKelly, speaking for the gov- Macon. "Naturally allCal ifornia wiU wanr to see thefirst ai rship that arrives and every touristwill want to vi i.t itl ater. TheBayshore highway becween San Franciscoand San J se,when finished, passes the ice.Th auto craffici Eugene Calandof 77. MouniamVu?u1 expected tb farexceed the ttaffic at a an engineaboar crewman d theAkron m foocballgame at Palo Alto'.' Lakehurst, J.,{rom19 30-33: As a result, many public official �That was a 1tmfi era I wo11ld lik ro pledged tohave the highway com· se.eir = bade plered by the rime the dirigible base le wasthe grea�r thing thein world.Eutry rime)OU rookoff there 10were 200 300 people was finished, and it was. rhere,an d aiery yotime u landed, it u,a.s rhe Wo rk on the giant hangar was same thing. /1 u,as aquire sigh1. under way in 1932 when the recently They (Akron and Mcu:on)tl!C!'rescoutsfor completedAkron, based in Lakehurst, rhe Pacific Fleet. Ifyou sem a plane 0111 scow, N.J., arrived on thePe ninsula on its ingir couldonl y siay0111 rhereforashort rime. cross-countryjo um y. TheAk roncould Sta)' oui clum! 72 hours. Nearly a year later. the Akron (Whenthe Akron cra5hed, Calandehad made icsfin al flight. hi.s day o/f.J On April 4, 1933, the 'sky-queen' "! wem co bedand righr a{tcmi dnight got caughc in heavy storm winds and thestonn wokeme up andthat's whensi te crashedoff theAtl antic coas , killing crashea. Nobody would believeit . The sire.ersat Mo[fe u Fieldwere all named afterpeople who were killed mcitecrash. A Loe ofpeople don't realite that'.' Aerialvieu • of rhe 1mn)'\,a/.e alllllAir Siarion. U.S.S. Maconon mast.
W1i.w in a Name? Theoriginal name of theair basewru Stipposed to bethe Mo untain Viel.Ii- mi n)'t.l(l leNa1-oal Air Station,gfoen chat tlu:bast u.,as loaned m boih amimunities. In fac e most of rllJ! bastactually sitt in MounrainView.
But a1-l(ll officials in Waslu ,won, D.C. feared chat the"mountain" in the title would
c;mar.emo re safety conamsamong C ongres
sional leat:lroal readyjittery about tlu:li ghter ihan-aircraft progra m In theend, the MouncainView portion was left offin fawr of just 'Sunnyvale;which gaw EastCoa.sr offi cialsan imageof vast wide-open areas,wiih plenty of roomfor massi ueai rships. II
US. . Maconunder construction a1 the Goodyear7.eppel in Companyplani in Akron, Ohio. Andrew Hing berger, 81, o[MounrainV� a memberof theMacons fuel crew. He wason board theMacon on itsmaiden flight rothe Wes t Coasr andrememben well rheir da:, amidin MounuunView. 'The Ba horrhighway u,as pcu::km. Onru!1) Jlig,lu, m or ow, Bays}wre was Camerpacked alltherime. asu_� going aU rhelime . We 1vereprobabl:, the most phocographtd thingaround There were aJoi of boxcameras rhen. Wh ile in /kglu)'OU rolkd.lrs moreor lesslike being on a ship cuSeL1 You rolkdbui 11 wasnothing like being on a small boar. If)'Oil had a lial.esumn :,ou pitched abiI. Ir was jusr a twnendotuperiod , btaar tha1time we rlwught nothing o[ i( TheMa n
On April 21, 1933. the Macon, $2.5 To thoseon th EastCoast, the naming million in themaking, left Akro n, Ohio wasconsidered a politically prudent on itsma iden voyage. move. Theenare craft,785 feet long, The rigid airship wasthe pn:x:l uct was nearly twiceas largeas thefamous of the Goodyear-ZeppelinCo . , a busi· GrafZ eppelin. ness jointly owned by theZep pelin Known officiallyZRS as -5, th Company of Germanyand th Good Macon was more modem and slightly year Tire and RubberCompan y. fasterthan I . istership, theAkron , Unlike the blimpsmade famou ZRS-4, with a top peed ofabout by Goodyeart oday, the Maconhad a 87 milesper h our. hollo, tc I huU with three interior To th bewilderment of some, keels.Thein tent ofthe strong pine thecraft wasnamed theMa con, after wasto prevent the type hullof col· thelarg est city in theGeorgia district of lapse thatoccurred when the small Rep. CarlVin son,chairman of the Shenandoah wa tom intwo eight House Committee on aval Affairs. yearse arlier. View insult cwembl1ail loolangdou.,n mco oon1rols wrion.
