Flightpath AugustSeptemberOctober 2017

74 |FLIGHTPATH

Planes of Fame

O

vercomingthethreatofalegalin-

junction by several disgruntled air-

port tenants and the prospect of ad-

verse weather, the staff and

volunteersofthePlanesofFameAirMuse-

um managed to produce another action-

packedairshowatSouthernCalifornia’s

ChinoAirportovertheweekendof6-7May

2017. Featuring approximately fifty war-
      birds, the event included a salute to the mu-
      seum’s late founder Edward T. Maloney, dy-
      n a m ic f l y by s, W.W. I I a nd Kor e a n Wa r a i r
      combat re-enactments and high-perfor-
      mance flight demonstrations.
      TheactionbeganwiththetributetoEd
      Maloney featuring the museum’s Northrop N-
      9MBFlyingWing,BoeingP-26APeashooter,
      thetwo-seatSeverskyAT-12AGuardsman,
      MitsubishiA6M5‘Zero’,VoughtF4U-1ACor-
      sair,LockheedP-38JLightningandNorth
      American P-51A Mustang. Fighter and bomb-
      er flybys included a Yak-3, Spitfire Mk.XIV,
      andPilatusP-2,andwerefollowedbyKent
      Pietsch’scomedyroutineinhis‘JellyBelly’
      Interstate Cadet before a brief intermission.

Theafternoon’sactivitybeganwitha

Korean War air combat scenario followed

by Stewart Dawson who showed off the

high-performance capabilities of the Lewis

Air Legends Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat.

PhilippSteinbachthenperformedavery

dynamicaerobaticdisplaywithhisunique

Gamebird GB1 before another warbird

aerobatic routine was performed by Den-

nisSandersinhisHawkerSeaFuryT

Mk.20. A Corsair flight featuring FG-1D,

F4U-1A, F4U-4 and F4U-7 variants then

took to the sky, and was followed by Navy

warbirdflybys(primarilyUSNfighters,

dive bombers and a torpedo bomber, but

also including A6M ‘Zeros’ and a replica Ai-

chi D3A ‘Val’ dive bomber).

Bomber flybys featuring the Consolidated

PB4Y-2 Privateer and locally based North

American B-25J Mitchells preceded the

Heritage Flight, featuring the F-35A Light-

ning II together with P-51D Mustangs and

the P-38J Lightning, which brought the

showtoamovingconclusiononthe Sunday

afternoon.Frank B. Mormillo

Spectacular

The Lyon Air Museum Douglas C-47B ‘Willa

Dean’ managed to survive a long military

career without major modification. It now

represents an aircraft of the 97th TCS, 440th

TCG, and is seen here over Lake Matthews en

route to the show.[Frank B. Mormillo]

ABOVE:Stewart Dawson performing an aerobatic

display at the 2017 Planes of Fame Air Show in the

Lewis Air Legends Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat.[FM]

THIS IMAGE:It is always refreshing to see

Comanche Warbirds’ 450 Squadron RAAF schemed

CurtissP-40M.Itisseenherewith John Hinton at

the controls.[Frank B. Mormillo]