SOCAL Must See Venues?

[R7000]

Gonna be in Bakersfield for a few days. Can anyone chime in with the must-see warbird sites in the Bako/SOCAL area within a few hrs drive? Thanks

[Jesse C.]

At least a two hour drive, but most worth it. And that would be Planes of Fame in Chino, south of Bakersfield!

http://planesoffame.org/

[Chris Brame]

The B-17 along Highway 99 in Tulare - updated photos would be good.

[Matt Gunsch]

Planes of Fame and Yanks at Chino,
Palm springs air museum in Palm Springs

[Spectre_I]

About 3 hours north is Castle Air Museum..

[sandiego89]

Second a few of these nominations, but depending on how much time you have and what you like one may have more sway.

Planes of fame Chino is a must for anyone, especially if you like pre-war, WWII props/jets and into the cold war. Some one of a kind aircraft in a living breating setting. WWII fighters is main draw. Your could rush it in 2 hours, but spend half a day easily depending on your enthusiasm and if they plan to start soemthing up. You will not be disapointed.

Yanks is at Chino as well. 1.5 hours on site.

Castle is great if you love cold war props/jets. B-29, B-36, Vulcan, about every USAF jet and bomber you can imagine. 2 hours on site.

Airpark at Palmdale- a few outdoor aircraft.

The airport at Mojave is neat by itself. Big boneyard, but cant get too close to it.

[k5083]

Commemorative AF SoCal wing at Camarillo has some nice planes and is north of LA, so quite close to you.

August

[Dan Newcomb]

The SoCal Wing is a two hour drive. B29 FiFi will visit March 2nd thru 8th . We have the following.
P51D Mustang
F8F-2 Bearcat
F6F-5 Hellcat
A6M3 Zero
Mark XIV Spitfire
PT-19
SNJ-4
SNJ-5
F24R Fairchild
PBJ Mitchell
C46F Commando



http://www.cafsocal.com/

[mrhenniger]

I created the Locator to answer questions just like this. Here is a good starting point...
Aerial Visuals Locator Search - Around Bakersfield, CA

Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

[stryper]

Minter Field is about 15min north of Bakersfield. Not much to see, but Strega is based there. Estrella Warbirds Museum is about 1.5hrs west of Bakersfield. Preston's Pride (B-17), along with and F-4, is right off Hwy 99, an hour north of Bakes. Plus the others that have already been mentioned.

[jdvoss]

About a three hour drive is the Palm Springs Air Museum. Plenty of A/C and nearly all WWII types are airworthy ( F6F, FM-2, P-63, P-47, FG-1D, P-63, F7F, SBD, JD-1, B-25, B-17, TBM, PBY, C-47, Spitfire, PV-2 + nice F-105!, F-104, etc). Actually PSAM is only about an hour east of Chino on Hwy 10. I was there about a month a ago. Great!

www.fuselagecodes.com

[HPDCapt]

I would suggest Flying Leathernecks Museum at MCAS Mirimar. I was there is 2007. Well maintained and very friendly people. The head honcho turned out to be a retired general from WV. I would go back.

[maxum96]

It's a bit of a drive from Bakersfield, but I can't believe no one has mentioned it yet, the San Diego Air and Space Museum in San Diego. Their annex at Gillespie Field in El Cajon is great too!

http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/

Last edited by maxum96 on Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[sandiego89]

Yes San Diego and Miramar are both great, but perhaps not as well I alligned with the original request "for a few hours" drive from bakersfield. Going to Palm springs or San Diego would be another @90 minutes drive time (each way) past chino. If time constrained, driving past chino to get to one of these may not make sense, unless there was something of particular attraction that you wanted to see there.

March AFB is another interesting stop.

[tcraftdc65]

I live in Bakersfield and keep both of my L-birds at nearby Minter Field. If you want to spend a few hours, there are multiple L-5's L-2, L-3, being restored / flying, various TG-3 gliders, the Minter Airfield WWII museum, and the Strega P-51. It is a very interesting quiet airport with lots of WWII history. Be glad to meet with you and explore.

All the other venues mentioned are well worth attending if you had much more time.

Charles