3rd of January, 2026
We’ve got a great day planned for this Saturday, January 3, 2026 with the long-awaited return to the skies of our World War II combat-veteran the Vought F4U-1A “Corsair”!
Doors to the Museum open at 9:00am and Members are always admitted FREE!
It’s been almost four years since the “Corsair” last flew over the skies of Chino. After an extensive restoration and a completely new paint scheme that mimics her original factory-applied livery when she rolled off the Stratford, Connecticut assembly line in August, 1943.
At 12:15pm, directly in front of the crowd, she’ll fire up her 2,000 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R2800 radial engine. Then pilot Matt Nightingale will taxi her away and fly over the Museum for twenty minutes – a great chance to catch some outstanding photos of her beautiful new paint scheme.
We’ve got a full agenda for this month’s “Hangar Talk.” Here’s what’s in store:
The year was 1910 and aviation truly was in its infancy. A group of pilots and promoters joined forces to put on the very first air show in the United States and Los Angeles, with its wide open spaces and great weather was the perfect choice for a location. That was 115 years ago this month. In this presentation, the Museum’s Jim Llano will take us back in time and explain this amazing event and its significance to aviation history.
Several months back, General Arnold graced the “Hangar Talk” stage to tell us about the challenges he faced fighting the air war in Europe. Now the General is back to tell us about the even more unique challenges of the Pacific Air War of WWII. In this presentation, historian and Museum Guide David Michaels will portray General Arnold to make history come alive for all of us.
Another historical re-enactor, Max Harsha, will join us to give us an actual combat briefing that the famed Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF-323 would have heard prior to a mission over the skies of Okinawa in 1945. Flying the F4U “Corsair,” the brave men of “the Death Rattlers” as they were called, achieved amazing success against an onslaught of Japanese aircraft. Max will put us all in the Ready Room for this thrilling story.
This presentation will take a quick look at the unique story of the development of the Vought F4U “Corsair” and how modifications made during this development transformed it into a remarkable aircraft that served longer than any other fighter aircraft of the World War II era. From her dramatic successes in the tropics of the South and Central Pacific to her outstanding service in the frozen tundra of North Korea during the Korean War, the “Corsair” was a front-line savior for ground troops and a fear opponent to all she faced in combat.
The Museum’s Ted mount will relate an amazing but little-known story about German prisoners of the allies who were transferred to the United States during the war. While farm boys from America were out fighting the Axis powers, over 400,000 German POWS replaced them on the farms in almost every state to help feed the nation and her service members during the conflict.
Planes of Fame features some of the most famous and rarest aircraft in the world. As you walk our seven hangars, you can see these aircraft on display, watch as our teams perform routine maintenance, learn how to rivet, and get a history lesson from our Museum Guides.
We’ve got our Food Trucks on site featuring outstanding Mexican fare, coffee drinks, smoothies and a variety of frozen treats!
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