From the outside itlooked and outsid propellers,one of th craft's functioned much like ahelium balloon. few noisy operations.Thepropel lers But on theins ide, the hip wa · an could bepointed up or down to c�nool open cavernof girders,cab lesand cat· theship duri ng take-offsand landings. walkswith few places where crewmen Th Maconhad accomm odation couldnot go. for 100offic ers,inc udingl le ping Before 1925, many lighter·than·air berth , a large messroom , a galley and craft operatedon hydrogen. But the otherchambers. flammabilityof the gas prov d to be The hip alsooff ered panoramic very dangerous. view of the countryside&om observa· TheMac on and Akron were kept lion platformsat both the n and aloft bynon-burnin g helium,con · themil of th hip.
rained m 12 large gelatin-latex cells Although rigidairshi ps were
inside thecraft . The ship carrieda large never usedcom mercially in theUnit ed supply f additional helium and States.the key advantagesto uch a navigatorswere able to set thecraf t's mod of transportation wer said to be aldtud by releasingor incr; a lng its mooth, Jene motion and i speed thegas. in long di tance joum ys. ln hon. inside thehull, the ship had · ht peopl did nor get seasick on dirigibles. large SdO-horsepower engines dri ing Tai l ccmtrol station. The" Hdm" in theforwa rdconrrol pla,f cmn. AnthonyQuartu ccio, 66, of SanJose, rearedNASA-A= Research employeeand affisl; ··1 have alwaysbeen looer a of rht dingibL!era. It u.ww mum a part of my life at chatnmeas rht wrro,u.uasare nou i I saw rheAkTOJJ being builtin 19 2 whenu.ie u.oen:living tn Akron. Ohio. I 10ww )'MIS old. My fiuk,; someand cousins I wmtto the airporturere where w Akron had inmaiden f/igh1. l looked insiaerht hangar andI roulds«w Maron beingb11i/1 . I couldsee all of iG rim. When I was lmlea kid, ii was ihl fad w makeli ttledirigibles out of balloons. The !Juleairplanes (Spamx11hawks) 1ha1 IN!Macon carried, rhey used to make model!of chosewo . I hada model of 1he Macon madeof mbber. Inside1he fon11ardconn-ol p laefonn lookinga ft. It was rlnu-feei long. Theyused IDhawall kindsof sou11e11irs. Norecircular m ginere legraph signalssimilar When I cameto California in 1936 the {irs1 dungI wanredto do was to thoseused on a shi/>. see gia!he nt hangarat Mo!fiut Field. It wasright after !he(Maron) crash and it was still/resh in my mind. Beinga young kid at the time I was w:ryi nceresred. I wGIS sad when it crashed,)' The romplezed Maconin ihe Good)'l?llr Zeppelin Company hangar in Akron,Ohio on April 18, 1933, ihree day,1be/ore itsmaiden voyage. - v u.,a , '5 0 2e 1 1 . V I V II . . 11. • 1 z&. oaa&•VAftDN J'UT,.o•w SECTIOH AT STA 198.75 S E CTI O N AT5 TA 102. 5 S E CTI OHA T S T A 17 .S CTIOH SE ATS TA 131.25 U . S . S . A KRON - B u i l t b y T h e G ood year Z e p p e lin C orp orat i o n - 193 1 GOOD/YEA R A Sparrowhawkfigluer plane on rhe." t Unhke other.dirigibles of the time, mountains.The twopilots, being with theairship was so massive thatit out compasses, were forced to follow also carried its own protection-fi ve railroadtracks all the way back to Sparrowhawk fighter planes which Lakehurst. werelaun ched andretrieved via a The Macon and Akron were built trapeze in the aircraft's belly. to be the chief scoutsthe for Pacific The airplaneswould be lowered Fleet,prov iding long-range reconnais· and released through a T-shaped door sance in days long before radar. In via the trapeze and a harness attached addition to providingprotection for to thefuselage. the'aircraft carrier of thesky,' the Retrievingthe planes, however, was Sparrowhawks were the ships' a much more difficult process. mainey es. Like a performing air stunt, the pilots had to equal theirspeed to that of the ship and "catch"the trapeze witha hookon top of the plane. A "Spy''on Board Theship came Despite the difficultyof the eciuippeawith anotherscouting odd .it:,known maneuver, the pilots, knownas the as a "spy"car. The smallrelephone booth-like "Men on the FlyingTrapeze;'hada flaw· compartm.enrwas lowered thefrom ainhipon or lessrecord on both the Akron and a cableabout 1,000 feei to a pointbelow doudCQt!eT. TheSqua droninsignia fo r the the Macon. The crewman inside the spy car would "men on the/lying trapeze:' But the heavyairplanes also were then telephoneback to the mainconh'o! room often among the fust items to go when relayingnavig ational information. the ships needed lightening. Thecar aaea as sort of a reveise periscope. On its way home from itsSu nny· vale trip, Akronthe had to release two of its airplanes over Arizonato allow it enough buoyancy to get over the US.S. Maron IIwiih UOSparrowhawk fighrer p/ant.'