Planes of Fame

4-27-14

Two weekends ago, I drove down to the Greater LA area.   I had two “jobs” to do:   visit Norm Bayley’s grandson (we are working on a “Norm project”), and see Pat Fedele who was about to celebrate his 90th birthday (which fell on Easter Sunday.) Happy birthday, Pat.   One reason to visit Pat was to donate a set of Baked Beans books to the library in his housing community   –   which overlooks a golf course in Orange County.   While we were there, the librarian (a pianist), convinced Pat to join her in a couple of “Italian songs.”   I caught the “action” on my tape recorder, and I’ll try to get at least one song posted in the near future.

While I was down there, I decided to drive to Chino, CA to the Planes of Fame Museum.   One criticism of A Bird’s Eye View is that there are no pictures of Japanese planes that are frequently mentioned.   It’s a valid point   –   but getting pictures is easier said than done.   I had read that the museum in Chino has a Zero in their collection, so off I went.   As is often the case with Steve Kelly adventures, when I got there, the Zero was unavailable.   It had just been returned from an Air Show somewhere and was in pieces waiting to be reassembled.   I was assured that it would be ready to fly in their upcoming May 3 Air Show . . .

Here’s what their Mitsubishi A6M5 looks like:

Well, despite not actually seeing the plane I went to see, the museum is a pretty amazing place.   They do have some other WWll planes there   –   and I’ll post the pictures I took over the next several postings.