Requiem for a hangar

I was headed north on Highway 83. To the northwest I noted a huge column of ugly brown-grey smoke rising to form a familiar mushroom shape. "Gee I hope it is not one of the hangars at the old McCook Army Airbase" I told myself.

In a few miles I topped a hill and suspicions confirmed it was the south hangar, the one built to service B-29s during World War II. The mushroom-shaped smoke was somewhat reminiscent of the nuclear clouds rising over enemy Japan as those two atomic weapons were delivered by B-29 but so sad. An icon of our proud history gone forever.

That beloved hangar (for me) built circa 1943. The structure was all wood. Strong trusses blending into an elegant curved roof unencumbered with any other vertical support. Beautiful wood beams with nary a knot--it had to have been old growth timber. It was larger than its four brother hangars built to service B-17s and B-24s. The B-29's were the largest combat aircraft flying at the time and our whole airbase was dedicated to training combat crews on their way overseas.

The B-29 was pushing the state of the art and rushed into combat without the benefit of adequate flight testing. Even as the crews were forming and flying them here, there were constant modifications being made by the maintenance crews. One problem that plagued the aircraft was the engines overheating at high power settings and takeoff requires the maximum power.

As a kid I remember just departed B-29's roaring low over McCook after heavy weight takeoffs. Once airborne with landing gear and flaps retracted the flight engineer had to reduce power to keep the engines within cylinder head temperature limits hence the low altitude flight especially after launching on a hot day.

A military maintenance hangar, as the one burned last week, is a community to itself with a large number of specialists working on the vastly complex machines. Tucked into the alcoves along the side are spaces allocated for the ladders and stands required to work on the big birds, a welding shop, engine repair shop, spare parts storage, tool cribs, offices, break / lunch rooms and latrines (militarese for restrooms). Restrooms in those days were a bit Spartan--sinks along one wall backed by a row of free standing toilet stools all without partitions--modesty must not have been a consideration.

In order to speed production B-29s and most other aircraft were factory built to one standard. Then at the first base when delivered the latest modifications had to be done by the local mechanics and those mods were many. Working on complex equipment outside in the Nebraska heat, dusty wind, or the harsh cold of winter would have been brutal and so the huge hangar was essential. The work had to be accomplished 24-7 because the War was on!

After the war the military aircraft disappeared and the whole airbase became surplus. I remember my dad attending auctions out there and coming home with some "neat stuff" a gunner's "blister" a large curved Plexiglas dome window for one. I still have a large wood and nylon kite with an outline of a German aircraft in the center that was flown for gunnery practice. We also had a great collection of mil-spec nuts and bolts useful for farm machinery. How about a chunk of fantastically hard steel armor plate?

Our surplus B-29 hangar found other uses. For a time it was utilized to store huge quantities of government owned commodities, wheat and corn, from the Farm Program.

Later the farmer who acquired the old airbase used it to store and service farm machinery. Several years ago Grannie Annie and I attended a wedding and reception inside the building. The pigeon mess had been swept out and white cloth covered tables were arrayed in order. An interesting setting -- I approved! Walking into the inviting huge cool building it took a bit for my eyes to adjust and I was surprised to see a big self-propelled combine setting back in the corner. Big!

A recent owner had covered the massive curved roof with rubber membrane roofing material and it was painted a blinding white. Years ago the original celotex siding was covered with asbestos shingles popular in the day. It was a great functional building proudly earning its keep all these 70 some years. So sad to see it go.

Speaking of things military I think presidential hopeful Donald Trump has stepped in it. His remarks that "John McCain is no war hero" should torpedo his chances of becoming our next president. I suspect that by his one stupid statement he has alienated all military veterans, all of us who vote, in this proud USA. Sure I think that McCain has been a Senator for way too long and he has done many things of which I do not approve but "no war hero" I can't buy it!

McCain, after being shot down in his A-4 grievously injured he was incarcerated for over five years in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."

Denied any medical help, he was nursed back to minimum health by his cellmate. Several years later the North Vietnamese offered him freedom, released for a political stunt, as his father was Chief of Naval Operations at the time.

Adhering to our POW Code of Conduct, McCain refused, because the code required that the deathly ill go first followed by POW's in the order that they had been captured. He wasn't exactly healthy but he wasn't first either. That stand of honor would have taken supreme courage.

To save face the North Vietnamese did release three POW's at that time. The one pilot, shot down in his F-4, who took the place of John McCain in the early release, happened to be my roommate at the Academy. He hasn't exactly been received back with honor and has alienated himself somewhat from the rest of us that served. It is not our place to judge but ...

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail