November 30 -- Planes of Fame in Chino

I drove through the pouring rain from Sylmar to Chino to the Planes of Fame Museum. There was a bad accident on the way, and the hour and a quarter drive ended up taking an extra hour.

Upon arrival at the museum, there was a Burmese-type downpour going on, and I had to sprint across the parking lot to the front door. Inside the hangars it was cold, the rain made a roar as it fell against the corrugated metal roof, and there were very few lights on. I began to think (as I went about finding the light switches and turning the overheads on) that this would be the first airplane museum that was a big drag.

Happily, I was wrong. This museum seems less focused on displaying aircraft, and more intent on flying them. Many of the planes were in flying order, and the museum didn’t put ropes or barriers around a lot of them. There were some very unusual aircraft on display – a number of which I have not seen and do not expect view at any of the upcoming museums:

Japanese J8M1 Shusui rocket plane. Of seven built, this one is the only remaining one. It was based on the German ME 163 Komet (see below).

ME 163 Komet mock-up.

Heinkel HE 162A. One of a few jets flown by the German Luftwaffe toward the end of WWII. The engine is mounted on its back. These were simply-constructed aircraft, tricky to fly, and often flown by young, inexperienced pilots. As a result, they crashed frequently and weren’t very effective. A sign next to this one indicated that it would return to operation soon.

One of my big faves (I made a plastic model of this one as a teenager), a1948 Gloster Meteor. This was the only allied jet aircraft to see service during WWII.

The only Vought F4U Corsair to have seen combat that is still flying in the United States. This one’s wings are folded, just as they would have been most of the time on an aircraft carrier.

A Bell Airacobra in so-so condition. Certainly not flyable. These were unusual because the engine was behind the pilot; the driveshaft for the prop went between the pilot’s legs. The U.S. gave lots of these planes to the Soviets, who used them with great effectiveness on the Eastern Front.

The pre-war Boeing P-26A “Peashooter.” One of only two left in the world, and in flying condition!

Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden “Jack.”

Another Zero! The last flying-condition one I saw was in Fargo.

The museum had a junkyard of planes that had some curios in it, too:

Part of a B-29 Superfortress.

Bell X-2 rocket plane.