(Download a higher resolution picture by clicking on any
picture below. Pictures on the right side of the page show the
same airplanes at earlier appearances.)
The Planes of Fame Air Museum at Chino, California hosted a flying display of numerous warbirds in early October. I shot these pictures on Saturday, October 6.
Founded over 43 years ago, The Air Museum "Planes of Fame," a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is dedicated to preserving aviation history for the benefit of future generations. Currently, The Air Museum houses over 150 aircraft at its two locations, the main facility at chino Airport in California and a satellite museum near the Grand Canyon at Valle Airport in Arizona. The Air Museum displays aircraft spanning the history of manned flight, from a replica of the Chanute Hang Glider of 1896, through modern space flight, and includes numerous milestone achieving test and research flight vehicles.
North American P-51D Mustang noses. From front to rear they are
Ridge Runner NL151DM, Man O'War NL44727, Six Shooter N2580, and
N514DK.
Ridge Runner, NL151DM is registered to Martin Daniel of San Jose, California. It was built as Army Air Corps 44-72483, but the FAA lists it as 44-13250 and it carries tail number 472308. It spent some time in the service of the FA Salvadorena.
Elmer Ward's North American P-51D Mustang, Man-O'-War, NL44727 originally carried Army Air Force serial 44-72739. Elmer Ward has restored it to the appearance of his original WW-II mount 44-14292.
Six Shooter is owned by Charles Hall and registered N2580. It is a Cavalier Mk2 conversion. Its military serial was revised to 67-22580, and she carries 422850 on her tail.
N514DK is registered to DK Warbirds at Las Vegas. Its North American construction number is 124-48311. Its orginal Army Air Force serial number was 45-11558. It was registered as N6175C by Aerodynamics Inc. of Pontiac, Michigan in 1963. James Gorman of Mansfield, Ohio bought it in 1966 and then sold it to Herbert Rupp of Port Salerno, Florida. It crashed in Georgia in 1967 and was rebuilt using parts of 44-74829 and 44-73822. It was registered to John Dilly of Auburn, Indiana in 1969. John Rutherford of Fort Worth, Texas acquired it in 1978. It was sold to Courtesy Aircraft of Rockford, Illinois in 1982 and then to Joe Kasperoff at Montebello, California a year later. It crashed on take-off at Van Nuys on August 6, 1985.
North American P-51D Mustang, NL44727 Man O
War.
North American P-51D Mustang, NL44727 Man O' War
at Chino on September 2, 1978. 
Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, N30FG has been registered to Chino
Warbirds since 1991. Its Grumman construction number is A-3196.
Its Navy BuNo was 41930. It first appeared on the civil register
as N6096C in 1963. Its registration changed to N103V in 1965.
From 1972 to 1990 it was displayed at the Champlin Fighter Museum
at Falcon Field near Mesa, Airzona.
Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, N103V at the Champlin
Fighter Museum on December 31, 1981. 
Flying Dutchman, an Australian manufactured
CA-18 Mk. 21, is a license built version of the North American
P-51D Mustang. It is registered as N51AB. It was registered to
Inpatient Dental Service, Inc. last year. Its Commonwealth of
Australia construction number is 1425. It served in the Royal
Australian Air Force as A68-100. It was registered as VH-BOW in
1967 by Fawcett Aviation of Bankstown, New South Wales. It was
registered in the United States as N51AB in 1977 by James Ausland
of Seattle, Washington.
General Motors FM-2 Wildcat is a license built version of the
Grumman F4F. It has been registered as N29FG since July 1991. Air
Service Control Incorporated of West Bend, Wisconson registered
it as N90523 in the early fifties. They sold it to Frank
Tallman's museum at the Orange County Airport, California in
1960. Wade Porter of Columbus, Indiana bought it in 1963 and sold
it to the Yankee Air Club of Sunderland, Massachusetts in 1966.
It joined the Damned Yankee Air Force at Turner Falls,
Massachusetts later that year. William Whitesell of Medford, New
Jersey acquired it in 1969 and sold it to Doug Champlin on Enid,
Oklahoma in 1971. He moved it to the Champlin Fighter Museum at
Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona in 1978. Tom Friedkin of Cinema Air
in Houston, Texas bought it from Champlin in December 1990 and
registered it as N16TF. He moved it to Cinema Air of Carlsbad,
California and re-registered it as N29FG the next year. It is
powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine.
Formation of five Stearman PT-17s and N2Ss.
North American T-28A Trojan, NX99395 is named
Cement Mixer. Its North American construction number is 159-52.
