Moffett Field Historical Society

I love Moffett Field Historical Society, partially because of growing up nearby and experiencing their operation by merely looking up into the sky. When I was a child, Moffett Field was an active naval airfield and was considered “ground zero” if there was a nuclear attack from Russia.

When I was 11 years old, Russia had just successfully tested a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb. Many homes in Silicon Valley had underground bomb shelters and we had “duck and cover” drills in elementary school.

It was said that escaping the nuclear blast would be most successful by heading west into the mountains, toward Santa Cruz, thus avoiding the radioactive fallout which would likely be blown east.

Jets were constantly flying above us and landing at the now decommission Moffett Field, such as the F9F Panther, the F-J-3 Fury and the occasional F-104 fighter jets.

When the jets moved their operations to another base, Moffett Field was used by highly electronically sophisticated “submarine chasers” called Orion P-3’s. They were constantly in the skies of Silicon Valley, landing, taking off, circling, landing…repeat…all day long.

Eventually the Orion P-3’s were all sent to Widbey Island, Washington. Today, if you see the rare F-18 Super Hornet or F-35 landing at Moffett Field, they are likely sneaking in from an offshore carrier for a good meal.

Hanger One at Moffett Field Historical Society is enormous, especially if you have a chance to walk inside. It can fit eight NFL football fields inside with room left over. Today Moffett Field is mostly occupied by NASA and the famous California Air National Guard 129th Rescue Wing.

You won’t hear them say it in mixed company, but the 129th claims to be as stealth and tough as the Navy Seals. When the Coast Guard can’t make a rescue, they call in the 129th.

Lockheed Martin and Google Executives are also allowed to use the runway. Half of the runway, splitting it lengthwise, is in the city of Sunnyvale and half of it is in the city of Mountain View. The Moffett Field Historical Society will walk you through the history of Moffett Field and allow you to enter the real cockpits of aircraft. You will find this museum extremely attention-grabbing, especially if you were brought up in Silicon Valley.