Saturday, August 19, 2017

KLEM AM

Photo By Sixty Grit

Related: Wal-Mart Applies For Patent For Blimp-Style Floating Warehouse

There are two disused wooden blimp hangars in Tustin, CA, which date from WW II. One of them is slated for destruction. What a publicity coup if one of the big retailers would refurbish, preserve, and use these white elephants.
link to original
@Sixty Grit: The hangars are made from Douglas fir. They look gray because of age and exposure. Can you just imagine the growth rings in that old wood?

6 comments:

ndspinelli said...

It's heartening to know Sixty is always looking toward the heavens.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

A poem

We don't have enough junk to buy.
Junk must fly thru the sky.

chickelit said...

It's not just about convenience -- it's about WalMart and Amazon owning the very last mile in delivery. To date, those companies don't give a shit about the optics of total ownership. They see themselves as nothing but benign good.

Maybe a drone collision or two with the consequent fallout of Zappos boots on the ground will change some perspectives.

ricpic said...

That hangar conjures up Ozymandias.

ampersand said...

Will the looters figure out how to loot a flying warehouse? How long before they figure out how to bring down goody carrying drones? How long before the first drone takes someones head off?

The Dude said...

Those are totally excellent buildings. Wait, is Tustin near San Dimas?

It would be a shame to tear them down, but if the wood could be salvaged that would be a good thing.

I have been inside Hanger One, which was built to be the home for the naval airship USS Macon in Mountain View. That place is huge - when I was there they were offering hot air balloon rides inside. It covers 8 acres - it really is disorienting to go inside a building that large.

Unlike Tustin, Moffett's hanger is made out of steel - which renders the growth rings imperceptible.

As for the Wal*Mart blimp - I was talking to my neighbor over the backyard fence and I heard something odd approaching - that dadgummed thing sounded like it was powered by a VW engine - anemic high-pitched and wheezy. Very distinctive sound, I knew it wasn't the average flying machine.