It is registered to Ross Diehl of Reno, Nevada. It originally
carried Air Force serial number 49-1540, and it still carries
that number on its tail. It served in the FA Nicaragua as 217. It
was registered in the U.S. as N3708G in 1963 by Byron Susan of
Grand Prairie, Texas. It was registered as NX99395 by Dave
Tallichet in 1977.
North American T-28A Trojan, NX99395 at Chino on
October 18, 1987. 
North American T-28A Fennec, is registered
NX85228. Its North American construction number is 174-95. It was
assigned Air Force serial number 51-3557 and it carries that
number on its tail now. It was delivered to the Armee de l' Air
as Fennec No. 43. It flew for the Morroccan Air Force as CN-AEE.
Then it was transferred to the FA Honduras as HR229A, but it was
impounded in the U.S. It was registered in the U.S. as NX85228 in
1980. It was brought to Chino by Dave Tallichet and sold to
Robert Nightingale in 1988.
North American T-28A Fennec, NX85228 at Yuma
MCAS on November 12, 1989. 
Beechcraft C-45H Expediter, N2833G is registered to Ross Diehl at
Chino. It was built in 1951.
Vought F4U-1A Corsair, NX83782 is registered to the Planes of
Fame Museum at Chino, California. It is the oldest airworthy
Corsair. It flew for the Navy as Buno 17799 and still carries
that number on its tail. It was used as a movie prop by MGM
Studios. The Ontario Air Museum acquired it in 1970. It was
restored to airworthy condition in 1977.
Vought F4U-1 Corsair, NX83782 at Chino on May
20, 1984. 
Grumman F7F-3P Tigercat NX6178C is registered to Richard Bertea
of Corvallis, Oregon. It was built as Navy BuNo 80483. In the
sixties it flew as tanker #E43 for Sis-Q Flying Service of Santa
Rosa, California.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, NL85104.
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, NX47DF
and P-47G, N3395G.
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, is registered to Ted Melsheimer of Carson City, Nevada as N47DF. It was built as 45-49335, but it carries tail number 45-49385. In the early seventies it was owned by Vintage Aircraft International of Nyack, New York. It was reassembled by the Confederate Air Force in Harlingen, Texas in 1973 and flew as "Unadilla Killa" of the 354th Fighter Group. In 1974 it was sold to Tom Friedkin of Palomar, California. In April 1975 it went to the Military Aircraft Restoration Group at Chino, which stored it at Barstow-Dagget airport in California for several years. It crashed on take-off on March 7, 1980 at Barstow. It was rebuilt in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After that it was based in Caspar Wyoming through 1986. It was loaned to the Liberal Air Museum in Liberal, Kansas until 1990. In October 1990 it made a forced landing near Flagstaff, Arizona while it was being ferried from Topeka, Kansas to Chino. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine.
The Planes of Fame Museum's Republic P-47G "razorback" Thunderbolt is registered N3395G. Its original serial was 42-25254. It was manufactured under license by Curtiss. It was purchased by the Grand Central Aircraft Company of Glendale, California in 1944. Cal Aero Technical Institute used the airframe as a mechanic training aid from 1950 to 1955. The Claremont Air Museum acquired it in October 1955. It was restored to flying condition at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The restoration began in 1958, and it first flew in 1963, when it received its current registration. It flew as Roscoe's Retreat for a while. It crashed during an airshow at Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station, California on October 23, 1971. The next time it flew was in 1976. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine.
Republic P-47G Thunderbolt, N3395G at Chino on
October 18, 1987. It was named Spirit of Atlantic City. 
Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" NX46770 is
registered to the Planes of Fame Museum of Chino. It was captured
by U. S. troops at Asilito Airfield, Saipan on June 18, 1944. It
was shipped to the U. S. for evaluation, arriving in San Diego,
California on July 16, 1944. It was flown for approximately 190
hours by Navy pilots at Patuxent River Naval Air Station,
Maryland. Ed Maloney acquired it for the Air Museum in Claremont
in 1950. It first flew after restoration on June 28, 1978. It is
powered by an original Sakai 21 radial engine.
Mistubishi A6M "Zero", NX46770 at
Chino on May 20, 1984. 
Aichi D3A Val replica, NX67629 is a modified Consolidated-Vultee
BT-15 that was sold to the civilian market in the 40's. It was
modified to represent a Japanese Val for the 1969 movie TORA TORA
TORA. The modification consisted of an extra 3 feet of fuselage
added between the rear cockpit and the tail, a large fiberglass
dorsal fin, raised sides of the fuselage and lower canopies. The
modifications also incorporated large fiberglass wheel pants. Its
Wright R-975 engine was replaced with a Pratt and Whitney R-1340.
