2019 Planes of Fame Airshow Commemorates the 75Th Anniversary of D-Day By: Frank B
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NEWS VOL. 43, NO. 1 Photo: Britt Dietz Photo Frank Mormillo A F-16 Viper and P-47 Thunderbolt break from the lead Beautiful weather and plenty of vendors Paratroopers Jump out of a C-47 “D-Day Doll” P-47 during the USAF Heritage Flight. added to the Airshow excitement. during a simulated D-Day Invasion 2019 PLANES OF FAME AIRSHOW COMMEMORATES THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY By: Frank B. Mormillo The 2019 Planes of Fame Air Show Opening Pilatus P-2, with the Pilatus painted to represent T-33 Shooting Star “Ace Maker” followed by Ceremonies began with welcoming remarks by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The C-53 Skytrooper Eric Tucker once again, this time performing a 4th District Supervisor Curt Hagman followed “D-Day Doll” from the Inland Empire Wing of “deadstick” aerobatic routine in the Cub. Dennis by the National Anthem sung by local favorite the Commemorative Air Force, an actual D-Day Sanders then flew an aerobatic display in the Tina Hargett and culminated in a missing man combat veteran, even dropped paratroopers on the stock Sanders Aeronautics Hawker Sea Fury T. flyover consisting of four P-47 Thunderbolts field during the re-enactment. Mk.20 that showed off the “Smokewinder” system and included a Memorial flyby of the world’s Tucker’s Air Patrol briefly took to the sky in marketed by his family’s company. only original P-26 Peashooter, Seversky AT-12A the J-3 Cub for more aerobatics, and a landing on Modern high performance jet thunder then Guardsman and P-51A Mustang in a tribute to top of a moving ambulance! After that, simulated dominated the sky over Chino as the USAF Viper David Vopat who tragically lost his life when the Korean War air combat flybys were conducted Demo Team’s Major John “Rain” Waters showed N9MB crashed while he was conducting a local with a MiG-15 and two Lockheed T-33 Shooting off the F-16C Fighting Falcon’s capabilities before flight on April 22, 2019. Stars (one T-33 was from Planes of Fame and the joining up with warbirds for USAF Heritage flight Rob Harrison performed his “Tumbling Bear” other belongs to the Palm Springs Air Museum), display routines. “Rain” flew together with the aerobatic display in his wife’s Zlin 142C before followed by Stewart Dawson’s high-performance Allied Fighters P-47D Thunderbolt “Dottie Mae” the Golden Age aircraft Fairchild 24, Ercoupe, aerobatic display in the Lewis Air legends and the Comanche Warbirds P-47G Thunderbolt Cessna 195, Yanks Air Museum C-40 and L-5, Grumman F7F-3P Tigercat “Here Kitty, Kitty.” “Snafu” during Friday’s rehearsal for the show, BT-13 and 2 Navions took to the sky over the Navy warbirds, including the Douglas SBD- with only “Dottie Mae” on Saturday, and with the Chino Airport for a series of formation and 5 Dauntless dive bomber and Grumman TBM-3 Allied Fighters’ P-38L Lightning “Honey Bunny” individual flyovers. Avenger torpedo bomber, as well as the Comanche and “Dottie Mae” on Sunday. Steve Hinton and The World War II Army Air Forces flying Warbirds Douglas AD-4N Skyraider and the very Kevin Eldridge flew the warbirds for the Heritage display consisted of P-51s, P-47s, P-40s, P-38s, impressive Convair PB4Y-2 Privateer, the Wildcat Flight routines. John Collver brought the show A-26 Invader, Aerotrader’s B-25 and a Spitfire and Hellcat from the Commemorative Air Force, to a conclusion on Saturday and Sunday with showing their paces. Eric Tucker, brought the Corsair, A6M5 Zero and Seafury then conducted aerobatic displays in his SNJ-5 Texan “War Dog.” morning’s flying activity to a conclusion with a a series of spirited flybys. The Unlimited Air With another airshow in the record books we Piper J-3 Cub comedy aerobatic display. Racing display featured the Sanders Aeronautics are thankful for all of the people that helped to During the 30-minute flying intermission Hawker Sea Fury “Dreadnought, Bill “Tiger” make the 2019 Planes of Fame Airshow a success. honored Veterans talked about their personal Destefani’s P-51 Mustang “Strega,” Michael To all of the Volunteers, Sponsors, Pilots, and experiences during the D-Day Invasion. The Brown’s P-51 Mustang “Goldfinger” and the P-51 Attendees; Without all of you we could not make show resumed with a D-Day simulation featuring Mustang “Voodoo,” the world’s fastest piston- this happen each year, and we Thank You. military re-enactors, a three-plane formation of engine aircraft. The Warhawk Air Museum’s The 2019 Planes of Fame Airshow was C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper transports, P-51C