Yanks Air Museum

I've been watching a lot of old TV shows of late instead of my usual diet of old movies on Turner Classic Movies. Part of it is just having some "Comfort" TV but also it is a love for history. Many of the shows on ME TV are as old as me. Some I've caught on reruns over the years but many I missed. And since I do prefer black and white, old 1960s shows like COMBAT! and 12 O'CLOCK HIGH appeal to tastes. Both of those shows were produced in the 1960s but tell stories from the 1940s with WWII.

I particularly have liked 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. Sure, it is full of inaccuracies (using a 50 star flag instead of a 48 star seems to be the biggest faux pas one can make) and they don't always get the stock WWII footage correct (aircraft with Air Force markings apparently came AFTER the war) but it is the storytelling that is appealing. At the end of each episode, they thank the use of an air museum field down in Ontario, California, where the show was filmed.

The program did use a B-17 bomber (The Flying Fortress) as the main aircraft. Sometimes, when I want to learn more about the history of a show, I'll poke around Wikipedia and the rest of the internet and do some research on the history of the show. In the case of 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, the main B-17, the "Piccadilly Lilly" as she was dubbed in the show, still existed at an airfield in SoCal. Since I rarely have time for stops to explore on my drives to Comic-Con and since the Wig Wam Motel was in the same region, I decided I could fit in a little exploring for it before driving back to the Bay Area.

And so I stopped at the YANKS AIR MUSEUM in Chino, California (near Ontario) and checked out the vintage aircraft on display.

Above is a 1916 Jenny, or at least what is left of one. The Jennys were the standard bi plane of WWI.

Above is a 1920 Pigeon Flying Boat. Made of wood, I don't know how practical this thing was.

Above and below is a 1939 Electra. Maybe the chrome is what is doing it but this is a beautiful bird. This is the same type that Amelia Earhart flew on her last voyage.

Above is a 1941 Owl. Used for surveying, it was also an easy target so they stopped making them.

Above and below: A 1941 Warhawk.

Above and below is a 1945 B25 Mitchell.

Above: A 1945 P51 Mustang. These birds could go quicker and farther (note the gas tanks below the wings) than previous fighter planes. They started to use one in the later episodes on 12 O'CLOCK HIGH due to production costs (B-17s involved having a larger crew or cast while the Mustang just needed one). And, if I remember correctly, they were the aircraft featured in the 1970s show BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP/BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON.

During WWII, many breakthroughs were made in tech to give one's side an advantage. By the end of the war, the Germanys had perfected the rocket. Above is a 1944 V-1 Buzz Bomb which they could launch at England from the continent rather than sending flyers with bombs.

Below is the Japanese response to the end of the war with a 1944 Ohka Kamikaze Bomber. These were essentially flying bombs for Kamikaze pilots to fly into ships. It could attach to the bottom of some of their larger aircraft. I think the wheels are added since they really didn't need landing wheels because the pilots were not expected to return or survive.

Some land transport was sprinkled through the museum like a jeep.

Above is a 1946 Bell 47D Helicopter. These are the same types used during the Korean War a few short years later and on the M*A*S*H TV show.

After the war, jets became the aircraft of choice by the military. Above is a 1958 Delta Dart. Apparently, one of these things landed its self after the pilot bailed out.

Above: Nose art.

Above: Extreme view of the front of a jet.

Above: An early version of a helicopter.

Above: Yanks has three hangers. One for old propeller aircraft, one for the jets (above), and then one with their current restoration aircraft being worked on.

Above: The more modern age as we enter the Space Age. From the "Lovell" tag on the suit, I can only assume this is Jim Lovell's NASA suit. But was this used during the Apollo 13 flight?

And above is a Soviet cosmonaut suit. I'm convinced, by the size of these things, that it was best to be short and light if one wanted a career in flight.

Above: This bird ain't gonna fly! A flight simulator.

There were plenty more aircraft at the Yanks Museum. From an artist's point of view, it was interesting to see the designs used. I also believe that art is not created in a vacuum and that history plays a part in influencing art.

But where is that B-17 I talked about? Where is the Piccadilly Lilly? Well, I asked the lady at the desk and her response was, "Oh, that is at the OTHER air museum down the street!!"

And so, next time...The Planes of Fame Air Museum!!