After the movie was completed the Val was sold to the San Diego
Aerospace Museum. The Planes of Fame Museum acquired the Val back
in 1973. It was returned to airworthy condition for the Disney
Pearl Harbor film.
Visit Muche's Warbirds Val Replica page for more information.
General Motors FM-2 Wildcat, N29FG
ground looping. The pilot has kicked the rudder to the right
while applying left aileron in an attempt to keep the Wildcat
headed straight down the runway. Fortunately, the ground loop
happened right at a taxiway intersection, so the FM-2 did not
leave the pavement. The solid rubber rear tire had departed the aircraft during take-off. The
ground crew jacked up the tail and replaced the rear tire in time
for the mass formation fly over later in the day.
North American P-51D Mustangs, Six
Shooter N2580, Ridge Runner NL151DM, and N514DK.
North American P-51D Mustang, NL151DM Ridge
Runner at the Santa Maria Gathering of Mustangs on October 27,
1990. 
North American P-51D Mustang, N514DK was
registered as NL6175C and named The Healer when it appeared at
the Santa Maria Gathering of Mustangs on October 27, 1990. 
Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, NX670AM displays the large-area of its
perforated flaps as it lands. It is registered to the Air Museum
at Chino, California. It was built as Navy BuNo 28536 but
delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force as NZ5062. After the
war it was used as a wind machine by MGM Studios. Wings from
another SBD were recovered from Guadalcanal to return this
Dauntless to flying condition in 1987. It flew its first flight
after reconstruction on February 7, 1987. It is powered by a
Wright R-1820 radial engine.
Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, NX670AM was painted as
an Army Air Force A-24 in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary
of the Air Force when it appeared at the Golden Air Tattoo at
Nellis AFB on April 25, 1997. 
"Joltin' Josie", Lockheed P-38J Lightning, NX138AM is
registered to the Air Museum at Chino. It was built as Army Air
Corps 44-23314. It was acquired by the Hanfield School of
Aeronautics in Santa Maria, California in 1950. Jack Hardwicke of
El Monte, California registered it as N29Q in 1954. He sold it to
the Air Museum in Ontario, California in 1960 where it sat on
static display for seventeen years. It was restored to flying
condition, making its first flight on July 22, 1988. It then went
to the Planes of Fame East museum in Minnesota. Bob Pond
purchased it in October 1989 and registered it as N38BP.It
returned to the Air Museum at Chino in 1998. It is powered by a
pair of Allison V-1710 twelve-cylinder engines.
Joltin' Josie was registered as NX38BP when it
appeared at the Edwards AFB Open House on October 3, 1998. 
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, NX47DF.
Lockheed P-38J Lightning, NX138AM.
NX498SD is a
single seat conversion of a Yak-11 trainer. It has been
retrofitted with a Pratt and Whitney R-2000 radial engine. It is
registered to Samuel Davis of Corona, California.
Brian Sanders in Hawker Sea Fury FB Mk. 11, "Argonaut"
with smoke generators on the wing tips. Its original Bristol
Centaurus engine has been replaced with a Wright R-3350 radial
engine. It has carried registration N232J since 1971. It was
delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy as TG114 in May 1947. Brian
Baird of Toronto, Ontario registered it as CF-OYF in November
1962. J Fournof of Houma, Louisiana registered it as N54M in
1966. It crashed at Houma in 1967 and was stored in damaged
condition at Mesa, Arizona. It was rebuilt in Phoenix, Arizona
using parts of two other Furies. Frank Sanders of Chino converted
it to a two-seat configuration in 1971. Lloyd Hamilton of Santa
Rosa, California acquired it in 1980. It was owned by William
Sims of Charleston, Illinois from 1982 to 1987. Ronald Runyan of
Springdale, Ohio owned it from 1988 to 1992. He leased it to
Robert Lamplough of North Weald, United Kingdom.
Hawker Sea Fury FB Mk 11, N232 landing at the Mojave Air Races on June 21, 1975. The five bladed propeller indicates that it was still equipped with a Bristol Centaurus engine. It appears that a movie camera was mounted on the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer.
Page 2 of the Chino Planes of Fame Air
Museum, October 6, 2001 warbird special event.
More Chino Airshows.
Go to home page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.
Go to the Airshow Page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.
Send a message to Brian.
