Evening star., 1938-07-13
Finest Army Air Corps Post
Expected to Be Ready
Next Summer.
TWO GIANT HANGARS
ARE FAR ADVANCED
Construction Of $4,000 Worth
of Technical Structures Is
Final Phase.
BY JOSEPH s. EDGERTON.

bolllHR r1elu, DeBun more tnan eight
years ago. is entering it's final phase
with the construction of STAG, 900 worth
of technical buildings and the new
post, one of the finest Army Air Corps
stations Of its kind. is expected to be
ready for complete operations early
next summer.
Two giant hangers, which also will
house most of the administrative and
technical Offices for the post, now are
well advanced as the major portion
of the present technical" program.
Contracts have been awarded for q
quartermaster warehouse, and garage,
fuel station and paint, oil and dope
storage building. with construction of
all three to begin soon Construction
of new central heating plant for the
entire post with the exception of Of
ficers' quarters. is nearing completion.
Upon completion of the new struc-
lures. moving day will come for the
local Army Air Corps and old Boiling
Field will be turned over in its entirety
to the Navy as an addition to the
Anacostia Naval Air Station, except
for some of the living quarters which
must be retained temporarily for Army
personnel
The landing area at the new Boiling
Field. including the paved runway
system, has been completed except for
a small area at the southwest corner,
along the Potomac River, which now
Is being graded as a District w. P. A.
project.
Field Lights Completed.
The field lighting system, including
boundary lights. approach lights, flush
type runway outline lights, and run
way hoodlights, has been completed
and is In operation.
I The present $4,000 building pro-
gram is being carried out under super
vision of Maj. Lawrence L. Simpson,
Quartermaster Corps. construction
quartermaster for Washington and
vicinity.
The hangers are being constructed
by the Virginia Engineering Co., Inc.
Of Newport News, Va. under $450,00O
contract. Each hangar measures 249
by 1876 feet in overall size, with a
height of 80 feet. Along the field side
OF each hangar will be a two-story
Office "lean-to." flanked by four-story
towers, on top of one of which the
field-control tower will be located.
Along the other sides will be one-story
office structures the entire length of
the hangers.
The hangers and attached Office
structures are of steel frame con-
struction with limestone and varie-
gated brick exteriors and light con-
crete roofs. Each hangar will house
30 airplanes of the smaller types.
No. l hangar is devoted to field
operations, and No. 2 hangar Is for
engineering purposes. There will be
q tower for the drying of parachutes.
Steel Work Advanced.
The steel work of No. l hangar has
been completed, and Of No. is ap-
proximately 80 per cent finished. Stone
and brick work on No. l is well ad-
vanced. The work now is several
months ahead of schedule and, al
though the Virginia Engineering Co.
contract allows until next March for
completion of both buildings, 1t now
is anticipated that they will be turned
over to the Air Corps by December l.
The central heating plant is being
built by the Norair Engineering Corp.
Of Washington and includes the dis
tribution system, carrying steam to all
parts of the post, including the main
barracks. 1900 feet away. The plant
is one Of the most modern yet built
here. including such gadgets as carbon
dioxide indicators, chimney blower to
permit cutting the chimney down to
roof level, and standby steam pumps
and other equipment in case of failure
of electric power.
A 0,000-gallon gasoline storage
plant also is being completed. The
system is Of the water fotation" type
and there never will be bubble of air
in the system, regardless of the amount
of gasoline on hand. The system pro-
vides for delivery of fuel at rate of
1877 gallons a minute into the service
VI uChS, WA1lCll WILL COIlECy ~ W tAAC
airplanes. The truck system has been
adopted generally by the Air Corps
for speed and hexibility in fueling air
craft.
The gasoline, paint, oil and dope
storage plants, grouped together at the
south end of the field building area,
are separated by special dam from
adjoining buildings so that, in case
of bursting of any of the tanks by
bombardment or for any other reason,
the contents will be kept away from
other portions of the field.
One of the interesting items of
equipment to be installed is a 5-horse-
power siren, capable of sending coded
signals to give warnings Of gas at
tacks, air raids, fire or airplane crashes
or for other purposes. The coding is
accomplished by means of sliding
sleeve which momentarily cuts off the
sound of the siren, permitting the
sending of conventional dot and
dashn yr1essares