Mustang “Boise Bee” also took part in the Dedicated to the Memory of David Vopat. Blue L-4, P-51 Mustangs, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-38s air racing scenario on Saturday. Skies David. with opposition to the Allied invasion coming Aerobatic routines then dominated the action, from Planes of Fame Air Museum’s FW 190 and with Greg “Wired” Colyer flying his Lockheed Where Aviation History Lives!Takes Flight! www.planesoffame.org Page 2 Planes of Fame Air Museum 2019 PoF AIRSHOW HIGHLIGHTS A NAVION SOLDIERING ON by Frank B. Mormillo Bearing a family resemblance to the P-51 work to get the Navion back into flying condition. Mustang, the four-seat Navion was built by N91161 flew again at Chino on February 17, North American aviation to keep its post-World 2018. The Navion is now flying in the colors and War II production line running, and to make markings of a Korean War era U.S. Army L-17A, the most of an anticipated civil aviation boom. bearing nose art and the name “Li’l Bill” in honor NA-145 Navion N91161 (serial number NAV-4- of the late Bill Fisher. 216) was manufactured by North American Aviation Photo: Frank Mormillo on October 10, 1946 2019 F-16 Viper Demo Team Photo Frank Mormillo and owned and flown by a number of civilian operators before being donated to the Planes of Fame Air Museum at Chino, California in 1996. In 2003 Planes of Fame volunteers Bill Fisher and Jury Vanderwoude started the restoration and numerous other volunteers Photo: Britt Dietz eventually completed that One of four flight lines on the hot ramp. PoF Pilot Pete Blood flys the Navion over beautiful spring wildflowers PLANES OF FAME’S PILATUS AND FOCKE WULF By Frank B. Mormillo Photo: Britt Dietz The 75th anniversary of D-Day was commemorated with paratrooper drops and air A rare PB4Y Privateer makes an impressive pass. combat re-enactments during the 2019 Planes of Fame Air Show in Chino, California over the weekend of May 4-5. Aerial opposition to the Allied forces in the show was provided by a Pilatus P-2-06 and a Focke Wulf FW 190A-8/N from the Planes of Fame Air Museum collection. Originally manufactured for the Swiss Air Force as a pilot and weapons trainer, a total of 55 Pilatus P-2s were built after World War II, and 23 still exist to this day. One of 26 P-2-06s manufactured as weapons trainers, the Planes of Fame Air Photo: Britt Dietz Museum’s Pilatus (N52421M, serial number 62) Warhawk Air Museum’s P 40 takes off for the was finished in World War II Luftwaffe colors and Army Air Force demo. markings this year to represent a Messerschmitt Bf 109 for the air show, something the Pilatus Photo: Frank Mormillo has done often in the movies. Built in kit form by Flug Werke and completed for Rudy Frasca by Matt Nightingale’s California Aerofab restoration team, FW 190A8/N (N190RF, werke number 990010, though finished as FW 190A-9 werke number 980574 which was flown by Luftwaffe ace Oskar Bosch) in May 2010, the Fw 190 was purchased from Frasca by Planes of Fame in 2019. During the 2019 Planes of Fame Air Show, the Pilatus was flown by Simon Diver, while the Allied Fighter’s P-47 “Dottie Mae” does a victory Roll. Focke Wulf was piloted by John Maloney. Where Aviation History Takes Flight! www.planesoffame.org Page 3 Planes of Fame Air Museum PLANES OF FAME AIR MUSEUM OCTOBER 26, 2019 WINE & BEER TASTING SILENT AUCTION BENEFIT AWARD CEREMONY This annual event celebrates the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s incredible commitment to PRESERVE aviation history, INSPIRE interest in aviation, EDUCATE the public, and HONOR aviation pioneers and veterans. For over half a century his achievement was classified; nobody knew what he The Planes of Fame touches the lives of nearly 10,000 did that day over the skies of Korea. Retired Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams is schoolchildren each year. For many of these children, one of the Korean War’s forgotten heroes. the museum is their first introduction to the wonders of aviation. These learning experiences set the stage for a Captain Williams is the top-scoring Navy carrier-based pilot of the Korean life-long interest in history, science, and technology. War. On 18 November 1952, Royce engaged seven Soviet MiG-15s over the Sea of Japan. Even though the MIGs were far superior to William’s F9F-5 The Taste of Flight Gala is a fundraising event. All benefits Panther aircraft, Royce shot down four of the Soviet fighters. go to supporting the Planes of Fame Air Museum, its aircraft, and programs which include veteran appreciation, This was the only time that a US Pilot in a US aircraft engaged Soviet pilots youth education, and scholarships.