Pee-Wee Says…
So much for that break Nag mentioned 
He can sit this one out.
I spent my morning using some books, Google Maps, and historicaerials.com to locate the exact location of every private, commercial, and military blimp base in the Continental United States, and my afternoon compiling my research onto a Google map, which I know sounds extremely nerdy, but stick with me here. 
Anyway, I completed one flight today that ticked three boxes:
- Tried out Flyboysim’s Rans S6S that I picked up on sale from SimMarket;
- Explored the functionality of Touching Cloud’s Airshow Assistant;
- Landed at a former blimp base.
Flyboysim’s Rans was released last year, and I somehow missed it, much to my chagrin. She looks great and flies even better, and while she’s not as capable as my beloved Zenith or as fast as a souped up Cub, she’s rapidly heading toward the top slot on my favorites list. Yes, she has a few imperfections, but none that detract from her realistic flight model and good looks.
I started at South Lafourche Miller Airport (KGAO) south of New Orleans. My flightplan included landing in some pretty tight quarters and I needed to know just how slow the Rans could fly without getting into trouble, so I started with some departure, clean, and landing stalls. I never could get the thing to stall at idle, but with some power on, she rolled over without much warning at about 38 MPH. The published approach speed of 45 MPH seemed reasonable.
Here’s N280VR hanging at about 40 MPH, “stalled,” descending steadily at about 500 feet per minute with the stick in my belly and barely a shudder. When I finally managed a full stall, the resulting spin broke without any effort.
After three touch-and-go’s at Lafourche, I climbed to 4,500 feet and headed west toward Houma, Louisiana. I was joined now by my friend and pilot mentor Paul in a tricycle Rans, thanks to Airshow Assistant. Everything about this neat little addon worked as advertised, and I’ll sure be spending lots of time with a wingman now, especially in the Tiger Moth!
With 4,500 RPM the Rans cruised in the 95 MPH range. Adding another thousand RPM kept everything in the green but pushed 280VR past 110 MPH. Flying into a stiff westerly, my ground speed was about 75 MPH.
Here we are over former Naval Air Station Houma about 40 miles southwest of New Orleans. Commissioned in May 1943, Houma was home to the “Bayou Bombers” of Airship Patrol Squadron Two-Two (ZP-22) and their six K-Class blimps. By the time blimps arrived at Houma, the threat from German U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico had been nearly eliminated. The squadron’s war record is therefore rather unremarkable: absolutely nothing happened, besides a few tragic crashes. ZP-22 was decommissioned after sixteen months in service and was replaced by ZP-21’s Detachment 4 from NAS Richmond. By year’s end, even Det. 4 was gone and Houma became a Naval Auxiliary Air Field hosting a few Navy and Coast Guard fixed-wing training units.
The single hangar’s unique design provided more usable floor space than any other timber building in the world. It survived until late 1948 when it was levelled and its materials reclaimed. Today, only the concrete floor and some skeletal supports remain.
The hangar floor and “ribs” are visible directly underneath N280VR in the photo above. One of the circular mooring pads extends down and to the right, and the remnants of two others are visible near the river beneath my wingman. Houma’s municipal airport can be seen in the distance, with parking lots and a helicopter ramp separating it from the old NAS.
My goal was to land on the 1,100-foot-long hangar floor. Knowing MSFS pretty well, I assumed correctly that the structural arches running in parallel the outer length of the hangar wouldn’t be present, but I made a low pass over the “runway” anyhow to make sure there were no obstacles blocking my way. It looked clear and flat, but there were some buildings nearby, including two in my intended approach path.
Almost there! The winds favored landing to the northwest, which meant approaching over the two buildings ahead and to the right. The Rans is pretty slick on final, and I had the power near idle to hold 45 MPH. You can clearly see the railroad tracks that run the length of the concrete pad, once used to haul helium and blimps into the massive hangar. My aiming point is the clearing to the left of that track.
Goal achieved, with plenty of room to spare! 
My ground roll of around 500 feet wasn’t shabby considering nearly full tanks, two adults, and some camping gear!
The next trick was taking off, and once again the Rans made easy work of it. Here I’m circling over one of the mooring pads. The concrete circle is clearly visible directly beneath 280RV, with another to the right. Houma had five such pads in addition to the main landing mat, meaning the entire squadron could be moored in the open. After landing on the main pad, blimps would be attached to mobile masts and towed to one of these smaller circles, where they would be free to weathervane with the wind.
Google
Standing 160 feet tall and a quarter mile long, the massive hangar would have dwarfed everything around it. The Navy stored airplanes inside after the war, a mothballed air wing that reportedly included 330 SNJs, 25 PBYs, 29 Helldivers, and 64 Hellcats, a total of 448 airplanes! For reference, I’ve superimposed the current CV-41 Midway and a “short-hull” Essex-Class carrier over the hangar floor in this image. The Essex may have fit completely inside Houma’s hangar! 
I landed on the hangar floor again and parked for the night. I love aviation archaeology and especially exploring abandoned airfields, but in the past decades so many sites have disappeared beneath urban sprawl that I sometimes feel like I’ve missed the party. If only MSFS had come along twenty years earlier!
The Rans is definitely a keeper, and Airshow Assistant is a game changer! I highly recommend both.
Next time, I’ll put the tricycle Rans through her paces. But where to? Hmmm… 
Bye for now! 