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Despite the recent winter storms and accompanying travel difficulties, the Presentation on the Grumman Bearcat conducted at the CAFSoCal hangar was well attended and much appreciated.

Unfortunately, maintenance and inclement weather prohibited the scheduled flight demonstration.

The following playlist shows the entire event in three parts: Development of the Bearcat, Q&A with CAFSoCal pilots about the aircraft and the history of the particular airframe in operation at CAFSoCal wing.

Join us on March 15th for a similar presentation on the unit’s P51D Mustang.

The New covering is being applied to the fuselage of the PT19.

Looking like a cathedral, this view shows the inside of the PT19 after about 30 work hours on the Poly Fiber fabric so far. Next step is heat shrinking, dope, paint and fly! We can’t wait to have this gentle flier back in the air! Thanks for all the hard work by our volunteers!

The Smithsonian Channel will air the following two shows this month featuring two of the SoCal Wing’s aircraft.
The Weapon Hunter: “Big Bad B-25” premieres Sunday, February 19 at 9PM.
This  show was filmed last summer, featuring our friend and biggest fan (or is it the other way around?) WWII veteran Vern Horten, and our B25 Mitchell PBJ. Several wing members are also in the production.

Also on Sunday February 26 at 9PM, Weapon Hunter: “Pearl Harbor Payback” will be aired with scenes of our Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero flown by our Operations Officer Jason Somes.

The camera/chase plane used for the show was the SNJ “290”, piloted  by wing member Rob Hertberg.

Last week the Curtiss C46 Commando, the wing’s first and much loved aircraft was rolled into the hangar for the first time in many years.
It was a breath taking sight to see the huge aircraft fit the hangar so well.
Although the move was a temporary provision for a special project, many at the wing were awed enough that there are discussions about making the move permanent.

Once again, scale model enthusiast from the area will gather at the CAF SoCal Museum Hangar for Modelfest 2017.

Sunday, February  26th

Show Hours 8:30 am – 3:00 pm

ADMISSION IS $10.00 PER PERSON
Enter your models in the Fairest Model Contest anywhere. First entry is $4.00, each additional entry is only $2.00. There are 43 different categories to enter including 8 junior categories. Bring your models and show them off or just come and see the neat and interesting models that have been entered.

See the Ventura Hobbies website for details.

We’re pleased to announce the next installment of our Experience Living History presentation series, this time on the Grumman F8F Bearcat.

Saturday, February 18th, 11AM-2PM

CAF SoCal Hangars at the Camarillo Airport.

Focussed on the development and production of the legendary US Navy fighter, the presentation will also include a “walk around” question and answer session followed by a flight demonstration (weather and maintenance permitting)

What a way to start a new year at the museum, with a double rainbow!

Be sure to check our website calendar for up-coming presentations and events

What a great way to start a new year!

The December 2016 edition of Commemorative Air Force’s monthly publication, The Dispatch, included a feature entitled “What’s Your CAF Story”.

CAF volunteers from all the wings responded with their personal reasons for choosing to serve with the CAF and some anecdotes  of their experiences during their tenure at the various locations.

The following excerpt from the feature is what our own Len Canter, a docent at CAFSoCal since September 2009 had to say about a very moving experience at the museum:

I am a docent at the commemorative Air Force museum in Camarillo, California. I enjoy working with the aircraft and even more, the interaction with the folks that come in every day to see these historic planes. Some aviators who flew these aircraft come in with their grandchildren to show them their history. Some whose relatives flew these aircraft and lived to tell their stories, and some who died, their decedents coming in to discover that history on their own. Talking about the aircraft to our visitors and explaining the history is only part of it. Listening, hearing their personal history very often is my reward.

I want to share with you a story. It’s just about a woman. A woman whose story touched my heart.

 

SHE WALKED INTO THE MUSEUM

 

She walked into the Aviation Museum. She was about my age, maybe a few years younger, with her son and a granddaughter. She was here to see a Hellcat, the type of aircraft her father had flown in the Pacific during World War II.

“Can I see it?” “Yes, you can. It’s just over here.” We moved toward the plane, her son and granddaughter busy looking over the items in the gift shop. “Can I touch it?” Kind of a strange request – but I moved the yellow barrier aside and said “yes.” She touched the folded wing of the bird and began to weep. I stood by and watched as she began to speak. ‘‘I was never able to meet and know my father. He was a pilot in WWII and was sent to the Pacific where he flew a Hellcat.

Very near the end of the War, he was involved in the battle at Okinawa, where he was shot down and killed.”

“Can I walk around it and touch it some more?” “Of course,” I said, not saying what was crystal clear to me. Your father paid so much more than the price to allow you the time to spend with this aircraft.

I shared with her how ironic that her father had been shot down and killed in the plane with the best war record in U.S. military history. He was shot down during one of the last battles of the War, possibly the only time since mid-1943 where the Japanese were able to put up an aircraft that could beat this aircraft.

“Can I sit in it?” “No,” I said, thinking of the insurance consequences, how high the wing was off the ground, her age and my lack of familiarity with the cockpit of this aircraft. I did not know how to open the canopy. “No,” I said again, “but let me think about it.”

We finished the tour and parted company. She thanked me for the tour and her experience with the Hellcat. She, her son and granddaughter, disappeared into the display area of the museum where our dedicated members had put together their tributes to our servicemen.

I found another tour to guide and as we passed by the maintenance hangar, I spotted a short ladder, thought about it for a second, and picked it up. I finished my four carrying the ladder with me. I spotted the woman with her son and granddaughter.

I approached her and asked her to come with me. I placed the ladder next to the wing of the Hellcat and invited her to use the ladder to climb up on the wing.

With some effort on both our parts, she was up on the wing. “Can I touch the canopy?” “Of course,” I said.

 

She cradled the closed Plexiglas canopy, looked down into the cockpit and again wept, as she reached out to connect with the father she had never known.

Thanks for sharing the story with us Len, and thanks for taking the time to send it in to CAF HQ – we are all very proud (and a little envious of your interaction with this visitor!)

We are thrilled to announce the selection of our dear friend David Price as one of the recent inductees into the Commemorative Air Force’s Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will take place at the 2017 Wing Staff Conference in Dallas, Texas.

David Price and his P51D Mustang “Cotton Mouth”

David Price joined the Commemorative Air Force in February of 1993 as a Life Member.
Price is a multi-talented pilot and friend of the CAF Southern California Wing. He is one of the founders of the prestigious Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California and Chairman of  American Airports Corporation. Price developed and chaired the Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport, is a graduate of USC and the UCLA School of Law, and served as an officer in the US. Navy, obtaining his wings as a jet fighter pilot in 1955. He enjoys flying World War ll aircraft, especially his P-51 Mustang.