Support for Tustin Military History
Your full donation will go to
the Tustin Military History organization!

In 2013 we asked the Mayor of Tustin, John Nielsen, The Tustin Area Historical Society and The American Legion Post 227 to help host a tour of the South Hangar. Its purpose was to give people a chance to see inside the hangar but also to open it up for people who served there as military and support workers. As it turned out, it became more of a reunion than a tour. In some cases for older workers in the 1940's and 50's it was a farewell to past old friends. We even had one of the last living World War II blimp pilots there!

It was then we realized the need to save both hangers and not just the North Hangar that was being planned by the Navy. So after the tour we launched SaveTheHangars.com to help get the message out. The Navy still owned both hangars and they were working with the City of Tustin and the County of Orange to help transfer the ownership of the hangars.

So from 2013 to 2023 we waited for the time we could work together with the City in their efforts. Now, unfortunatly with a fire destroying the North Hangar, there is only one hangar left, the South Hangar, where we had our event. Therefore, in the future we will launch a website called SaveTheHangar.com and eventually if saved it will be called TustinHangar.com

We are currently (September 2024) in the process of establishing Tustin Military History as a non-profit company which will be fiscally sponsord by Tustin Community Foundation. Moving forward, our first mission is to Save the Control Tower located next to the site of the burned down North Hangar, as a museum; and next, a plan for the North Hangar site as a gateway area; and lastly and hopefully preserve the South Hangar. We will continue working with the City of Tustin, the U.S.Navy, the American Legion, the Tustin Area Historical Society and all who feel the way we do. Always remember...Once Destroyed It Is Gone Forever.


Pete Beatty, President
TustinMilitaryHistory.com
714 504-4088 or email

Goal #1 The Control Tower was built in 1964.
1. Save the The Control Tower and establish it as a museum dedicated to the men and women who served at the station and those who worked there. Website would be ControlTowerMuseum.com

Control Towers generally fall into three general operational areas: local control or air control, ground control, and flight data/clearance delivery. Other categories, such as landing area control or ground movement planner, may exist at extremely busy heliports, while each tower may have unique helaport-specific procedures such as multiple teams of controllers (crews) at major or
complex heliports with multiple helipads.

Goal #2. We are looking for ways to keep the columns on both sides of the North Hanger as an entryway welcoming vistors to an area hosting events. Example: A connecting bridge or arch with the U.S. Navy insigina on one side and the U.S Marine Corps on the other side and across the middle large letters saying "FREEDOM'S PORTAL." Website would be FreedomsPortal.com

Goal #3. Hangar 2 (South Hangar)
With the high cost of bringing the South Hanager up to today's building and safety standards (Est $50 Million plus) it is a difficult task to find the funding...plus there is a one million dollars a year maintance cost. If anyone reading this has a solution, please let us know. It would be fantastic if we could save the remaining hangar for future generations to enjoy and feel the wonder when inside its huge space. "It is truly breathtaking."

Seventeen stories high, over 1,000 feet long and 300 feet wide, the hangars were, and still are, two of the
largest wooden structures ever built. Designing and building the two structures in 1942, during wartime, on a
hyper-accelerated schedule and with a nearly all-wood design, is what earned the hangars their 1993 listing
by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the “Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks” of the 20th Century

Named: Naval Air Station Santa Ana 1942 / Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana 1951 / Marine Corps Air Station Tustin 1979

Who ownes the Tustin Hangars? The Navy owns the hangar and the comtrol Tower building property.