Warbird Information Exchange

I was wondering if Yanks at Chino still fly's any of there aircraft. With all of the press that POF gets I never realized how much stuff was at Yanks I was poking around on there web page and was amazed at some of the stuff they have in there collection. The web page indicates that they keep them in flying condition but I haven't heard much about them actually flying any of them in a long time. Are they another victim of rising insurance and fuel costs??

Thanks

The question is, have they ever flown any of their in-house restorations? According to a guy I knew who worked there none of the fighters were actually airworthy as such. I remember they flew the P-51D in the summer of 1991 but that was an airworthy machine when bought!

T J

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Make my day, punk!

I'm don't know of Yanks, what is it, who owns it, and what do they have?

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Ah, Bill,

Charles Nichols...lots of interesting, mostly USA, warbirds. Worth a visit & tour, to be sure. Closer to Flo's Cafe than POF is!

web site: http://www.yanksair.com/

They have been flying the Lockheed 10 somewhat regularly and it was a ground-up Yanks restoration. It was even featured on a History Channel special on Amelia Earhart. They were also flying the Staggerwing a bit.

If/when the "other Yanks Museum" is finished in Greenfield there was discussion of actually licensing and flying some of the aircraft up there.

I think the bottom line is that Yanks is not really a flying museum like Planes of Fame, so they don't see the need to fly everything just to say they did and they don't really do airshows. Look at Kermit Weeks, he flies a couple recent restorations and lets everything else sit. The only reason he flies them is because flying is as much or more of a passion than collecting. I think that Mr. Nichols would rather spend the money on acquiring and restoring (which they have been doing a lot of) than flying. They've recently acquired a Connie, a Privateer, a Catalina, and an Albatross all in about a year, only one of which just arrived at Chino. Their maintenance staff is stretched very thin!

Is that viewed as an advantage or a handicap?

based on the last time I was there, a handicap.

The last time I was at Chino I can't even remember a Lockheed. I seem to remember the P-39 being about ready at the time.

I like the if/when questioning. I have heard about the Greenfield thing almost since the first time I visited Chino. It will however cost an arm and a leg to get the fighters airworthy for that flight up North. Will Nichols be interested in springing that much $$$$ just for one flight? I remember the late Stan Hoeffler being pretty adament about not flying the planes, and he claimed Nichols were on the same page!

I agree with this. I don't even think Nichols has ever claimed it to be a flying museum? Of course I'd like to see the planes fly, as long as I don't have to foot the entire bill...

T J

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Make my day, punk!

I suppose it is a moot point until Greenfield is ready to be populated.

Greenfield has taken such a long time because I think there may be public money or incentives of some sort to open up the area to tourism.

I believe that's actually a Lockheed 12 "Electra Jr." (C/N 1257)

I toured Yanks last summer. Their collection is quite impressive. They do claim that all of their aircraft are flyable, but I was told by the staff that none were currently being flown. I was disappointed that I couldn't get out onto the ramp at Yanks to see and photograph their "big iron" (bombers, transports, amphibs), and they don't let anyone into the compound where they have their fighter jets lined up. You can only photograph the jets from outside the fence, and you can't photograph the big stuff at all. Perhaps that will change when they get their new hangar built. Other than those nit-picks, I thoroughly enjoyed Yanks.

Note to JPeters: They have complete ball turrets from a B-17 and a P2V on display!

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Matt G,

I can speak only for me and my friends, but we have had many great breakfasts at Flo's Cafe in Chino over the years and we are always well treated.

I know, it ain't exactly the MRE's you are used to, but...

AFAIK they have not even run up any of their WW2 fighters in many years; in most cases not since restoration. Their ground-up restorations are extraordinarily authentic, maybe more so than one might prefer for todays' ops.

Does anyone know Yanks' current hours of operation? I can't find it on their site and as I recall they were always a bit cagey about it. I am due for a visit the next time I am in the area.

And I will eat at Flo's again, it's the type of place that gives "greasy spoon" a good name.

August

Note to self, remember "flo's" for when I get back out to Chino. I love Greasy spoons!

I remember walking around outside the hanger when I was there, they had the C-46, C-47 and B-25 out there. Did they stop that? I did not push into the area where the F-14s and other Navy jets were. Wish I had because that display of 3 F-14 posted above might never happen.

Tim

Tim

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Then you will really love Flo's because it is a greasy spoon with decent greasy-spoon food, waitresses with attitude, walls covered with airplane pictures and memorabilia and the guy at the table next to you could as easily be a local dairy farmer or trucker or Steve Hinton. Except for airshow days, it is a mandatory part of my standard Chino visit.

August