!i . ore'' !TaJ,ete" hangin:ow fromunkr the airship . Pla ne were releasedand retriad wiih the ' 'trapez.e·: The U .S. Maamhad complemenca of fi ve Sparrowhawkfighrerpla nes. A Sparrawhawkin its" hangar" in.5ide rheU.S . . Macon. Theofficm andcrew with the Macon inside Hangar1. Noteperson peeki ng nes ou1 of thewindow in rheforwa rd plat/arm. Also noteSparrowhawk pla in lefr.backg,- oimdand trainingblimp in righ1backg,- ound. The U.S.S. Maconemerges from Hangar 1 a1 M o/feu Air Fielcl. TheEyes of the PacificFleet Withnearly as muchfan fare asmark ed Duringthe next 16 months,the thearrival of theAkron, theMacon Macon becamea familarand popular cruisedinto the skiesove r Mountain s\ghr ou thePe ninsula,never failingto View on Occ. 16, 1933 and docked draw largecrowds whenever it took withourdifficulty at its new home. offor Landed. "The new 785-foot air giant .., was But there was much expectedof freefrom the oil smudges thatmarred th.is aircraft.A total of $5 million had theAkron's appearan ce on itsarrival been spent on theconstruction of hereand seemedas silveryas ifshe had theMacon and Akronar a ti.mewhen just takento theair, " said a Palo Alto thecountry was in the middle of the Times account. GreatDe pression. People in and out of Aitachmg railche assembl -y IO cheland ingpla ifonnduring landingopemlions. ln 1934, Lt. hCommander Herben Wiley, oneof tree survivors of the Akroncrash , cookcommand of the Macon. He quickly dev lopedand im i proved theship's long-rangedetect on and scouting sy tern and wa deter· mined toprove the Macon' value. Totest the newtoscouting methods, theMacon left Moffett Fi Id in July l934 in anatt empt locatethe crui ser Houstoncarrying Presi dent Roosevelt through the Panama Canal en route to Honolulu. Using only newspap r accounts of thepres ident' departure tim as a guide, Macon raced3,5 00 mile to a pot in the vastPacific Ocean wher Wiley had determinedthey could U.S.S. Maconduri11g landi11g operations. findthe Houston. Theyto did . Aboard the cruiser,er wmen were the military wanted r ults. takingth with it three men who wer scill shocked seetwo scou tingai rplanes The Macon had theadded pres clutchingthe mooringline s.Two of come out of nowhere and cird the sure of going into service followingthe m fellco their deaths whilethi the rd hip. Minutes lacer theMacon dra- crash of theAkr on. which hada mis v ntually was brought tosafe cy. maticallydescended from the clouded take-filled record beforeits demise. Almost immediately after arriving ky and dispatched a plan that In itsfirst of twomaneuve rswith in Sunnyvale,the Macon wassent on droppedbun dles of the previous day's the Pacific Fleet, theAkron had been maneuversin the Pacific,but it was an newspapers&om San Franc:isroonto assigned ro por theenemy fleet.Her inauspiciou debut. Theship was"hoc theHo uston. first dayove r the Georgiacoast, the down" twice in thefustei ght hours. The Fleet's admiralswere n t Akron,with 12 lookoutsscanning the Wrote Rear AdmiralErnestKing , amused.Said Admiral tanley, chiefof horizon,sailed right over the fleet Moffett's successoras head of the navaloperations later: " W considered without seeingit. Bureau of Aeronautics,in 1933: it a publicitystu nt and thathe (Wtley) The enemy hips, however, had ''This is co be acri tical year airfor had no businessdoing it:' theAkron in ight for 20 minutes. ships. Weha ve only one airship. W The president, how v r, was That same year,while attempting must not be reckless, hueif airships are tickled.The stuntshowed thati the codock at CampKearny inSan Diego, ro justify themselves, the Maconhas Macon wascapable of th knd of h theAkron uddenly rosein theair g t t sow more than she shown'.has ' scoutingthat Moff ett had intended. - WEA'IHER laB.r.