Last week  5 of the 7 still flying P-38s flew from Chino to the Sacramento Capital airshow at Mather for the weekend show.   John Maloney flew chase in a P-51!

The fighters joined up over Lake Mathews for a photo shoot and then climbed up and headed north to Mather.  Along the way Hinton decided they would buzz Shafter where his son was preparing “Stega” for the Reno Races.  The WWII  fighters went screaming by the hangar all in a row at about 300 MPH!   The Air Museums P-38  23 Skidoo cracked a head so they followed her to descent at FAT and then pressed on.   At one point in the flight Maloney came from behind in the Mustang and dove down the right of the formation and pulled up into a giant exaggerated barrel roll around the rather loose goose formation so the camera man could snap a photo thru the canopy of the Mustang as he was inverted over the P-38 flight.  Sounds like fun!

Other P-38′s that made it to Mather included Ruff Stuff, Thoughts of Midnight, and Tangerine.

The famed “Tondelayo” of the 345th Bombardment Group known as the “Air Apaches” as it served in the 500th BS. The Tondelayo was one of three B-25Ds that sunk a 6,000-ton freighter in the South Pacific during World War II. Its story was unique in the fact that During the battle, the Tondelayo’s engine was shot out and for over an hour it combated 50 Japanese fighter planes as it headed down the New Britain coast. The other two accompanying B-25s were shot down during the battle. The plane’s turret gunner was given credit for shooting down five Japanese fighters and the crew earned the Distinguished Unit Citation and Silver Stars. Despite tremendous damage “Tondelayo” was returned to service after it was repaired… like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Tondelayo was named after the sexy actress Hedy Lamar’s character “Tondelayo” in the 1942 film White Cargo.

I recently visited the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino California. What a wonderful place to visit and stroll through dozens of old classic birds.  Where else can you find a perfectly restored Corsair and Mustang along side a B-29 fuselage waiting for some loving care?

The Air Museum was founded by Edward Maloney, who recognized the importance of preserving WWII aircraft at a time when most of these planes were being cut up into scrap metal. The Air Museum was the first permanent air museum west of the Rocky Mountains. It officially opened its doors to the public in January 1957, with an initial collection of six aircraft and a great deal of hope for the future.  Of the museum’s approximate 150 aircraft, 30 are flyable. On a typical Saturday, you may see two P-51 Mustangs fly by escorting a B-25 Mitchell bomber, or a Grumman F6F Hellcat with a Chance-Vought Corsair making a formation overhead approach to the airport.