Planes of Fame Air Museum

Planes of Fame Air Museum at Chino Airport represents one of the earliest organized efforts in the United States to systematically preserve historic military aircraft. Founded in 1957 by Edward T. Maloney, the collection grew rapidly from a handful of airframes to dozens within just a few years, forcing multiple relocations before consolidating at Chino in the 1970s. That history of constant movement—Claremont to Ontario, then a split between Buena Park and Chino—mirrors the larger struggle to keep rare airframes from dispersal, scrapping, or neglect. The Chino site evolved into a working environment where aircraft are not only displayed, but maintained with an emphasis on authenticity and mechanical integrity, including notable restorations such as early work on the Northrop N-9M flying wing. For military aviation enthusiasts, the museum’s significance lies in that long, methodical commitment to preservation at an active airfield, where engineering detail, structural restoration, and historically accurate configuration are treated as central to interpreting twentieth-century air power rather than as background to entertainment.