Planes Of Fame Air Show
Chino Airport KCNO, Los Angeles Terminal Area
17 May 2008

All content on this page is copyright © Paul J. Lorona, 2008.
All images taken with a Canon EOS 20D using the Canon 28-135mm f3.5 - 5.6 IS zoom lens.

The idea was to have some fun. And we had a great time, my dad and I, even though the temperature hit 104 degrees. It was a mild Santa Ana condition (when are we not experiencing a Santa Ana condition in soCal?), so the breeze was hot and dry, and the visibility was virtually unlimited under clear blue skies.

We had wanted to go see the actual museum. Planes Of Fame is a permanent, full time museum on Chino Airport, and it has been there since 1973. Every year they put on an air show, and every year it gets better and better.

We must have walked at least a mile and a half before we found the museum, tucked in the middle of the hangar complex on the north side of the field. That's no mean feat for a man of 82 years, especially in that kind of heat.

The plan was that we would show up about the time the air show started, and mosey around in the relatively cool and calm confines of the museum while the air show was in progress. The only fly in the ointment, as it turns out, was the museum itself. Apparently many of the aircraft they have on display are also fully operational, and were participating in the air show. Their hangar, while containing some aircraft, looked relatively barren.

So we ambled back through the heat to the flight line, and the show was on.

This is a B-25J Mitchell bomber, manufactured by North American Aviation during the Second World War. This particular aircraft is serial # 43-28204, owned by Aero Trader and based at Chino Airport. It appeared in the movie "Catch-22." Named after General Billy Mitchell of World War One fame, almost 10,000 of the variants of the B-25 medium bomber were built. This type of aircraft is an old and familiar friend of my fathers, he worked with them during his tour of service in the USAAF in 1944 and 1945. To this day he can hear the sound of those radial engines (Wright R-2600 "Cyclones", two rows of 14 cylinders each, 1850 horsepower each) and identify the aircraft making the noise without looking up.

For as long as I've been around to pay attention my dad has been taking pictures. These days he has stepped up to digital imaging, that is a Canon Rebel XT he's pointing at some aircraft or other. I think he took more pictures than I did. He was quite pleased with the day's activity, even though he was pretty tired by the time we got home.

A Curtis P-40 Warhawk. Over 13,700 of these were built from 1938 to 1944, today fewer than twenty are still flying. This is probably the P-40E belonging to Yanks Air Museum, also based at Chino. It is powered by a 1,150 horsepower Allison V-1710-30 liquid cooled V-12 engine which lacks a dual-stage supercharger, which made it inferior to the fighters of the day in Europe. But in the early years of the global conflict, starting before that dreadful day in late 1941, the P-40 earned it's keep in the Pacific in the capable hands of the Flying Tigers.

This is the Grumman F4F Wildcat, a carrier based Navy fighter. 7,860 Wildcats were produced from 1940 to 1944, eventually being eclipsed by the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair.

This Wildcat may be the FM2 variant with the Wright R-1820 radial engine, owned and operated by Planes Of Fame Museum at Chino.

The Grumman F6F Hellcat, another carrier-based Navy fighter. This type of aircraft was the most successful carrier based fighter for the US Navy in World War Two, downing 5,171 enemy planes between 1942 and 1945. 12,275 copies were built, 11,000 of them in just two years. This is an F6F-3 variant, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 "Double Wasp" 2,000 horsepower engine. I don't know how many remain flying today, but you can bet there aren't many. Like the F4F, this F6F is owned and operated by the Planes Of Fame Museum at Chino.

The F4U Corsair, made famous again by a television show called "Baa Baa Black Sheep," loosely based on the exploits of Pappy Boyington and his VFM-214 squadron of Marines in the Pacific during the Second World War. Built by Chance-Vought between 1940 and 1952, the type was in service in both World War Two and Korea. This is an F4U-1A, # 17799, owned and operated by Planes Of Fame Museum at Chino. This aircraft appeared numerous times in the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" television show and also appeared in the television show "Airwolf." It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 "Double Wasp" 2,000 horsepower engine, just like the F6F Hellcat. While appearing on the scene a bit later than the Hellcat, the F4U was the first US-built single-engine production aircraft to achieve 400 MPH in level flight. Over 12,500 F4Us were built, it is believed that a couple dozen of them are still flying.

The ubiquitous Douglas DC-3 / C-47 / C-53. First built as an airliner in 1935, the DC-3 is probably one of the best, certainly one of the longest-lasting and toughest aircraft ever built. Over 13,000 were built between 1935 and 1946, and it is estimated that anywhere from 400 to over a thousand are still flying. Many around the world are still engaged in cargo transport and not a few in scheduled passenger service. I myself have flown in DC-3s operated by regional airlines in Central and South America as recently as 1974, and continue to see them flying around soCal even now. To this day the DC-3 maintains it's reputation. Even General Eisenhower recognized the value of the transport, calling it one of the four pieces of military equipment most vital to the Allied victory in Europe. This one, a C-53D variant serial number 42-68830, was built at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Santa Monica, California. Equipped with Wright 9 R-1820 Cyclone 1,100 horsepower radial engines, she served as a troop transport and is dressed in the livery of the D-Day invasion. Hundreds of Allied paratroops parachuted into France early that morning in June, most of them jumping from sister ships to this "Grand Old Lady" of the skies.

A Boeing B-17G heavy bomber, the famous "Flying Fortress." One third of the bombs dropped on Germany during the Second World War dropped from the bellies of B-17s. The B-17 variants were produced from 1936 to 1945, with over 12,700 being built. There are 42 intact Fortresses left, twelve of them are operational. This one, nicknamed "Fuddy Duddy," is serial number 44-83563, and is currently owned by Martin Aviation, based at John Wayne / Santa Ana Airport. This is a superbly restored example of the heavy bomber of its day.

The "799" joined by another F4U in formation flight. "210" is an F4U-4. Information about this aircraft is sketchy, it was privately owned and registered in France as F-AZVJ. I'm not sure who owns it, but was glad to see it flying.

The prettiest thing a bomber crew could see in the skies over Europe an 1944 was the North American P-51 Mustang. This one, a P-51D model serial number 44-73420, is owned by Jack Croul and is based at Chino. She has worn many guises and lived out of the country for a time in New Zealand, but she is obviously well taken care of now.

This and the following view are images of "Speedball Alice," another P-51D serial number 44-74389. "Alice" is owned by the estate of Art Vance, who was killed in the crash of an F4F Wildcat from the Planes Of Fame Museum in Tennessee while ferrying the aircraft to an air show. "Alice" is based in Sonoma, California.

The P-51 series was, and is, quite prolific. Around 15,000 P-51s were built between 1940 and 1945, Almost 300 of them still exist, and over half of them are in flying condition. Some are restored to their original World War Two condition, others are highly modified and participating in air races across the country, most notably the Reno National Championship Air Races. The D models that flew at Chino were built with the Rolls Royce / Packard V-12 engines. The Packard Merlin V-1650 engine is equipped with a two-stage supercharger that yielded performance allowing them to accompany bombers all the way to their targets and back, and achieve speeds over 440 MPH at 25,000 feet.

My dad and I had a great time feeling the rumble of those big engines and hearing and watching the planes fly. In spite of the heat we both look forward to our next air show, wherever it might be. I'm sure we'll take a few pictures at that one, too.

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