Countywide : Open House Set for Tustin Marine Base

Helicopter flight demonstrations, a classic car show and runs through the gigantic blimp hangars are among the events scheduled for Sunday’s annual open house at Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.

Admission and parking are free for this family-oriented event, which is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gates will open at 6 a.m.

Registration for the 5-K and 10-K “Run Through the Hangars” will be from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with the races beginning at 8 a.m. The fee for entrants is $20, which includes a commemorative T-shirt and pancake breakfast. The cost is $4 for the breakfast only, which will be served from 7 to 10:30 a.m.

Other open house activities include demonstrations of helicopter training drills, live music, displays of military combat equipment, rides and games for children. The finals of a three-day competition for radio-controlled model airplane enthusiasts also will be held Sunday.

The Marine station is a major training site for transport helicopter air crews that will be serving in the western Pacific. Among the aircraft assigned to the station is the CH-53E Super Stallion, described by a base spokesman as “the largest and most powerful helicopter in the free world.”

Also at the base are the CH-53D Sea Stallion, which was introduced during the Vietnam War era as single-rotor assault helicopter, and the CH-46 Sea Knight, which is designed for rapid deployment of Marines in remote areas.

The station was originally commissioned from 1942-49 as a base for helium-filled blimps that conducted anti-submarine patrols off the Southern California coast during World War II. The station was reactivated during the Korean War as the first Marine helicopter base.

In 1970, the base property was annexed into the city of Tustin. The city will take over the facility after it closes, which is expected to occur sometime between 1997 and 1999.

By far the most dramatic-looking structures at the air station are the twin blimp hangars, which were designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as the largest wooden frame structures in the world. They were constructed out of wood because steel was needed to build ships, tanks and weapons during World War II.

Each structure stands 18 stories high, 1,088 feet long and 297 feet wide. It is possible to simultaneously play a basketball game, football game and soccer match in one hangar.

The base entrance is on Red Hill Avenue near Warner Avenue. Information: (714) 726-7030 or (714) 726-2929.