Flying Aircraft Carriers

Larry P. Jordan of the Orangeburg T & D recalls these dreadnoughts of the air:

In my aviation career, I went to many naval air stations, one
of which was NAS Moffett Field, Calif. Located just south of San Francisco Bay
and just north of San Jose, this base has a landmark structure that can be seen
for many miles, especially in the air. It is a huge dome shaped hangar that was
built to house one aircraft, the USS Macon, which was designated as ZRS-5.Only
when you actually walk inside the hangar can you be overwhelmed by the immense
size of it and how large the airship was to virtually fill the whole structure.

The Macon was 785 feet long – as long as three Boeing 747s
end-to-end.Compare that to the Essex class aircraft carrier of World War II,
which ran around 880 feet long. It was 146 feet high, and when loaded with its 5
F9C-2 Sparrowhawk two-winged fighters, it weighed in at approximately 400,000
pounds (200 tons) and could accommodate a crew of 100 officers and men. It took
150 ground handlers to launch and retrieve it. A rigid airship, or dirigible, is
one in which the gas envelope is supported by a framework, while the blimp – a
non-rigid) airship – relies on the gas inside to support the
envelope.

We will never see the likes of these aerial monuments again.

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