Williams Field, Hangar Complex, Hangar T-37, 6002 South Power Road, Mesa

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-208-G. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Constructed as one of more than 100 Army Air Corps flying training bases built in the United States in the first two years of World War II, Williams Field (Williams Air Force Base [AFB] after January served primarily as a basic flying training base from until its closure in This hangar, one of eight in a complex of hangars on the north, middle, and south aprons, contributed to the significant military operations of the base for more than 50 years. Built during the final period of expansion of Army Air Forces (AAF) facilities in it is a late example of three-hinged arched truss construction, a type of construction generally discontinued after World War II.

It illustrates the extensive military construction necessary to meet the demands of training Army Air Corps flyers in World War II, and the subsequent four decades of flying training in the Air Training Command of the U.S. Air Force.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-208-G. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Kirsten Winter URS Corporation North Street, Suite 100 Phoenix, Arizona Architectural Robert Graham, AIA Photographer: Metropolis Design Group LLC North Third Street, Suite 308 Phoenix, Arizona July Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 2)

Physical Description

This section describes the physical attributes of Building including what is known of the original construction, changes over time, and current features and appearance. Building is one of two hangars using a hinged arch truss construction built on Williams Field in the second, Building was located 154 feet to the southwest of Building before it was demolished in Historic maps and drawings use the terminology or "Building (in Army Air Corps parlance, the "T" designated a "temporary" building, most often a wood frame building).

Although the term "land plane" hangar is used to describe Building in the historic building survey and in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) nomination form for the Williams hangars (Woodward and others it is a Navy term rather than an Army or Air Force term. Two land plane hangars can be seen in a aerial photograph of Luke AFB, west of Phoenix (On file, Office of the Wing Historian, Luke AFB). This hangar, one of eight in a complex of hangars on the north, middle, and south aprons, contributed to the significant military operations of the base for more than 50 years. Built during the final period of expansion of AAF facilities in it is a late example of three-hinged arched truss construction, a type of construction generally discontinued after World War II.

It illustrates the extensive military construction necessary to meet the demands of training Army Air Corps flyers in World War II, and the subsequent four decades of flying training in the Air Training Command of the U.S. Air Force. Although we were not able to locate the original plans for Building we did locate drawings for the "Conversion of Hangars to Production Line Maintenance dated April which show existing, and presumably original, conditions. These are not detailed drawings, but are simple elevations showing an outline of the foundations, truss design, and spacing of trusses.

These drawings are the primary basis for the following description of Building (Headman, Ferguson, & Carollo Other sources include the building itself as it exists today, and dimensions shown on later drawings. Hinged Arch Construction In the second half of the nineteenth century, buildings attempted various methods to span large spaces with iron and steel, an obvious solution being a continuous truss in the shape of an arch. However, because uneven settlement could put destructive stresses on an entire structure, builders proposed the use of a three-hinged arch truss. With a hinge at each footing and at the crown of the arch, a certain amount of uneven movement could be accommodated without putting stress on the truss.

First attempted in by Heinrich Gerber in a bridge over the Main River in Germany, the system was first put to use in the United States in in a railroad shed Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 3) in Jersey City, New Jersey. Buildings also used the hinged arch in exhibition buildings and armories. In the twentieth century, the system was adopted for aircraft hangars to house airplanes and dirigibles, the largest being a dirigible hangar at a naval airfield in New Jersey in Three-hinged arched truss construction was commonly used for hangars until after the end of World War II, when it was superseded by various new types of construction (Condit Myers Building Original Construction As built in late Building was an open-ended aircraft hangar.

The hangar was distinctive because it had no end walls; one could see through the building and could see all of its structural features. A second distinctive feature was its structural design, which consisted of nine identical, three-hinged arched trusses supporting a low parabolic roof. The structure, the walls, and roof were all part of a single, integrated system and they were the whole of the building. Building was a rectangular structure measuring approximately 132 by 160 feet. Its nine, three-hinged arched trusses creating eight 20-foot bays, were supported by flat concrete footings, angled to receive the thrusts of the arches. The arches were made of riveted steel, hinged at each footing and at the crown.

