Planes of Fame Air Show Lives On

While the future of the Planes of Fame Air Show is still unknown, this year’s event will take place as planned. Planes of Fame

After weeks of turmoil in Chino, California, and only days before the scheduled date, the Planes of Fame Air Museum [planesoffame.org] announced that its annual air show will take place May 5-6 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chino Airport (KCNO). And with the celebration of the museum’s 60th anniversary, this show promises to be extra special.

A long list of exceptional show performances is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, including aerobatic flights by Steve Hinton in the F-4U Corsair, Rob Harrison the “Tumbling Bear” in the Zlin 50, Dennis Sanders in the Sea Fury, Stew Dawson in the F7F Tigercat, Kent Pietsch in the Jelly Belly Interstate Cadet, and Philipp Steinbach in the Game Composites GB1 GameBird.

More than 50 warbirds are scheduled to take flight as part of the show, including the P-51 Mustang, N9MB Flying Wing, P-38 Lightning, Japanese Zero, F8F Bearcat and F-35 Lightning II; and many additional historic aircraft will be on display on the show grounds.

A lawsuit filed by two business tenants at Chino Airport is threatening the future of the Planes of Fame Air Show. Planes of Fame

In addition to all of the airplanes at the show, there will be other military vehicles on display along with vendors and a Kids Zone. Panel discussions with war veterans will also take place as part of the event.

The show had been threatened by a lawsuit brought on by other airport tenants, specifically Yanks Air Museum and Flying Tigers Aviation, who felt that the show interfered with their business operations. While the lawsuit is still pending, this year’s show will go on.

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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