Chino on a rainy day

[Grant]

Had Sunday morning off so decided to take a drive out to Planes of Fame in Chino, CA. It was a rainy day so I was one of only a couple visitors.

Here's a photo of two former adversaries now patiently waiting restoration.

The X-1's relative also awaiting restoration - a long way from the days of flying mach 2 -3.

Best part of the visit was having the whole P-38 hanger to myself to explore.

 

[bfrench]

Had Sunday morning off so decided to take a drive out to Planes of Fame in Chino, CA. It was a rainy day so I was one of only a couple visitors.

Hi, Grant,

Thanks for the pics - it's amazing how you get to feel so attached to these planes even though you haven't flown them.

Cheers,
Bill French

 

[dujardin]

thanks Grant,

nice pics; i like the nose and canopy of the Sabre

a P-38 just for you, exceptionnal moment

 

[SuinBruin]

Love the X-2. Just reread The Right Stuff and have begun Hypersonic: the Story of the North American X-15. The pilots who flew those planes don't get nearly the publicity that the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo guys got, but they took some huge risks and did some pretty amazing stuff.

The other shots are great too, thanks for sharing. I think the F-86 might be the prettiest airplane ever made.

cheers,
matt

 

[dmar836]

Yeah, that's a great shot of the F-86 and Mig 15.
Glad you got a low-crowd day to yourself.
Dave
KC

 

[grommet]

I understand that they used this airport for the location shots of "Archbury" in the TV series of 12 o'clock High in the 60's. Do they have anything there commemorating that?

 

[Grant]

I think the B-17 under restoration was used in the series.

 

[Andrew]

Great shots Grant, looks like a really worthwhile trip and yep, that top photo is excellent. What beautiful curves. Thanks

 

[Django]

Neat. I hope to make it there someday.

 

[navvet]

The Yanks Air Museum at Chino is one place worth visiting. I had the luck to be there on October 25th with my wife and her cousin, who we were visiting. We were thrilled to find out that a few dozen Distinguished Flying Cross recipients from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam were being honored that day. The flyers all signed a big poster that the museum will most likely display. After the ceremony we were able to talk to some of them. What an honor it was to ask these humble heroes questions about their war experiences. The museum owners graciously invited us to have lunch since there were many leftovers. It is a day I will always cherish.

 

[Grant]

Had some free time, so visited Planes of Fame again, which never disappoints.The hanger for the 475th FG 'Satan's Angels' P-38 had a number of A-2's, including these two. The 433rd Possum Squadron has to be one of the coolest patches ever; this one painted directly on what appeared to be a Cable. One other unique thing about Chino is walking around the hangers taking in the smell oil and hydraulic fluid, you can walk right up to one of a kind planes, including the Seversky 2PA.
Also, seeing an original Bf109E up close, you can examine remnants of original paint after being pulled from an icy lake.

 

[Flightengineer]

Thanks for these photos. Seversky is a real legend and a man of incredible fate, who is little remembered in his historical homeland.
I visited the Planes of Fame in Valle, but unfortunately never been in Chino.Nice place.

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Great shots, Grant, thanks for posting. Chino is one of those places that I've got to go and visit someday....

 

[Grant]

One last photo from Chino and this brief description of the B-17 they have displayed.
DISTINCTION

• The Museum’s B-17, built by Douglas Aircraft and delivered May 7, 1945, arrived too late for World War II, and went into storage in Texas. In March 1950, it was converted into a Drone Director Aircraft (DB-17G) to serve as airborne control of radio-operated B-17 target aircraft (QB-17s). It performed these duties during Operation Greenhouse, the 1951 nuclear bomb tests on Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands), and later at stateside missile ranges. On August 6, 1959, it controlled a QB-17 in the last operational mission of a B-17 for the U.S. Air Force. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, it was acquired by the Museum and has appeared in the movies The Thousand Plane Raid, Fort Apache, and Black Sheep Squadron and the ABC television series, Twelve O’Clock High as 'Piccadilly Lilly'. It is under restoration to fly.

 

[Lorenzo_l]

One last photo from Chino and this brief description of the B-17 they have displayed.
DISTINCTION

• The Museum’s B-17, built by Douglas Aircraft and delivered May 7, 1945, arrived too late for World War II, and went into storage in Texas. In March 1950, it was converted into a Drone Director Aircraft (DB-17G) to serve as airborne control of radio-operated B-17 target aircraft (QB-17s). It performed these duties during Operation Greenhouse, the 1951 nuclear bomb tests on Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands), and later at stateside missile ranges. On August 6, 1959, it controlled a QB-17 in the last operational mission of a B-17 for the U.S. Air Force. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, it was acquired by the Museum and has appeared in the movies The Thousand Plane Raid, Fort Apache, and Black Sheep Squadron and the ABC television series, Twelve O’Clock High as 'Piccadilly Lilly'. It is under restoration to fly.

View attachment 72544

Glad that there are people like Planes of Fame working on restoring and keeping these machines flying. It's a labour of love and a very intensive one at that, I suspect...

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Had some free time, so visited Planes of Fame again, which never disappoints.The hanger for the 475th FG 'Satan's Angels' P-38 had a number of A-2's, including these two. The 433rd Possum Squadron has to be one of the coolest patches ever; this one painted directly on what appeared to be a Cable. One other unique thing about Chino is walking around the hangers taking in the smell oil and hydraulic fluid, you can walk right up to one of a kind planes, including the Seversky 2PA.
Also, seeing an original Bf109E up close, you can examine remnants of original paint after being pulled from an icy lake.

View attachment 72510View attachment 72511View attachment 72512View attachment 72513View attachment 72514View attachment 72515

Are they, btw, planning on restoring this Me-109 to flying condition? It's a great machine and a time capsule, displayed as is already, but I am just curious as to the museums intentions with it...

 

[Nickb123]

Probably the best museum I’ve been to. All kinds of exotic Japanese and Luftwaffe stuff.
Fond memories flying in there with the dad.

 

[johnwayne]

Went there back in early 90’s on a self indulgent visit whilst staying in Anaheim and cant believe that 5th AF A2 is still on display! Always loved that patch since that visit - like you Grant (it was a weekday) and I was very happy being ‘billy no mates’ as hardly anyone else around!

 

[MikeyB-17]

Funny how you don’t see repro’s with handwritten name tags!

 

[CBI]

what a great place, was there last about 4 years ago. There's also the other museum down the street.