Behind the Lens: Filming Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield for Planetary Ventures

When Planetary Ventures, a subsidiary of Google, wanted  to document the completed restoration of Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield — one of the more logistically complex filming locations in the Bay Area — they called us. Not because we showed up with nice cameras. Because we knew how to get FAA authorization, coordinate with an active control tower, manage spotters on a live runway, and still deliver cinematic footage of a 90-year-old landmark. That's the job we were built for.

https://vimeo.com/1179099583

The Subject: A Silicon Valley Landmark Restored

If you've driven Highway 101 through Silicon Valley, you know Hangar One. The hangar looks like something out of another era — because it is. Built between 1931 and 1933, it served as a base for West Coast Navy dirigibles in the Lighter-than-Air program, and. 

was originally constructed to house the USS Macon airship. At more than 1,100 feet long, 300 feet wide and nearly 200 feet tall, it covers eight acres. To put that in perspective: if you tipped San Francisco's Salesforce Tower on its side, it would fit inside.

For years, the hangar sat as a stripped steel skeleton after the U.S. Navy removed its toxic siding during an environmental remediation effort. Google's subsidiary Planetary Ventures took on a lease of Moffett Federal Airfield and committed to restoring Hangar One. The restoration work included adding structural, electrical, and plumbing upgrades, and a new exterior skin that replicates the building's original design while integrating bird-safe features and a new ventilation system. With the restoration now complete, Hangar One  will continue its historic legacy for generations to come.

The Challenge: Flying at an Active Airport

We've filmed in the Moffett Federal Airfield area before, so we already knew that the airspace situation could be complex. 

Moffett Federal Airfield sits in one of the most controlled airspace corridors in the country — bordered by NASA Ames Research Center, underneath the approach paths for both San Jose and San Francisco International airports, and actively used by government aircraft. Flying a drone anywhere near it requires serious preparation.

Before we stepped foot on site, we had to obtain FAA authorization and coordinate clearance directly with the airport. That process involved detailed flight plans, documentation of our drone operator's certifications, and collaboration with multiple agencies to get a window approved for our shoot day.

On the day itself, we maintained constant radio contact with the control tower throughout the aerial portion of our shoot. Planes were actively coming and going — we weren't filming during a quiet window, we were around live air traffic. Our drone pilot, Matthew Price of Paradise Valley Aerials, flew within close proximity to an active runway, which meant every flight required real-time communication with the tower and a team of spotters on the ground tracking both aircraft movements and his position simultaneously. Matthew has handled all of our Google aerial work, and his ability to stay precise and calm under that kind of operational pressure is a big part of why we keep coming back to him for video shoots like this.

It was controlled, professional, and safe — and it required a level of operational coordination you simply don't deal with on most video shoots.

The Challenge Nobody Tells You About: Conveying Scale

Here's the thing about Hangar One that nobody warns you about until you're standing inside it: it's so big that it defeats normal visual reference points.

The interior is essentially a small city block under one roof — a cavern so vast that its interior has been known to have its own microclimate with fog forming near the ceiling. When a space is that large, standard wide shots don't communicate scale the way you'd expect. The eye has nothing to anchor to.

Our solution was the drone — inside the building. Matthew flew through the interior, pulling back to distances that ground-based cameras simply can't achieve and finding angles that let the architecture speak for itself. Moving through the space slowly, framing against the structural steel, and using the drone's altitude to reveal the full verticality of the building gave us footage that actually communicated how extraordinary this space is.

Combined with carefully composed ground-level shots — both interior and exterior — we were able to build a visual narrative that moves from the intimate details of the restoration craftsmanship to the scale of the full structure.

One Shoot. Designed to Work on Multiple Channels.

Our goal was to deliver a video that the Planetary Ventures team could use as their public-facing launch video, and also serve as archival documentation of the restoration. The video was used on social media, shared with local press, and used for the launch celebration which included members of Congress. 

When you design a shoot with intention — strong lighting, clean coverage, multiple angles, space for moments to breathe — the finished piece can be used in more than one context without feeling out of place. You're not just getting a  video. You're getting something with a shelf life.

What This Project Represents

This is the kind of work we've built our reputation on — projects at the intersection of construction, history, and technology where the story of a building is inseparable from the story of the people and institutions that built it.

Hangar One isn't just a construction engineering achievement. It's a piece of Bay Area identity that almost disappeared. Getting to document its restoration — from the air and the ground, in one of the most exciting airspace environments we've ever worked in —and it’s exactly the kind of project we exist for.

If Your Project Has Logistics, We're The Call You Make First

High-stakes locations. Controlled airspace. Active construction sites. Shoots where the story isn't fully defined until you're on the ground. These are the conditions where most productions struggle and where we're most comfortable.

We work with companies that need more than a crew — they need a production partner who can own the narrative, solve the unknowns before they become problems, and deliver content that works across every format it needs to live in.

If that sounds like your next project, let's talk. →

All aerial photography and behind-the-scenes stills by Matthew Price, Paradise Valley Aerials

Production Credits

Produced by Maximum Flavor Media

Aerial Photography: Matthew Price, Paradise Valley Aerials