-- 0ccaBional Rain FOUNDED 1865-VOL. CXLVI, NO. 29 ccc• SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.,WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 13, 1935 DAILY 5 CENTS, SUNDAY 10 CENTS : ===-�=.:.·� 81; MEN S_AVED; TWO MISSIN.G I Explosion on Huge Dirigible Reported Just Before SOS Call Sent; Eye Witness Tells I How '?!ft.B.i(> ped Open 81 ROYCE BRIER .. . rJie greatdir.igible Macon went to her grave in thesea last nightoff Point Sur, 100miles sout h of San Francisco. Two are missine: from a crew of 83 and 81 were res- �A DDt:'T TheDay the Macon DidNot ComeBack During a flight toward maneuvers in Inthe contr ol car, few realized repeatedly, theradioman j umped from the CaribbeanSea in 1934, he Macon whathad happened untilsudden ly the th ship beforeit reached thewater , ran into a heavy crosswind over Texas, steering wheel went slackan d the and was killed. cau ing two girders to buckle in the navigatorsfe lt the taildro p. Momentslater theshi p settled rudder and tworail finst o bedama ged. Wiley ordered the dumping of genclv into thewate r,and the crew, clad Allof thefins needed replacing, ballastand fuel.C rewmen hurried in lifej acketsand p repared withl i£ according to the Goodyear-Zeppelin about the hip discharging anything rafts, doveint o thewater safdy. Company. But rather mantake the i:hey could to Ughren the rail.Off-du ty Th water wasrelativel y warm and much-needed shipout of com mi ·on, personnel wereord red toi:he nose hipswe req uickly on thescene ro Navyofficials decided rodo there pair to hdp bring that enddown. pull i:hemen out. work piecemeal. Wii:hi ts motors till running, One man went back to theshi p in When the Macon l ftMoffett Field the ship sai.led kywards, rising from an attempt to retrievehis belonging on reb. 11, 1935 to go on maneuvers 1,600feet to nearly 5,000feet where it and never retrned.u Bu tln all, 81 of the offthe Southern California coa t, the reached its" pressurepo int;'the alti 83 men aboard theMacon survived repair work was not quite completed. tudewhere helium automatically thecrash , including "lucky'' Wiley. It would be the hip's eighth began discharging. Theshi p was maneuverwith the PacificFlee t and doomed. beg its 54th and finalg fli ht. The Macon sl wly an to fall. GeorgeWel dy, l,jliglu engineerrhe aboard Akron an d meMacon: The next day the hip wasre turn· Aftersta ying at his r toradio SOS "The engines lt'ere all madein German Theyll.e1'! rwUy manne lng aftera successfulmi ion when enginesfor !xJaa, adaptedro chedingibles were They directly rewrsible it encountered storm windsoff Poin t engi= Iii<&!on chose a IOCDmorit1e.They weretitry, very A commissionset upto determin In 1937, Assistant S er taryof the Lighter ThanAir! Afi,!r rhe crash, rhe Ma con settled:, slcwl in die wawr, rail-firsc. thecause of the crashbla med it on the NavyCharles Edi son,son of Thomas Somesail ors cnugfuin rhein teriorof theship, madetheir wa:, ro the Navy's r fusalto repair the Macon' A. Edison,scan ned the interior of the obsm,ationpla.ef arm ar thenose where the;, c,,t ihroughches hip'slin ing. Bur tail damage rightaway. gianthangar atMoffe tt Field and told theyfound they lWTe still 100 highup ro j11mp ro the waler. Bur becauseof thedisasauus his subordinateschar light er-than-air While waitingfar the crafttO sink tO a pomtlow enough 10 allowthtrn record of airships, the pressurewas on craftshould be given anotherchance . roJump , the au,men nonad as the sho1uedamong ihemsell'l!5 rha:1 Pr ident Roosevelt 10 abandon the "What ifthe Wright Brothers Ultir1-'0ia!s were bromu'ng higher and mOTI? child-likL lighter-than-aircraft program. Roose had stopped afterbuil ding thr e or Theyquidd:, realited ic1he was helium bemg released velt respondedby settingup a com· fo ur airplanes? Where would aviation Asan:,one who has ei.oer suckeda on heliumballoon ,knows helium m· ·ion to examinewhether there wa be today?" heasked. affeas theuocal chords. a futur forairships. But, ironically,aviation wo uld be Aa;ordingIO rhose at the crash lastsame, the men w jump from the Macon werelaughing so hardrhe;, set.