The arches supported an outer sheathing of sheet metal in the curving form of a parabola so that the walls and roof were part of a continuous surface. A metal plate under every arch was stamped "Butler Manufacturing Co., KC [Kansas City] [Minneapolis] GALESBURG [Illinois]." In plan, Building was an open, column-free rectangle, measuring approximately 33 feet to the crown at its center. The floor was paved in concrete, marked by expansion joints and ground stakes. There were no interior walls or finishes, no windows, and no doors. There were electric lights hanging from the trusses, but it is not known if there was plumbing for gas and water. Building was located on flat desert land near the southern end of the flight line at Williams Field.

It was oriented northeast-southwest and was lined up just off the northwest edge of the concrete parking apron of the flight line. Building As It Changed Over Time According to the drawings dated April Buildings and were converted to "that is, to function with other buildings as part of the new 'Production Line Maintenance' process." This involved raising each hangar on 8-foot, buttressed concrete walls and adding enclosed spaces outside, measuring approximately feet. This provided enclosed spaces for support activities, but did not change the basic character of the hangars as open-ended shelters distinguished by exposed three-hinged, arched trusses (Headman, Ferguson, & Carollo Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 4) As altered, the arched trusses and roofing remained as built.

The new sidewalls consisted of reinforced concrete columns at each arch bay, each of which was buttressed by a reinforced concrete column angled to receive the thrust of each arch. The vertical columns and buttresses each rested on concrete footings, which were tied together in a single, irregular structure. The two end bays in each sidewall were 8-inch concrete shear walls. The six interior bays of the new wall were enclosed by stud walls clad in gypsum board panels with battens. These opened through standard doors to the hangar interior and were lit by four double-hung windows.

On the side of the hangars away from the flight line, a shed-roofed toilet room was added in the two central bays (Headman, Ferguson, & Carollo Drawings dated April show the shed addition on Building as feet long, spanning five interior bays. Drawings dated January show the shed addition spanning four end bays. In plans were completed to install a wash rack as part of an adaptive re-use plan for Building Alternations to the building were limited to the addition of two, 10.5-inch-wide, cast-in-place trench drains with metal grating in the concrete floor of the hangar.

These trench drains sloped to a 1,250-gallon, underground, oil and water separator located south of the hangar (Williams AFB Building Current Features and Appearance Building today appears largely as it was built, with the changes noted from the drawings. In addition, there are several other deviations from available drawings, noted below. The stud-frame and gypsum board walls have been replaced on both sides by concrete block walls. The shed addition on the northwest side of the building appears completely rebuilt since Presently, the shed addition is used by a cargo company, which leases the hangar, as its offices, storage, and restrooms.

Inside, paint markings on the inside surfaces of the sheet metal roofing and holes for vents and fans indicate the past presence of machinery on the northwest side. On the inside of the southeast roof surface are the large letters The concrete floor is painted with lines to guide planes. Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 5)

Sources of Information

This section provides the sources of information for this report, both oral and documentary. Bibliography AAF Aid Society AAF: The Official World War II Guide to the Army Air Forces, A Directory, Almanac, and Chronicle of Achievement. Bonanza Books, New York. Reprint of The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces. Simon and Schuster, New York. Albrecht, Donald, editor World War II and the American Dream: How Wartime Building Changed A Nation. The National Building Museum, Washington and M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bruder, J. Simon, and Melissa Keane Historic Properties Mitigation Plan for Phase I Development Proposed by the Williams Gateway Airport Authority. Dames & Moore, Phoenix. Coffman Associates, Inc. Airport Master Plan for Williams Gateway Airport.

