Largest all wooden structure?

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Back in the 1984 I was flying over the top of this every day with students going out to learn to fly in the mountains at high altitude. Below us was the largest all wood and no metal platform in the world.

I had a chance to re think the whole thing and it really was a work of considerable thought. In the photo you'll see a B-52 on the test platform. What distinguishes this from other large wooden structures is the fact that it has NO materials other than wood. It would interfere with the testing process.

The aircraft on the platform weighed in about 180 000 pounds.
186370


ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was the codename for a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laboratories near Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1]
ATLAS-I was the largest NNEMP (Non-Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse) generator in the world, designed to test the radiation hardening of strategic aircraft systems against EMP pulses from nuclear warfare. Built at a cost of $60 million, it was composed of two parts: a pair of powerful Marx generators capable of simulating the electromagnetic pulse effects of a high-altitude nuclear explosion (HANE) of the type expected during a nuclear war, and a giant wooden trestle built in a bowl-shaped arroyo, designed to elevate the test aircraft above ground interference and orient it below the pulse in a similar manner to what would be seen in mid-air.[2]

Trestle is the world's largest structure composed entirely of wood and glue laminate.[3]
 
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cobraguy

Clay
Corporate Member
It is still an impressive structure. I have occasion to go the ABQ for work and have been to the site, which is on Kirtland, AFB. One thing that caught my attention is that ALL of the fasteners are also wood. They wanted no metal to interfere with the tests. Unfortunately, it is fenced off, so a close up examination is not possible. These old cold war relics can be pretty interesting.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Saw a photo of the update to that platform for testing the stealth fighters. It was a humongous block of styrofoam that the plane was set on......
Lotta lumberjacks outa work over that...
 

golfdad

Co-director of Outreach
Dirk
Corporate Member
awesome stuff.....my question is how did they get the aircraft out to the platform
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
awesome stuff.....my question is how did they get the aircraft out to the platform

I saw them roll all kinds of smaller aircraft out on to the platform you see in the photo. The tricky thing with the B-52 would be to put some wing wheels closer to the center of the fuselage to keep it from tipping as it was towed out to the test position near the center.

It would be interesting to know what the largest aircraft to be tested on the platform was over the years.
As someone mentioned earlier, things have changed out there.
 

FlyingRon

Moderator
Ron
The blimp hangars are pretty darn big, there are a couple at Moffett Field in the SF Bay area, a few in Akron, and one in Tillamook, OR. There used to be two there, but they were storing hay in one a while back and it caught on fire. The remaining one is an air museum.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
There are hangars in Elizabeth City that are used in the manufacturer of TCOM blimps. Very impressive structures. The hangar doors are really sweet.
 

cobraguy

Clay
Corporate Member
I had an opportunity to go inside the hangar is Elizabeth City a number of years ago. The building looks huge from the outside, but when you actually get into the hangar itself, you understand just how monstrous it really is. There were a couple pretty large airships inside and room for many more. Truly amazing.

As for how they get aircraft on the wooden structure in ABQ, there is a taxiway/road that leads from the Kirtland AFB runway area. They just tow them over.
 

RayH

New User
Ray
awesome stuff.....my question is how did they get the aircraft out to the platform
When the wing fuel tanks were empty it was normal for one of the "training wheels" to be well up in the air. Moving a few pounds of fuel from one side to the other would allow balancing the load so that little weight would be on either side. I don't remember the dimensions, but the main gear spread was about the same width as the fuselage, which gave a lot of stability.

Ah, the memories,
Ray
(Another old relic)
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Ray I never spent any time other than refueling at a SAC base while on active duty in TAC and MAC. I learned more about the bombers after I retired from the AF. Still don't know a whole bunch really.
 

cobraguy

Clay
Corporate Member
SAC, TAC, and MAC..... Now there are a few terms I haven't seen in awhile! Spent some time in TAC and signed into Offutt (SAC HQ base) the day after SAC became no more in June 1992.
 

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