Another early morning wake up began the day for my visit to the Chino Airshow. The weather was overcast and a bit hazy as I arrived at Chino Airport at 7:00 AM. The forecast looked promising though and it would not be disappointing. I met up with some of my fellow photographers in the parking lot before we even got out of the lot. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it best to arrive early. Before the official flying program began, I had an opportunity to see a Beech Staggerwing fly. Further flights by a Yak-52 and Nanchang CJ-6 were not far behind. Unfortunately, I was stading with a cheeseburger in one had and a coke in the other while 4 (yes FOUR) Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs flew together in formation. While that was a rare thing to see, there were plenty more opportunities to shoot some rare sites.
The official program began with an unusual formation flying past for the national anthem. The formation consisted of a P-26 Peashooter, P-35 Guardsman, P-51 Mustang and an F-86 Sabre. Quite a diversity in technology and speed. The poor Sabre pilot had a heck of a time flying that slow! It got even better and more interesting from there.
The table below lists the aircraft in alphabetical order by designation with the exception of the miscellaneous shots. Miscellaneous contains pictures of some airplanes, the hot ramp and the crowds. Enjoy the pictures!.
