The Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, held its annual air show on the weekend of May 5-6, 2012 with the theme: “1942-Turning The Tide.” Many consider this to be the premier warbird airshow in North America and the combination of great weather and a fantastic lineup made this year’s air show one to remember. The gates opened at 0800 (except for those who had signed up for the sunrise access at 0500), giving everyone ample opportunity to set up chairs along the extensive flightline and view the multitude of aircraft on static display. To airshow left on the hotramp were the Pacific fighters including three Japanese Zeros, ten Mustangs took pride of place lined up front and center, three B-25 Mitchells were parked to the right. Numerous aircraft were on static-only display, including three C-47s, and such rare aircraft as a meticulously restored highly-polished bare metal P-40C, a Japanese D4Y-1 Judy, and the P-59 Airacomet, all soon to return to the air. Impossible to miss was the EC-121 Warning Star Super Constellation from the neighboring Yanks Air Museum. This was the first year that Yanks Air Museum has participated in the air show, and I hope that their involvement continues to increase. Directly under the announcers stand, a group of VIP veterans had been assembled. Listening to them recall their courageous, and sometimes humorous, experiences was a fascinating and heartwarming experience.

The flying began promptly at 1100 with a five-ship missing man formation composed of a P-51 Mustang, SBD Dauntless, P-38 Lightning, F4U Corsair and B-25 Mitchell. The Silver Wings Wingwalking team of Hartley Folstad and Margaret Stivers then took to the skies in their silver 450 Stearman and “Margi” gracefully danced with her invisible partner. Then Rob Harrison upped the tempo as he took off in his bright yellow Zlin 50LX. The “Tumbling Bear” put on an impressive aerobatic performance. It was good to see him back in the skies and up to his old form.

Then it was time for the Pacific Theater Flight to begin. The skies were filled with the F3F Flying Barrel, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, SBD Dauntless, two F8F Bearcats, three A6M Zeke/Zeros (including the museum’s A6M-5 flying with the original Sakai engine), and four TBM Avengers. (Oddly missing from the flight was the F4F/FM-2, which shouldered most of the burden in the skies over the Pacific in 1942.) The aircraft made multiple passes, both in groups and singly, before turning to land. Clay Lacy finished out the morning’s flying with a spirited demonstration of the Learjet’s aerobatic capabilities.

A half-hour intermission provided attendees plenty of time to grab a bite to eat or something to drink at one of the numerous food booths or beer stands, as the lines never backed up. Prices were reasonable and the selection was varied. Free water from watercoolers was also available. There were plenty of portable toilets distributed over the grounds, with no lines whatsoever. Hand wash stations with soap and water never ran out of water or paper towels, as they were serviced during the day. Parents wishing to take a break from the action with their children had access to a large kids area, complete with bouncy rooms and other distractions.

The Korean Air War flight featured the F-86 and MiG-15 engaged in a mock dogfight and was rounded out by the Skyraider, Bearcat, Fairey Firefly and an AT-6 Texan in the FAC role. Then, for his first airshow appearance of 2012, and for the first time ever at Chino, Sean D. Tucker put on a twelve minute extravaganza of aerial artistry and raw power as he flew the bright red Oracle Challenger III biplane through a variety of aerobatic maneuvers which have to be seen to be believed.

The European Theater Flight featured the P-38J Lightning, P-47G Thunderbolt, P-63 Kingcobra, two Spitfires, a Yak-3, and a new-build FW-190 along with a large number of P-51D Mustangs. The aircraft banked hard as they flew tight circuits, providing excellent opportunities for photographing the topsides, and flew by in ever-changing order and pairings. First-time visitors oftentimes succumb to sensory overload, complaining of “too many planes!”

Next, combining warbirds with aerobatics, The Horsemen put on a very impressive demonstration of precision formation flying, with Steve Hinton flying lead in the P-38 Lightning and Dan Friedkin and Ed Shipley flying on his wings in two P-51 Mustangs.

A QF-4 Phantom II from Holloman AFB made two high speed passes, vapor forming above its wings and riveting the attention of the crowd once again skywards. A dirty pass followed by a full afterburner climb to altitude brought the Phantom into formation with two waiting P-38 Lightnings and a P-51D Mustang. It was strange to see a Heritage Flight without a grey USAF fighter, but the three passes by the four veterans and the final break after the final overhead flight were an impressive end to a fantastic air show.

Some of the performers in the air were:

• Sean D. Tucker, Oracle Challenger III Aerobatics
• Silver Wings Wingwalkers
• Rob Harrison “The Tumbling Bear”, Zlin 50 Aerobatics
• Clay Lacy, Learjet Aerobatics
• The Horsemen, flying a P-38 and two P-51s, Aerobatics
• The Heritage Flight: QF-4, two P-38s, P-51

Notable flying warbirds:

• A6M Zeke/Zero (3)
• AD-6 Skyraider
• B-25J Mitchell (3)
• F-86F Sabre
• FW-190
• F3F Flying Barrel
• F4U Corsair
• F6F Hellcat
• F7F Tigercat
• F8F Bearcat (2)
• Fairey Firefly
• MiG-15 Fagot
• N9M Flying Wing
• P-38 Lightning (2)
• P-51 Mustang (10)
• P-47G Thunderbolt
• P-40N Warhawk
• SBD-5 Dauntless
• Sea Fury (2)
• Spitfire MkV replica
• Spitfire MkXIX
• TBM-3E Avenger (4)
• Yak-3

Other notable aircraft on static display:

• C-47 Skytrain (3)
• D4Y-1 Judy
• EC-121 Warning Star Super Constellation
• H-21 Flying Banana
• P-59 Airacomet

Current military aircraft in attendance:

• F/A-18F CAG from VFA-41
• C-17 Globemaster III
• QF-4E Phantom II

Rating: 10 out of 10.