Planes of Fame

Planes of Fame is an aviation museum located in Chino, California and Valle, Arizona.

History

The Museum was founded by Edward T. Maloney in 1957 in Claremont, California, with an initial collection of six aircraft. As the collection grew, the museum moved first to Ontario, California, and finally in 1973 to Chino Airport.

Collection

The museum's collection of Japanese aircraft is the largest of its type in the world. This collection includes the only flying Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter with its original Sakae engine.

A number of the aircraft on display at the museum are sole surviving examples of their type, such as the Northrop N9MB Flying Wing.

Of the museum's approximately 150 aircraft, 30 are flyable. Others are under restoration in the museum's full-time restoration facility.

* Chance-Vought F4U-1a "17799"

* Curtiss P-47G-15CU "42-25234" Spirit of Atlantic City

Monthly and annual airshows

On the first Saturday of every month, the museum holds a mini-airshow around a certain theme. Themes have included "World War 1 Aviation", "Experimental Aircraft", "Korean War Aviation", "Airplanes In The Movies", "Naval Aviation", etc. Each mini-airshow starts with one or more talks or seminars given by people involved with the featured aircraft (such as combat pilots), followed by a flight demonstration of two or three aircraft related to that Saturday's theme.

The museum flies all of its airworthy aircraft, as well as many other warbirds visiting from other museums or brought by private owners, during its annual airshow. This event, usually held on the third weekend of May for two days, is the largest gathering of warbirds in the western US.

External links

* [http://www.planesoffame.org Planes of Fame Official Site]

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=chino,+ca&ll=33.981882,-117.641054&spn=0.003364,0.010141&t=k&hl=en Aerial view from Google Local]

* [http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/POF-web.html Racing Planes of Fame: A visit to the Planes of Fame Air Museum]

* [http://www.pacificwrecks.com/restore/usa/fame.html Pacific Wrecks Database listing]