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Planes of Fame Chino airshow - C-47s PB4Y-2, F4U, P-38's


Bob Hudson
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Bob Hudson

I was overwhelmed Saturday (May 4) by the volume of old warbirds not only on display, but flying, at the Planes of Fame Museum airshow in Chino, east of Los Angeles. Sadly, about a week before the show, the museum's restored Northrup flying wing crashed, killing the pilot. You could hear the airshow announcer's voice break as he spoke about the accident.

 

Seemingly every P-51 Mustang in existance was there, along with two P-38's, three C-47's, a PB4Y-2 Privateer and B-25, an A-26 Invader, an F4U Corsair, a tough Piper Cub and much more (including lots and lots of people).

 

A highlight for me was seeing the WWII Airborne Demo Team Paratroopers jumping out of one of the C-47's. It's cool to see one C-47 on the ground, cooler still to see three of them flying overhead. Seeing jumpers taking that plunge was especually cool as we approach the 75th anniversary of D-Day Normandy.

 

I had three cameras on me, but didn't shoot much until we finally found a place along the flightline with a pretty much unblocked view.

 

Here's a very short video shot on my pocket-sized Sanyo Xacti HD camcorder:

 

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Bob Hudson

That looks like an incredible airshow!

 

 

 

I've been to the airshow at the Navy's - and now Marine's - Miramar Air Station in San Diego, and the old CAF show in nearby Gillespie Field which had what I thought was a nice selection of old war birds. But Chino was far and away the mosting interesting airshow for me. I had visited their museum several months ago and it is impressive, but when they pull every museum piece out of the hangers, gas it up and fly it, that's something else. The rigors of walking an airshow may preclude my return but this would a heck of a finale. I will go back to Chino Airport, which has Planes of Fame and Yanks Air Museum - the airport itself is sort of a museum commemorating the Cal Aero primary flight training school operated for the Army in WWII. http://www.militarymuseum.org/ChinoAirport.html

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Bob Hudson

We were hit by a big blast as the Privateer revved up - it blew off hats: what if it blew a piece of gear toward your head? Would your obit announce that you had been killed by a World War II patrol bomber?

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Woodymyster

I always enjoy the Boeing P-26 Peashooter flying at the show. I really enjoy the yellow and blue planes before the war.

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5thwingmarty

That was a Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer, not a B-24. Nice to see at least one was saved and kept flyable after they were banned from being used as fire fighters anymore.

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Nice video. They brought that PB4Y-2 nice and low, didn't they?

 

Seeing a Mig-15 in North Korean markings flying formation with US jets is a bit of an odd thing, isn't it?

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Bob Hudson

 

 

Seeing a Mig-15 in North Korean markings flying formation with US jets is a bit of an odd thing, isn't it?

 

Diversity.

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Bob Hudson

That was a Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer, not a B-24. Nice to see at least one was saved and kept flyable after they were banned from being used as fire fighters anymore.

 

My buddies keep reminding me of that -

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Bob Hudson

That was a Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer, not a B-24. Nice to see at least one was saved and kept flyable after they were banned from being used as fire fighters anymore.

 

Got it changed. thanks

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Bob Hudson

I drove about 180 miles round trip to see these waybirds. Ironically Palomar Airport 5 miles from me hosted the Collings Foundation and its five WWII aircraft: B-17, B-24, B-25 Mitchell, P-51 and P-40. So all weekend I've been able to work in my garage and hear the rumblings of multiple radial engines. I tried to video the ones that did short flights with passengers as they did lind of a very large circle over my area of town. I finally came up with a video camera rig I could grab quickly and run outside. The window is very short when they flyover. I got just a couple of shots before they stopped operations.

 

It's a semi-private airshow from my backyard:

 

 

Screen Shot 2019-05-05 at 7.35.19 PM.png

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