More than 30 years ago, Greg Landers and Herb Parsons could be found manning a P-3 Orion aircraft, scouting the Pacific Ocean for signs of Soviet submarines.
These days, you’re more likely to find the two retired naval officers at the Moffett Field Museum, located on the base in Mountain View, trying to preserve the airfield’s 80-year legacy as members of the Moffett Field Historical Society.
Landers, a former U.S. Navy pilot who began working at Moffett Field in 1974, said the group has been busy trying to accomplish one simple goal – spreading awareness of the museum’s existence.
“What we’re trying to do is let people know that the Moffett Field Museum exists and that it’s for the general public, not solely for the people who worked and served at Moffett Field,” said Landers, who noted that the museum first opened in 1994.
With this in mind, Landers said, the all-volunteer group opened an art exhibition at the museum Dec. 7 – the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor – in an effort to attract locals through its doors. The one-month display features paintings depicting various areas of Moffett Field – including several of the airfield’s famed Hangar One – by more than 100 local artists.
Parsons, the historical society’s president, said the effort is part of his group’s larger goal to create a one-stop learning center and place of historical significance for future generations.
“It’s really a heritage to build upon,” said Parsons, a former flight engineer who later served as a defense contractor for Lockheed Martin. “It’s very disheartening to see it all go away. … This was a really unique base.”
According to Landers, the group’s preservation efforts include restoring retired aircraft that often dotted the airfield’s landscape. At present, he said, the group is restoring a P-2 Neptune, a P-3 Orion, an F-104 Starfighter and a U-2 spy plane, among others.
“We’re trying to restore planes that were destined for a graveyard and put them on display for families, especially children,” Landers said.
Aircraft aside, Parsons added, the museum also serves as a nostalgic trip back in time for those who previously served on the base and still call the Bay Area home. The museum boasts numerous exhibitions chronicling the airfield’s decades of service and its namesake, Adm. William A. Moffett, who died aboard the USS Akron in 1933 after the airship crashed in a storm off the New Jersey coast.
“We get a lot of people who were stationed here that come through, and I can see some of them get a little wispy-eyed when they start remembering,” Parsons said. “We had one 93-year-old lady come through here and tell us she was a Wave (a women’s division of the Navy) assigned here in World War II. We took her around and she said, ‘That’s me.’ She found a picture of herself launching a weather balloon.”
Lander said he also hopes to see the museum blossom into a learning center for future generations.
“Our next generation of scientists and aeronautical engineers have to start somewhere,” he said. “If we can bring those children to a museum and spark their interest in aviation or aerospace, then our mission is complete.”
For more information, visit www.moffettfieldmuseum.org.