• meddelirio us. The commission,headed by thedestiny of Moffett Field. Stanford Professor WilliamE Durand The Macon was the nation's lasr concludedthat airships had been set rigiddirigible. to do tasksfor which they werenot buUt and that they had not beengiv en enough of an opportunityto prove theirval ue. Thedebate was unsettled, hO\ ever. While many in the avy want d mor empha is on heavier-than-air craft, others stillbacked the diri gibles. The Navyat one point madeplans fo r a rigid airshipthat wo uld benear ly 40 p rcent larger than theMacon with a hangarcapable ofcarrying nine dive bombers. The ManBehind the Name Mof{�tt Field RearAdmiral \.\'i.lliam A. Moffett \\ But a much a� he enjoyedp lan· one of thefew friendslighter-than-air nin air ba :md buildingairsh ip:,, his erafr had among military leaders . went t plea ·ure wa · ridingin them. The" aircraft-carriersth of e ky" ln a ·udden change of plans, captured the imagination of civilian loffctc in 1933 dccidi.:d co Join the and I !gislators.gamerino enough Akron onits ill-fated trip off the ew gm emment upport to finance the Jersey coast.Moff t"ttwa . aboard :r coru-crucrionof the Akron, Maconand an ob · rver,ju. t nine monthsaway the.. unnyvale Na val Air Station from ri.:tlr mcnt. Bur withthe airship ' poor safety Wh n he felt the airshiplu rch history, many high-ranking Navy duringthe ·torm. Moffett left hi cabin officershad ye t to beconvinced. and made his way tO thecontrol car. As chiefof theBureau of Acronau· He apparently was not able to get out. tics, Moffett was certain rigida irships His body was ne of the few would prove their worth,particu larly rccowred from the ubmerged wreck· in l ng-range mi ions at sea. But rhe age and wa� buncd at Arlington Akronand Maconwere never given ationAl Cemeteryin Virginia that chance. In tead they were kept Hi n , Rear Admiral William primarily to coasr.side tactical exercise A. Moffett.Jr. and Lt. Geom Moffett r which theywere nm suited. were both onhand in 19 3 for the A" a c:aptalll.Moffett command d 5 th anniv •rsarycelebrauon of a battleshipand won a Medalof Hon r M ff. Fiett ld. at \eraCruz . In 1921. he was picked to head the newly createdaeronauci bureau. In that job. he presidedover theboard created ro selectthe West Coa·t base for theMa con.Al though apprehensiveat firstabout having a NorthernCalifornia locati on, M ffe tt wa. quickly sold on theSunn yvale site. Moffett drovethe f irst rivet in the constructionof theAkron i n November 1929 and paid freq uent visits m theBay Area during the con strucuonof thefield . cventh in a eries UniversityNation al Bank & Tru st Company periena "a DifferentE in &mkin9 Thu.project tarted ouc a a history of Moffen 1eld from ic:;. inc pri n throughI useJurin � World \\�II as a a val Air ration fora [arg squadron f blimp that arrolledour Coastduring warthe . The photQJ!raphic archtv of . 1offcn Field areso rich and vast that thescope of the projL'Ct was reviewed. The result wasa focu on only a four- ·car period and one of the grem. albeit un ·ucc ful,ex perimemsin the trange nt:w , pproa h co lighter-than-air vehicle ..the dirigibles. We :iregr eatly indebted to WallyCun ecn forhis introducti n to the ninr personnelat Moffett Field. Our gratitudeand appr'ci:uion arc , l:i<1owed t the following per.;on : Renr Admiral Phillip D. Smith, Commander, Patrol Wing�. U. Pa. dfi Fleet, which is headquartered at Moffen Field was mo l encouraging, 11s was hi� successor. RearAdmiral Jesse J. Hernandez. Mr J0hn R Shackleton . PublicAff airsOfficer . went to great length to oc·ommodatc our needs. The photographs throughout come to u from ch· fil ' f I ffett . aval Air tari n and theTimes Tr ibune. uccessor the PaloAlto Time ·. Also providing photograph hdpand withinfonnari on wa Richard ailcr, Mana,?cr, AirshipPubli c RelationGoody . ear Tire and Rubber Comprmy in kron,Oh10. In ndd1tionto those interviewedthe in text, we thank Henry, t. Plymire ni Wi.lli ·. California. ur peoal thanksto Paul Gullixson, who performed rhe c. 1 f n.... · arching and writing of thispiece and who penta con· idcrable amuunt f rime dcvel ping and honingthe manusoipras well a· research in� the photograph .. And finally, our thanks for theusual om.standingdes i� and production iob bv Paige Jonnson. UnSeveivnthersity in a SeNa rietionals Bank & Tru t Company "a DifferentExperience in Banking '' 250Lytton Palo Alto