AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014 - 46

PILOT BRIEFING

SAN MARCOS

INDIANAPOLIS

PLYMOUTH

SPOKANE

CHINO

FREDERICK

ST. SIMONS ISLAND

2014 AOPA FLY-INS

Fun in the Southern California sun

INDIANAPOLIS REGIONAL
AIRPORT
(MQJ)-MAY 31, 2014

Chino hosts next AOPA event
BY MIKE COLLINS
THE FUN HEADS west to Southern California as

AOPA makes final preparations for the Chino
Fly-In on Saturday, September 20. Chino Airport
(CNO), about 40 nautical miles east of Los Angles,
is the place to meet your fellow pilots and AOPA
members, learn during educational seminars, and
check out aircraft and product displays. Bring
your appetite, too-breakfast will be served, and
lunch is free to AOPA members (please RSVP).
Chino's airport has a rich heritage. It was built
in the early 1940s as a training base for Army Air
Corps pilots, explained Robert Cayce, Chino
Airport operations manager. Several of the base's
original buildings not only still stand, but remain
in use. "They were only intended to last six years,"
Cayce said. "Now we're some 70 years later." The
airport was transferred to San Bernardino County
in the 1960s. "It was originally named Cal-Aero
Field. It has steadily grown over the years."
The airport's military aviation tradition continues today. Chino is home to a wide variety of
warbirds, many of which are airworthy and fly
regularly. Do not miss Chino's two world-class
aviation museums, Planes of Fame Air Museum
and Yanks Air Museum. The museums have divergent collections and different objectives, so seeing
one is not like seeing the other. Half a day is not
long enough to explore both.
46 | AOPA PILOT September 2014

SAN MARCOS
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT
(HYI)-APRIL 26, 2014

Less accessible, smaller, and every bit as
interesting is Aero Trader, a private warbird
maintenance and restoration business. While the
company has restored an incredibly diverse range
of warbirds, it specializes in the North American
B-25 and P-51. In fact, the company owns the
B-25 type certificate and has all the engineering
drawings for the World War II medium bomber,
allowing its craftsmen to make brand-new parts
for the model.
In the 1980s Lockheed Martin built facilities
on the field for a C-130 modification program;
today the complex is home to Encore Jet Center,
one of the field's FBOs, and used for aircraft storage. Don't be surprised to see sprinklers, tractors,
and good-looking grass on the field; a portion of
the airport property is used as a sod farm.
Admission is free. Members can assure a free
lunch by completing the RSVP form online (www.
aopa.org/fly-ins), and volunteers are appreciated.

PLYMOUTH
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT
(PYM)-JULY 12, 2014
FELTS FIELD,
SPOKANE
(SFF)-AUGUST 16, 2014
CHINO AIRPORT
(CNO)-SEPTEMBER 20, 2014
FREDERICK MUNICIPAL AIRPORT
(FDK)-OCTOBER 4, 2014
MALCOLM MCKINNON AIRPORT,
ST. SIMONS ISLAND
(SSI)-NOVEMBER 8, 2014

NAVY FIGHTER JETS at Yanks

WWW.AOPA.ORG/FLY-INS

AOPA Fly-In takes place
September 20 at Chino
Airport (CNO).

Air Museum (top) and a P-47
and P-40 at Planes of Fame
(above) are among the many
warbirds displayed at Chino's
two aviation museums.

http://www.aopa.org/fly-ins http://www.aopa.org/fly-ins http://www.aopa.org/fly-ins http://WWW.AOPA.ORG/FLY-INS

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014