 Preserved North American P-51A Mustang on display | |
  Location in California | |
| Established | 1972 [1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Chino Airport, Chino, California |
| Coordinates | 33°58′45.36″N117°38′47.81″W / 33.9792667°N 117.6466139°W |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Founder | Charles Nichols |
| Website | yanksair |
The Yanks Air Museum is an aviation museum dedicated to exhibiting, preserving and restoring American aircraft and artifacts in order to show the evolution of American aviation, located at Chino Airport in Chino, California.
A pair of F-14s at the museum were seized by the U.S. Navy in 2007 over concerns that the aircraft were not sufficiently demilitarized before being acquired. [2]
On 15 June 2024, a twin-engine Lockheed 12 Electra owned by the museum crashed on take-off during a Father's Day event. Two people, including the operator of the museum Frank Wright, were killed. According to the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident. [3] [4]
Yanks Air Museum houses one of the largest and most historically significant collections of American aircraft including the World War II fighters, dive and torpedo bombers. The aircraft collection begins with the 1903 Wright Flyer (only replica in collection) and continues through the 1980s era represented by the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet. The collection exceeds 190 aircraft, with some being the last survivors of their type. Yanks restores all aircraft to airworthy condition, and in the restoration of these rare aircraft only original factory specifications and materials are used.
The Chino facility encompasses 176,000-square-foot (16,400 m2) under roof and covers 10 acres (40,000 m2). In addition to the display hangars, public access is permitted, on a supervised basis, to the main restoration hangar and boneyard where historic aircraft are in various stages of restoration. Some of the aircraft will not be flown due to their rarity, but are restored to fully airworthy condition.
Work is now underway to create a second Yanks Air Museum facility in Greenfield, California. The facility will include 440 acres (1.8 km2), the campus will be centered on the new 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) museum facility. An active airport will support both museum flight operations and the private aviation needs of museum visitors and local aviators. Other features include an advanced-technology education center, a hotel and spa, winery, restaurants, service facilities, shops and a recreational vehicle park. [5]
The project was announced in March 1992 and an environmental impact statement was presented to the county planning commission in 1997. [6] [7] However, it was delayed until 2002 when the museum reached an agreement with the county. [8] The county then granted the museum a second extension on construction in 2008. [9] After further delays, the museum announced it was restarting work on the project in 2019. [10]
A total of 190 aircraft are displayed, covering the period from 1903 through 1984 including the Inter-War period that includes the Ryan Brougham, American Eagle A-101 and Swallow TP.
Rare types on display from World War II include the P-51A Mustang, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, P-47M Thunderbolt, North American B-25 Mitchell, Douglas SBD Dauntless, Curtiss SB2C Helldiver and Grumman F6F Hellcat. [11] Many of them were built in Southern California. [12]
Aircraft collection
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