On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. Condit, Carl W. American Building: Materials and Techniques for the First Colonial Settlements to the Present. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Craven, Wesley Frank, and James Lea Cate, editors Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume Six: Men and Planes. Office of Air Force History, Washington, EDAW,Inc. Williams AFB Economic Reuse Plan: A Report to the Williams Air Force Base Economic Reuse Advisory Board. Phoenix, Arizona. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. Fine, Lenore and Jesse A. Remington The United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services. The Corps of Engineers: Construction in the United States. Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, Washington, Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 6) Garner, John S.

World War II Temporary Military Buildings: A Brief History of the Architecture and Planning of Cantonments and Training Stations in the United States. U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois. Haller, Stephen A. The Last Word in Ai-rfields: A Special History Study of Crissy Field, Presidio of San Francisco, California. National Park Service, San Francisco. Keane, Melissa, J. Simon Bruder, Michael Corbett, Deborah Olszewski and Glenn P. Darrington Pilots in Training: A Historical and Archaeological Inventory of Luke Air Force Base and the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field. Dames & Moore Intermountain Cultural Resources Services Research Paper No. 23. Phoenix, Arizona.

(draft) Keane, Melissa, Michael Corbett and Brian Grogan Williams Field, Hangar Complex (Williams Gateway Airport), South Power Road, City of Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona. Historic American Building Survey No. AZ-208. Dames & Moore, Phoenix, and National Park Service, Western Region, San Francisco. Landreth, Keith Interim Report: USACERL WWII Temporary Building Documentation Project. U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois. Luckingham, Bradford P. Phoenix: The History of a Southwestern Metropolis. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. Myers, William A. editor. Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks. Prepared by the History and Heritage Committee, San Francisco Section, American Society of Civil Engineers. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco.

RKG Associates, Inc. Williams Gateway Airport Strategic Development Plan and Industrial/Commercial Master Plan. Prepared for the Williams Gateway Airport Marketing Committee. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. Runyon, Damon "The Brighter Side." Five newspaper columns reprinted by the Phoenix Gazette. Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 7) SWCA, Inc. and Ryden Architects Treatment Plan for Archaeological Resources and Historic Structures and Buildings at Williams Air Force Base, Maricopa County, Arizona. Prepared for AFCEE/ESEM, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. U.S. Department of the Air Force Final Environmental Impact Statement: Disposal and Reuse of Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona.

Record of Decision on the Final Environmental Impact Statement. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation: HABSIHAER Standards. Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, Cultural Resources Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, Webster, Julie L. U.S. Army Air Forces and Air Forces Construction During World War II: Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Champaign, Illinois (draft). Williams Gateway Airport Authority (WGAA) Request for Proposals: Purchase of Historic Aircraft Hangars. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. Woodward, James W., Patricia A. Osmon, and N.

Christine Richards Williams Air Force Base Historic Building Survey. Woodward Architectural Group, Tempe, Arizona. Historic Resources of Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form Form March Yenne, Bill History of the U.S. Air Force. Brampton Books Corporation, Greenwich, Connecticut. Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 8) Maps, Drawings, and Aerial Photographs Headman, Ferguson, & Carollo, Architects and Engineers Job No. Williams Field ESA Military Construction, Williams Field, Chandler, Arizona. Conversion of Hangars to Production Line Maintenance and Appurtenances (sheets 1 and 4 of file no. Prepared under the direction of Rufus W. Putnam, District Engineer, U.S. Engineer Office, Los Angeles.

Luke AFB Aerial Photograph of Luke AFB. On file at Office of the Wing Historian, Luke AFB, Phoenix. Williams AFB Site Plan and Basic Construction Details of Hangars and (sheets 2 and 3 or 3). File no. Office of the Air Installation Officer, Pilot Training Wing, Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. Maint. Field, Hangar Revised Office of the Base Engineer, Williams Air Force Base, Chandler, Arizona. Plans for Conversion of to Wash Rack. On file at WGAA, Mesa, Arizona. Williams Field, Hangar HABS No. AZ-208-G (page 9)

Project Information

Williams Gateway Airport is being developed as a reliever airport and aerospace center to serve the southeastern portion of the greater Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. The lands on which the Airport is situated are part of the former Williams AFB, which was closed and transferred to Williams Gateway Airport Authority (WGAA) on 30 April In conjunction with this closing, the U.S. Air Force considered the effects of base disposal on historic properties in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Section 106 consultations resulted in the execution of a programmatic agreement (PA) among the U.S. Air Force, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, with seven other concurring parties.

