Planes of Fame
I love living in New England! But living in New England and being an aviation enthusiast has its drawbacks. Aviation museums are few and far between and the air show season is limited to twelve short weeks in the summer. If a New Englander wants to hear the high pitched whine of a Sabre jet, the scream of a Merlin in a Mustang or the roar of a Hellcat’s radial we are forced to view videos on YouTube or other internet sites. Many of these videos are of aircraft that belong to museums in Southern California, in particular the Planes of Fame and the Palm Springs Air Museum. A family vacation recently brought me to Southern California and I was able to visit these two museums along with the USS Midway and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. As it turned out I was only able to view one classic warbird rev up and fly, but I did get to visit a lot of airplanes that were up to this time only images on a computer screen.
My first view of the Palm Springs Air Museum was as we arrived at night. The five Modern US Navy aircraft that are all lit up along Gene Autry Trail are really quite impressive. The next morning my son and I went to the museum. I wanted pictures of the P-63A Kingcobra, the T-6G Texan, the P-47D Thunderbolt and as many others as I could photograph. While we were there we took advantage of the helicopter rides being offered. I felt like Trapper John as the pilot and I took off for a ride around the Palm Springs area in a Bell 47G (OH-13).
The Planes of Fame occupy several hangars at Chino Airport. (CNO). Besides the monthly aviation events they have an annual airshow. This year it was May 15 & 16. Among their flying collection are a Boeing P-26 Peashooter, Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero No. 61-120 (the only fully authentic Zero in the world) and a Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat.
The Planes of Fame conducts a monthly “Living History Flying Day”. April’s event was centered on the P-38 Lightning with 7 combat pilots sitting on a panel speaking and answering questions. After the panel was through the two P-38s in attendance, The Planes of Fame’s own P-38 44-23314 “23 SKIDOO” and the Allied Fighters P-38 44-26981 were pushed away from the crowd, started up and put on a flight demonstration.
The USS Midway served the nation for 47 years. Over this period it was transformed from a straight deck, 45,000-ton carrier serving piston engined aircraft to and angled deck, 74,000-ton ship that had the most modern jet aircraft in its complement. She was launched on March 20, 1945. She was underway on October 12, 1945 and performed her first arrested landing of an F4U-4 Corsair. On September 24, 1991, Midway trapped and launched her last aircraft, an F/A-18 Hornet.
Among the 25 refurbished aircraft that are available on board are a SBD Dauntless, a F4U Corsair and a TBF Avenger below decks. On the flight deck are a Phantom, Crusader, Vigilante and a Hornet.
During the Vietnamese evacuation during the spring of 1975 one South Vietnamese pilot flew a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog observation plane with his wife and five children out to Midway. He passed a note asking permission to land. The angle deck was cleared and the pilot made a good approach and landed with room to spare. The crew of Midway met him with cheers. This aircraft is hanging on the hangar deck as a tribute to this event.
The San Diego Air & Space is located in the historic Ford Building in Balboa Park. There are 60 aviation and space related exhibits. To fulfill their mission to Celebrate, Educate & Inspire they have everything from an Apollo 9 Command Module to a Lilenthal Glider reproduction. My favorite exhibit greets you as you walk up to the museum. On a plinth at the door is one of four Convair Sea Darts. Something about a super sonic floatplane strikes a note with me.
More aviation enthusiasts from New England should venture to Southern California. I only scratched the surface in my week there.
Story By Richard N. Filteau
Photos by Eric Van Gilder
