On May 4th and Sunday May 5th of this year, Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California, held their third Wings, Tracks and Wheels event ever and I attended both days. I say that this was their third such event, but actually it was their first, as the first two events were titled Wheels Tracks and Wings. This renaming actually made since given that aviation is always the focus of this museum, and it did not adversely effect the event at all. In addition to the amazing aircraft flyovers, there are also military vehicles, historical reenactors, live presentations and this year, The Satin Dolls performed! The schedule of events for this year is below:
What follows are some of my favorite pictures from this event, starting with a Douglas SDB Dauntless (left) and TBM Avenger (right), both of which were bombers used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines during WWII. The Dauntless was a dive bomber and the Avenger launched torpedoes at enemy boats.
The museum's M4 Sherman fires a blank, which produced this spectacular flame and a loud bang. It was probably the crowd's favorite machine of the day.
An assortment of Jeeps were present, to include the Russian copy, which looks quite similar and functioned similarly well.
The Satin Dolls never disappoint. This was my second time seeing them and they were amazing! Watching them seems to transport you to 1944.
A trio of WWII U.S. Army Air Force (the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) flies over. The top airplane is a P-38 Lightning, the middle airplane is a P-51 Mustang, and the bottom airplane is a P-40 Warhawk.
Another picture of the M4 Sherman. The line to tour the turret was always full of people, both young and old.
Another picture of one of the many Jeeps that were at the event. There is a Douglas A-1 Skyraider in the hangar in the background. That plane was used by the Air Force, Navy and Marines during the Vietnam War, and carried a massive load of bombs underneath its wings.
There was also several models and pin-ups that showed up dressed in their period outfits. This is something that I'd like to see more of, provided that they are mostly traditional. The woman featured below is often at car shows in the area and I think she does the genre justice.
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