Planes of Fame Museum, Chino CA; 04 Apr 08

During April I made my second visit to Planes of Fame at Chino, in the excellent company of Jeep Stoker, a colleague from work, who was also working on my trip. Chino is a fascinating place to visit, with a collection of airworthy aircraft and other exhibits to rival any in the world. On the day of our visit, we were luck that a private function was being set up in one of the hangers, which meant that some of the resident aircraft had been moved outside, allowing a great opportunity to photograph the aircraft in the California sun.

The storage area at PoF is full of gems too, including an RF-84 used in the FICON (FIghter CONveyer) project in the 1950s. It has a large hook on the noes enabling it to be suspended under a B-36 bomber. Although the project saw some success, it was never adopted operationally.

Thanks to the kind staff at Chino, we were also able to photograph some of the storage area which is not normally accessible to the public, and which contains some interesting aircraft, including an F-89 Scorpion.

Also, several of the privately owned aircaft resident in the museum's facility were being prepared for a flight to Texas the next day, to allow their owner some "quality time" with his prized possessions. These comprised 2 Spitfires and a Wildcat. One of the Spitfires was a very recent restoration, and had only made its first flight the previous week.

The other Spitfire flew several times during the day, including a photographic sortie with the other 2 aircraft, accompanied by the museums T-6 trainer.

The Wildcat was towed out with the help of Jaeger, a labrador belonging to one of the museum's staff. Have you ever seen a happier dog?!

A great day out at a superb museum, which ranks alongside Duxford as one of the premier places to see live warbirds in the world. With particular thanks to Kevin and all the staff at Planes of Fame for looking after us photographers so well, and getting us such great access.

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