The effective date of the agreement was 8 May WGAA, which is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona, participated in the PA because WGAA anticipated acquiring part of the Williams AFB property. WGAA and SHPO entered into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on 16 December in consideration of WGAA's plans to acquire part of Williams AFB. Five historic World War II hangars had been identified on the land transferred to WGAA in The quitclaim deed included a preservation covenant to protect those historic properties. Initial development plans for the Airport had the potential to adversely affect six historic World War II hangars on the flight line of the former Williams AFB.

On behalf of WGAA, the Air Force consulted with SHPO on appropriate means to mitigate the anticipated adverse effects of the demolition of the six threatened hangars. Historic American Building Survey (HABS) documentation was agreed upon as an acceptable mitigative strategy, and WGAA contracted with Dames & Moore to prepare the HABS documentation, which was completed in August (Keane and others At that time Airport plans called for the relocation or demolition of Buildings and for the construction of an upgraded, widened, and realigned Sossaman Road through the Airport. The remaining four threatened hangars and were not scheduled to be demolished until future tenants were prepared to build new facilities.

Two additional hangars were not included in the HABS documentation-T-37 and S-46-as they were not threatened by demolition at that time and were planned to be adaptively reused. By 30 April Buildings and had been removed from airport property and had been demolished, and therefore these buildings were not included in the land transfer to WGAA. Five historic hangars remain on WGAA property, including which is listed in the National Register and and all of which are eligible for listing in the National Register. WGAA's long-term plans include demolishing Building and constructing a modem hangar in its place. Because this hangar was not documented in the HABS report, WGAA contracted URS to prepare this HABS report as mitigation for the eventual demolition of Williams Field, Hangar HABS No.

AZ-208-G (page 10) Building Ms. Kirsten Winter acted as historian and compiled the report. Mr. Robert Graham produced the photographs and compiled the index of photographs. Ms. Kirsten Winter, historian, has five years of experience in conducting historical research, and is familiar with historic preservation laws, particularly Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of She has experience in documenting and evaluating historic properties, and specifically worked with military properties when she served as project coordinator for cultural resources assistance project at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and as historian during a historic property inventory for the Arizona Army National Guard.

Within the last year, she has compiled historic documentation in accordance with SHPO standards for the Maricopa Drain, Webster House, and historic retaining walls in Bisbee. She has an MA degree in public history from Arizona State University and meets the Secretary of Interior's Standards for historians. Mr. Robert G. Graham is an historical architect with 16 years of experience in the preservation field in Arizona. In addition to completing HABS documentation for a number of structures, he has completed numerous historic building analysis reports, historic district surveys, National Register nominations, and preservation master plans.

He is well versed in BABS/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) standards and has produced large-format documentary photographs for dozens of buildings and structures. He is presently Principal Architect of Metropolis Design Group, a Phoenix architectural firm. The previous HABS documentation (Keane and others was assigned the number AZ-208 .by the National Park Service. Under this number, the historic context and general history of the entire hangar complex were described. The individual hangars were recorded in following sections, which were assigned HABS Nos. AZ,.208-A through AZ-208-F. Because Building shares the same history and context as the previously recorded hangars, this report serves as an addendum to the previous documentation and has been assigned the number AZ-208-G.

The architectural descriptions included in this report are nearly identical to the descriptions written for Building in the report (Keane and others as the original building designs are identical. Photographs were taken in June and the written report was completed in July