Planes of Fame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Planes of Fame is an independently operated and non-profit aviation museum located in Chino, California and Valle, Arizona. It is dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation and exhibition of historical aircraft, and to the men and women, both famous and unknown, who devoted their lives to flight.
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[edit] History
The Museum was founded by Mr. Edward G. Maloney, who recognized the importance of preserving World War II aircraft at a time when most of these planes were being cut up into scrap metal. Although the United States alone produced over 300,000 military aircraft during WWII, most of these were destroyed at the end of the war and many types disappeared entirely. Even fewer of Germany's and Japan's aircraft were saved. In his attempts to save endangered aircraft types from the scrap heap, Mr. Maloney pleaded, bartered, and even purchased the discards by the pound.
The Air Museum was the first permanent air museum west of the Rocky Mountains. It officially opened its doors to the public in January 1957, with an initial collection of six aircraft and a great deal of hope for the future. The museum's original location was in Claremont, California. As the collection began to outgrow this first makeshift facility, the aircraft were moved to the Ontario, California airport. In 1973, The Air Museum finally took up its present residence at the Chino Airport.
In December, 1997, the collection of vintage aircraft located at Planes of Fame East museum was moved from Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Minnesota to the Chino, CA location.
Incidentally, the location of the museum was originally the home of the Cal-Aero Flight Academy during WWII, where thousands of Army Air Corps cadets learned to fly the warbirds the museum is now preserving.
[edit] Collection
The museum collection spans the history of manned flight from the Chanute Hang Glider of 1896 to the space age. Of particular pride to the museum is its collection of Japanese aircraft, which is currently the largest of its type in the world. This collection includes the world's only totally authentic flying Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter, which is complete with its original 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, and still exist only because of Mr. Maloney's personal determination to save at least one example of as many different aircraft as possible.
The Air Museum is a "living history" museum, where the aircraft are not only preserved, but are kept flying. Through the generosity of the many people who donate funds or aircraft parts to the museum and the dozens of volunteers who donate their time to restore and maintain the aircraft, many of these rare warbirds are in flying condition. To share their collection with the public, the warbirds are flown regularly, participating in air shows, military base open houses, and are often used in the making of television programs and motion picture presentations. Parts for the aircraft have been collected from all over the world, with reclamation efforts ongoing. The museum compound even houses a full-time warbird restoration facility called "Fighter Rebuilders". This facility allows the museum the opportunity to have several ongoing restoration projects simultaneously.
Of the museum's approximately 150 aircraft, 30 are flyable. On a typical Saturday, you may see two P-51 Mustangs fly by escorting a B-25 Mitchell bomber, or a Grumman Hellcat with a Chance-Vought F4U Corsair making a formation overhead approach to the airport. The airplanes may have been built in a time gone by, but the unforgettable sound and smell of the aircraft, as well as the enthusiastic spirit of the pilots who flew them to world records, trophies and combat victories, are still alive and well at The Air Museum Planes of Fame.
[edit] 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. It culminates with a "gaggle" flight, where most of the warbirds present are flown in one giant formation, usually featuring 25 or more aircraft, much as would be seen over the combat theaters of World War 2.
