“If you love aviation history, don’t miss the Planes of Fame, either the California location or its sister site in Arizona.”
By Michael Jabbra
IF YOU’RE A MilitaryHistoryNow.com regular and you ever find yourself in the Los Angeles area, you’re going to want to check out the Planes of Fame museum in Chino, California.
Opened in 1957, the site is now home to nearly 150 vintage military aircraft, 30 of which have been restored to flying condition.
And if you time your visit right, you may be able to catch one of Planes of Fame’s monthly Living History Flying Days. Held on the first Saturday of the month, each one these mini air shows typically begins with a lecture or presentation followed by a flying demonstration by one of the museum’s own planes, or a visiting aircraft on loan from another collection.
We attended one of these events in recent weeks all about First World War aviation. Afterwards, we got a chance to take in most of the museum’s collection. Here’s what we saw.
Adventure at 20,000 feet
Today, flying has been utterly stripped of the glamour and excitement it once held. For most people, air travel in the 21st Century involves a few hours in an aluminum and composite tube with about 150 other travelers. Leg room is at a premium but on the bright side there are snacks, drinks, and maybe a movie, edited of course for an airline audience. It’s a little uncomfortable, somewhat unpleasant but mostly tedious. Yet to anyone who lived 100 years ago, aviation was anything but full. It was the domain of the daring and was made up of equal parts daring-do, thrills and romance.
Back then, “flying” meant taking to the heavens in a flimsy open-cockpit aircraft made of wood, fabric, and wire with few instruments. There was no radar, no radio, limited range, and the constant spray of castor oil leaking from the uncowled engine.
It’s cold at 20,000 feet, so pilots of the era had to wear helmets, goggles, lots of warm clothing. Many brought along oxygen tanks — just like anyone climbing Mount Everest. It took courage to fly and fight in those primitive aircraft. Perhaps for this reason, early pilots were called Knights of the Air.
And like mounted warriors of old, early military pilots also lived by an old-time code of chivalry. When the German ace Oswald Boelcke was killed, he was given a funeral at the cathedral in Cambrai, France before his body was shipped back to Germany. Featured at the funeral service was a pillow sewn by POWs from the Royal Flying Corps in tribute to their fallen foe.
Planes of Fame featured a French Hanriot biplane flown by none other than Charles Nungesser, a French daredevil ace who fought hard, partied hard, and was killed while trying to fly the Atlantic Ocean along with his partner, François Coli.
Restored warbirds
After the lectures on World War I, I ate lunch and met with Harry Geier, the marketing director for Planes of Fame. He gave me a guided tour. Some of the highlights included three gorgeous P-51D Mustangs, a deliciously curvy Spitfire Mark XII, a replica Focke-Wulf 190 (the Butcherbird!), a Messerschmitt Bf 109 that had been fished out of a lake with cannon holes still visible, and the only surviving airworthy A6M5 Zero in existence. Harry also showed me a P-38 Lightning in flying condition, with some great (and surprisingly not lewd) nose art.
There was also a boneyard of aircraft that the museum had acquired but that would need lots of TLC before flying again, or even being static displays. Harry pointed out a F-105 Thunderchief (“Thud”) that had been turned into a drone. One of its horizontal tail fins shot off and its vertical tail fin shredded by a missile yet was still able to land normally under remote control — a testament to the durability of this Vietnam War veteran. Other boneyard inmates included an F7F Tigercat, an F-80 Shooting Star, an A-7 Corsair II, and more. The saddest sight of all was Lucky Lady II, the B-50 that completed the first nonstop flight around the world in 1949. She was lying on her belly without her wings. At least she was lucky enough to end up at Planes of Fame, where she’ll have a chance of being restored to her former good looks.
Next was a tour of the restoration hangar. Among the highlights: A Spanish-made Bf-109, an Aichi D3A2 Val dive-bomber in need of a lot of work, and a P-59 Airacomet — America’s first jet aircraft. When the Val and the Airacomet are restored, they will be the only flying examples in existence.
A labour of love
A volunteer was working on these airplanes and spared a few minutes to chat with me. Planes of Fame relies on a lot of unpaid help so that allocate as much as it can towards aircraft acquisition and restoration. But to say these labourers aren’t rewarded would be wrong; they get paid in pride for the work they do in restoring these old aircraft. I was told that 3-D printing might be very helpful in restoring old aircraft in the near future.
If you love aviation history, don’t miss the Planes of Fame, either the California location or its sister site in Arizona. There’s always lots to see and do. If you can’t make out there yourself, send them some love via their donation page. Planes of Fame is doing a lot to keep history alive and flying. It’s noble work. I’m glad I came and I already look forward to my next visit.
Michael Jabbra
is a writer, researcher, and entry-level computer technician in Los Angeles. He likes military history as much as other people like sports or celebrity news. Contact Michael Jabbra here.
