By Marie C. Peinado
Located at the former Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas, Hangar 25 has its very own distinctive place in Texas aviation history; a lingering and living testimony to the thousands of flight crews, pilots, and service personnel who trained here for the specific mission of protecting our country during three major U.S. wars of the last century.
Sadly, many of those who trained here did not return. Webb AFB was named for James L. Webb Jr., a Big Spring High School graduate of the 40s who died when his P-51 Mustang fighter crashed near Japan in 1949.
Hangar 25 is a very big old building constructed at the beginning of World War II for the U.S. Army Air Corps. It is estimated that between 1942 and 1977, some 14,000 fighter pilots and 6,000 bombardiers were trained at the Air Force Base and in particular the Big Spring Army Bombardier School located in the southwestern portion of the city. The bombardier school was closed right after World War II, but as events in the Korean War accelerated, Webb reopened specifically to train more pilots for that war. After the war, it remained open to train pilots from our allies.
Webb AFB closed at the end of the Vietnam War. Hangar 25 was abandoned and lapsed into a state of disrepair until 1995 when a group of concerned citizens launched a vigorous campaign to restore and convert the facility for use as a military museum. Their vision was to create within the hangar an air museum that would honor and reflect the history and flight training traditions of Webb AFB and its WWII predecessor, the Big Spring Army Bombardier School.
Today Hangar 25 Air Museum at Big Spring’s McMahon Wrinkle Air Park contains much more than just static air displays from different war periods. Display cases are filled with all types of military mementos-helmets, letters, photographs, uniforms, coffee mugs, a G-suit, hundreds of model airplanes, military shoulder patches-items donated mostly by the men and women who were assigned to Webb or from their families.
The restored hangar’s architecture is most impressive. Since steel was in short supply during WWII, the building was constructed of brick, wood and glass. A huge folding door covers the hangar’s front letting a flood of light stream through the door’s 100 or more windows down into the display area. An unusual interior arched roof design of Lamella construction; the use of large virgin timbers in a spiderweb design to support a tall oval span creates another focal point for Hangar 25. A high mezzanine area allows visitors to view the displays from above. Additionally, a simulated “Briefing Room” is available as a meeting place for airport officials and community groups. Hangar 25 also houses the offices of the Air Park and its administrators.
Hangar 25 is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m; Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m; and Sunday, 1:30-4 p.m. For more information, call Susan Lewis or Nelda Reagan at 915/264-1999.
Hangar 25 Air Museum is indeed dedicated to preserving and protecting the history of Hangar 25 at Big Spring; and to honor the men, women, and aircraft who served our nation.