Heavy rain and flooding aren’t the only things battering airports in the Pacific Northwest.
Last week high winds tore a hole in the roof of Hangar B at the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon. On Monday officials from the Port of Tillamook held a meeting to discuss what to do next.
The museum was closed last week “out of an abundance of caution” and will remain closed until further notice. The damage is on the crown of the building, which stands 192 feet high. The wooden hangar measures 1,072 feet long and 296 wide.
Port officials said that getting up on the roof to assess the damage will be difficult, in part because it is so high up and also because the Pacific Northwest is still being battered by heavy wind and rain. Like full-sized aircraft, drones, which are often used by roofing companies for aerial inspection, have an operational wind limit.
Photographs of the damage taken from the ground outside Hangar B show what appear to be roof panels torn and twisted. From the inside, there is sunlight coming through a hole that looks to be large enough to walk through.
In an email, port officials stated the closure “includes rented internal spaces, storage, and Port-used areas.”
According to Michele Bradley, spokesperson for the Port of Tillamook Bay, the part of the hangar beneath the hole in the roof is used for large vehicle storage. There are RVs, boats, and cars in the area.
“There was no damage to the storage items that were in the area since the roof went outward,” Bradley told FLYING in an email. “All of those items have been moved to the north end of the hangar into the museum area. Planes that were under the tent have also been relocated.”
The not-for-profit Friends of Tillamook Air Museum have a Go Fund Me campaign to raise funds for repairs, the extent of which has not been determined because it has been too windy and rainy to safely access the roof.
“A contractor presented a quote to the board today for assessment and removal of the attached, hanging flap outside—it was around $5,000,000. Once they are up there, they can assess a temp fix.”
The timing of the damage is discouraging, as the Tillamook Air Museum has made tremendous progress in recent years, Bradley said, “expanding exhibits, improving interpretation, and strengthening its role as a cultural and educational resource for the region.”
History of the NAS Tillamook
Hangar B is a wooden structure built in 1942 by the U.S. Navy to house K-class airships that were used for anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort. Two of these hangars were built at Naval Air Station Tillamook on the Oregon coast.
Hangar A was destroyed by fire in August 1992. At the time Hangar A was used for storage of 7,600 tons of straw and hay, and when the fire began there was no stopping it. The cause of the fire was never determined. According to the historical records of the Tillamook Fire District, the fire was reported at 10:38 p.m., and the hangar collapsed at 11:25 p.m. The concrete support pillars of Hangar A still stand.
