Last stop in the wild, wild west with Ann Marie!
The last stop of my trip to the Oregon State Show was in Corvalis, OR at the Oregon State University Dairy Center. Our tour guide for the day was Melissa Cook. Coincidentally, Melissa was highlighted in a youth feature article in The World a couple years ago entitled “From the Cul-De-Sac to the Straw Pack”. Melissa has just finished her freshman year at OSU and is living at the dairy center, taking summer classes, and working on the dairy.
OSU continues to be cutting edge in the technology they utilize on the dairy. Recently installed was the Afimilk system. This system conducts real-time milk tests for fat, protein, and conductivity, allowing the milkers to have better mastitis detection. The parlor is a double-7 herringbone with an extra wide pit, allowing ample room for teaching. RFID readers are located in the parlor that scan each cow as she enters. These readers are also located at the watering troughs and other locations around the dairy. The cattle and their daily activities can be tracked and monitored, helping to detect illnesses and heats.
OSU milks approximately 130 head, both Jerseys and Holsteins with a partially registered herd. Here you can see some quite content Jerseys, eating and lounging about in the mild evening temperatures.
Calf pens
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The view of the heifer field from the front of the dairy.
The Tillamook Air Museum simply can’t be missed when you’re in the Tillamook area. It can be seen from both Rocha Jerseys and Royalty Ridge, and you drive right by it on the way to Jo-Dee Brown Swiss. The structure is absolutely massive, and is the world’s largest wooden structure.
In 1942, the U.S. Navy began construction of 17 wooden hangars to house the K-class blimps being used for anti-submarine coastal patrol and convoy escort. Two of these hangars were built at the Naval Air Station Tilllamook, commissioned in December 1942 to serve the Oregon and Washington coasts.
Construction of the two hangars was rushed to completion. Hangar “B” was the first one built and was completed in August of 1943. Hangar “A” which was destroyed in a 1992 fire (thousands of bales of hay stored inside combusted), was completed in only 27 days. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries or deaths on the whole project.
Stationed at NAS Tillamook was Squadron ZP-33 with a complement of eight K-ships. The K-ships were 252 feet long and filled with 425,000 cu. ft. of helium. With a range of 2,000 miles and an ability to stay aloft for three days, they were well suited for coastal patrol and convoy escort. Naval Air Station Tillamook was decommissioned in 1948.
Since 1994 the remaining hangar has been home to one of the top five privately owned aircraft collections in the nation. In addition to aircraft, there is a comprehensive collection of WWII uniforms and other memorabilia, including medals, awards, photos, navigation and communication equipment, and Nazi and Japanese materials.
The Building. 1,072′ long, 192′ tall (over 15 stories), and 296′ wide covering 7 acres – enough room to play six football games simultaneously. The doors are 120′ high and composed of six sections, each weighing 30 tons and rolling on railroad tracks. The doors are 220′ wide when opened.
Martin AM Mauler. A shipboard attack aircraft of the United States Navy. During World War II the Mauler earned the nickname “Able Mable” because of its remarkable load carrying ability.
Messerschmitt Bf 109. A German WWII fighter plane. It was the backbone of the Luftwaffe’s fighter force.The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring German fighter aces of World War II, who claimed 928 victories between them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front, as well as by the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign.
