On Saturday, June 6, the Planes of Fame Air Museum will transport visitors back to the Golden Age of Aviation with its latest Hangar Talk and Flying Demonstration, featuring three iconic aircraft that helped define the years between the world wars: the Beech D17S Staggerwing, Fairchild 24-C8F, and Boeing P-26A Peashooter. The event, held at the museum’s historic Chino Airport campus, will begin with museum doors opening at 9:00 a.m. Hangar Talk presentations are scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to noon, offering visitors an opportunity to learn about aviation history, influential personalities, and the remarkable aircraft that shaped the era.
Following the presentations, attendees will gather outside at 12:15 p.m. for a live flight demonstration featuring the elegant Beech D17S Staggerwing, the versatile Fairchild 24-C8F, and the pioneering Boeing P-26A Peashooter. The program will include an aircraft presentation, engine starts, taxi demonstrations, and flying displays, followed by a question-and-answer session with the pilots. The theme of this month’s event focuses on the Golden Age of Aviation, a period during the 1920s and 1930s when aircraft design evolved at an extraordinary pace. The Beech Staggerwing represented luxury and performance in business aviation, while the Fairchild 24 became one of America’s most popular civilian utility aircraft. Together, they embody the innovation and optimism that characterized aviation between the wars.
(Image credit: Planes of Fame)
Sharing the spotlight will be the museum’s celebrated Boeing P-26A Peashooter, one of the most historically significant fighters of the era. Introduced in the early 1930s, the P-26 was the first all-metal fighter aircraft produced in quantity for the U.S. Army Air Corps and marked the transition from the wire-braced biplanes of the 1920s to the sleek monoplanes that would dominate the skies during WWII. The aircraft appearing at Chino is especially noteworthy, as it is the world’s only flying original P-26 Peashooter. Preserved and operated by Planes of Fame, the aircraft remains one of the museum’s most treasured ambassadors for aviation history.
(Image credit: Photo by Britt Dietz)
In addition to the flying demonstrations, visitors can enjoy food trucks, museum exhibits, living-history reenactors, educational displays, and the museum’s gift shop. The museum will remain open until 4:00 p.m., with regular admission rates applying and museum members admitted free. A members-only raffle drawing for a flight in one of the museum’s aircraft will also be held during the day. For aviation enthusiasts, photographers, and families alike, the June 6 event promises a rare opportunity to experience some of the most elegant and influential aircraft of the Golden Age of Flight—not as static exhibits, but as living, flying machines. For more information about the event and the Planes of Fame Air Museum, visit www.planesoffame.org.
