Chino Airport

San Bernadino County, California :

October 20, 2001

Chino is one of those places that everyone who is interested in aviation seems to have heard of, and most seem to dream of visiting. It's taken a while for me, but that dream finally came true. This page covers how I got there and my visit to the Yanks Air Museum. Click to see what I found during my walk round the ramp and at The Air Museum - Planes of Fame.

Getting There:

Saturday morning in LA - well Anaheim actually. My wife and I were staying across the road from Disneyland on a three day stopover. It seemed more than a tad unreal. For our second day in town Louise had gone off to Universal Studios. I had something a little more real in mind. So at 9am I was standing on the curbside looking what seemed to be the wrong way up the street (why do Americans drive on the wrong side of the road) looking for my lift. My visit to Chino had been arranged with a long time internet correspondent of mine, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver. He had arranged for Robert Karr to pick me up. So I stood watching the traffic - which even at this hour was busy with lots of buses and shuttles heading to Disneyland. The weather didn't look to bright as it was all grey - but I didn't know if it was smog or fog.

Didn't have to wait long for Robert. I managed to pick out his charcoal coloured van before it pulled up. As we drove out to Chino, we got acquainted. He is a painter with an Aviation Art business. It was a fun meeting - one of those cool conversations with someone who shares the same interests where it doesn't take long at all to get comfortable. The drive was interesting - the freeway was familiar (too much TV), but still strange. Robert told me the grey was fog and should burn off (as it turns out, it only kind of lifted). It did restrict the views a little, and didn't improve much as we approached Chino. The airport (an old training base) is in dairy country - I could certainly smell that! (made me kind of homesick).

As we arrived at the The Air Museum - Planes of Fame we passed a B-17 (Picadilly Lilly II) and found a B-50 fuselage stretching along one side of the carpark. Gave me something to stare at while we waited for Tom to arrive - which wasn't long. After introductions (again there was that instant connection) we went through the Planes of Fame building, and out toward the aircraft. I was introduced to a bunch of people - Steve Hinton (pilot), owner Ed Maloney, and a heap of volunteers - way too many for me to remember!

We walked out passed some of the planes too. P-51Ds were being pulled from the hangar. A Stearman, Bearcat, and Sabre were already outside. In another hangar I could see a Tigercat and a P-38. On the ramp a B-25 was being worked on. I truely didn't know which way to look! Tom disappeared for a little while with Steve Hinton - Tom is a writer and they're working on a piece. I followed Robert around while he talked to a bunch of people. When Tom reappeared, we set off at a fast walk toward the Yanks Museum.

Yanks Air Museum:

We started at the restoration facility. Tom had made arrangements so we just bowled in through the gate - it's great having contacts! Outside was a Curtis C-46 and a bunch of modern stuff - A-6E Intruders, F-14A Tomcats, an A-4E Skyhawk, and a dismembered looking E-2C Hawkeye. I was just amazed. Then we went through the hangar door ...

The first thing I saw was a Lockheed Electra - followed by a P-39N. Robert and Tom oohed and aahed over the Airacobra. It did look pretty good, and they spent some time photographing it. Further back in the hangar was a Corsair (well, from the spar back), an early model Helldiver (it impressed the hell out of me), an R-4B frame, a HUP-1, and more. The place was just magic.

Way over the back were some tanks - in particular I noted a Grant. But the aircraft surprises kept coming - like an Ohka. I looked at a couple of rather bare airframes (frames in the true meaning of the word) that seemed familiar, but I couldn't identify them. Tom pointed out one was a Ryan Brougham, and the other a Fleet. I pulled myself away from an Avenger, only to be trapped by a Cessna Bobcat. Saw Charles Nichols, the owner, wandering round in deep discussion with another gentleman - who apparently had some guns suitable for completing the P-39N. We didn't get to talk to him, but some of the other staff were chatty. Tom eventually managed to drag Robert and I next door.

The next delight in store for us was the display hangar. We passed more fuselages/airframes on the way - mostly A-4s and F-14s. The display hangar is just amazing. Started with a naked (no fabric) N3N-3 and another mounted on a float. Walking round we discovered two more, and then heard a fifth is under restoration ( of the 995 built there's over 100 on the US register, but only around 20 airworthy left). I subsequently discovered Yanks Air Museum has six (N44713 c/n 2704, N44738 c/n 1775, N44742 c/n 2783, N44757 c/n 2621, N44837 c/n 4484, and N4502A c/n 1790). There was just too much for me to take in. A real Jenny, and beside it a 1929 Cessna and a 1928 Lincoln. Some of the types were so rare - like a Curtis Owl, and a P-51A (actually an F-6 reconnaissance model) or the XP-47M prototype. They have a photo-reconnaissance P-38L with the original windowed nose - so many of these were converted back to a standard fighter configuration. But I even found the Vultee B-13 trainer (another type I hadn't seen) of interest.

We wandered up and down, and I ran a bunch of frames (as you can see) . Robert was busy videoing details on the rear of the P-40 Kittyhawk I (AK827, N40245) )for some boxtop art he's been commissioned to do. Again we spent time chatting to the very friendly staff.

Eventually we had to break away. Outside we took a wander through the yard on either side of the restoration hangar. Lots to see and take our attention - like the A-6E Intruder hulks (no wings) and the F-14A Tomcats. OneTomcat looked odd with no engines - rather see through. Planes are like people, you shouldn't be able to see their insides. Also of interest was a derelict looking F-4 Phantom, and an A-4 Skyhawk (not the one pictured below) which sat rather low - presumably no hydraulic fluid in the undercarriage cylinders. There was even a submarine rescue vehicle in view on a trailer behind the yard.

© 2002 Phillip Treweek, all rights reserved