Finally! Here are some photos from the Planes of Fame air museum out in Chino, California that I visited during my Walt Disney Studios trip. I visited two air museums out in Chino but I've been told there are more.
Above is a 1932 Gee Bee. These things were built for speed with a thick wide front. You can see a Gee Bee in flight in the 1991 ROCKETEER movie. While I don't think this plane was used in that movie, many of the vintage aircraft at this museum have been used in movies like PEARL HARBOR.
Above: A demo space capsule. This wasn't an actual one used during the Apollo missions but this was a mock up made in the 1960s for demonstration uses.
Above: A Shoestring. Nice colors but a small plane.
The museum also has a sizable amount of foreign aircraft. Above is a 1939 German Messerschmitt Ff109 E used during WWII. The pilot was shot down but survived and landed the plane onto a lake. All that damage seen above is from it sitting on the bottom of the lake for years. However, this plane is due for restoration.
Above: While the hanger said it contained a Lightning plane from WWII, it must have been out on tour because inside was a Japanese 1940 Reisen Zero. This was used in the movie PEARL HARBOR.
Above three photos: A 1944 Hamaki "Cigar". I guess, rather than trying to restore it, they made a nice jungle crash display out of it. Kind of cool.
Another Japanese aircraft, a 1944 Shusui Swinging Sword. A very unusual shape.
Above: A 1960 Soviet Mig.
In one or two of the hangers, there were display cases surrounding the inner walls that contained probably the ultimate collection of aircraft models. Above is a model for a Jaguar jet.
Above: A model for a P-51 Mustang.
Above: A model for a B-25J Mitchell bomber from WWII.
Above: And a model for the recently retired Space Shuttle fleet. These are my personal favorites. I barely remember the last of the Apollo missions to the moon in the 1970s but I clearly remember the first Space Shuttle launch in April 1981. I even had to buy a die cast toy of the shuttle from the gift shop which I conveniently rationalized as buying for art reference but the shuttle is just too cool.
Above two photos: A 1942 B17E, The Swamp Ghost. This plane has had a VERY interesting journey. Read the photo of the sign below to read the backstory. I might have to watch the movie PEARL HARBOR again which, as I remember, had great effects but a lousy story and terrible directing and editing. I really didn't care for the movie at all but wasn't there a bit at the end about America's response to Pearl Harbor and the first mission and a downed plane? I wonder if this plane is related to those missions?
And finally, below, the Piccadilly Lilly! Or, at least, that was its screen name in the 1960s TV show 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. It was used in other movies and TV shows and seems to have the name "Kismet" on it. It was retired from the military in 1958 and last flew in 1975. But it is being restored for flight.
And below is a model of what a B-17, The Flying Fortress, looks like. There would be a gunner in the tail and the nose, two on the sides, and then in turrets on the top and bottom. The crew would also have a pilot and co-pilot/navigator along with a crewman who would drop the bombs and another to photograph the drop. So that is a crew of about 10.
One of the volunteers at the museum named Wilber Richardson, was a ball turrent gunner on a B17 named "Kismet" during WWII and based out of England. That is probably where the "Kismet" came from on the Piccadilly Lilly. My dad was the co-pilot of the Kismet.
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