CAF Admin

We all wish we could fly these beautiful warbirds.

Failing that, we are happy to settle for hearing first-hand from those skilled enough to fly a vintage WWII fighter.

In this candid video, CAF Col. Steve McCartney graciously shares his first impressions of the Spitfire Mk. XIV after his second flight ever piloting the sleek aircraft. It helped that the questions were coming from Ms. Caroline Sheen of the Air & Space Magazine who was spending a full day of her Southern California vacation at the CAFSoCal museum and hangars.

The impromptu session ends with Caroline asking us “do YOU want to get your pilot’s license?”  Well, yes. Maybe. But we’ll leave the warbird flying to folks like Steve!

Our B-25/PBJ will be at the Palm Springs Air Museum for the Memorial Day Weekend.  

While it is there we will be selling rides in the world’s only flying PBJ.  

You can purchase and schedule your ride on the PBJ in advance using our Rides webpage and choosing the Memorial Day weekend dates and times from the drop down list.

CAF SoCal Presentation Series: Harnessing the Sky: Fredrick “Trap” Trapnell The U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer

From bi-planes to jets!

On Saturday, June 10th, local author Dana Trapnell Tibbitts, will share the nearly lost history of the man called the “godfather of modern naval aviation.”

Based on the award winning biography, Harnessing The Sky: Frederick “Trap” Trapnell, the U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer, recently published by the Naval Institute Press, this Living History presentation is open to the public.
Weather and maintenance permitting, the museum will fly it’s Zero killer, the F6F Hellcat, an airplane whose expedited development under Trapnell was critical to U.S. victory in World War II.

Tibbitts, who is Vice Admiral Trapnell’s granddaughter, will share the little known story of early flight test and the development of another formidable Navy fighter, the F4U Corsair. Trap became the first Navy pilot to fly a jet, and then guided Navy flight test through the monumental and treacherous transition to jets.

Other iconic, flyable aircraft will also be on display, like a real Japanese Zero. For the adventurous, rides for hire will be available in several different vintage military aircraft. A food vendor will also be on hand for those wishing a meal.
Mark your calendars to learn about the Navy’s test pilot legend, Frederick “Trap” Trapnell. Saturday June 10th, 11am at the Commemorative Air Force museum at the Camarillo Airport, 455 Aviation Drive, Camarillo, California. Experience living history.

During the PBJ tour to Dayton Ohio in April, the crew were given a presentation by Dr. Dan Desko of B-25history.org at the CAF Heart of America Win in Olathe, Kansas.

Dan’s very personal and informative presentation was on the North American Aviation production facility in Fairfax, Kansas.

The main take-home lesson for us was the revelation that all B-25/PBJ aircraft, including ours, were built at the Kansas facility.

The following link is to a video of that presentation:

After a seemingly interminable wait, the newly overhauled Merlin engine has been delivered to CAFSoCal and the maintenance crew wasted no time in starting the installation process.

We anticipate a test run of the engine in the next few day, followed by a test flight after which the Mustang will again be available for the remainder of the airshow season as well as the warbird rides program.

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The PBJ is back in the home hangars following an outstanding 13 day barnstorming tour culminating in participation in the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid Commemoration at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. 

The debut tour for the PBJ included stops in New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio, Arkansas and Texas, to eager crowds for aircraft tours and rides.
We are thrilled to report that the aircraft performed impeccably and the reception of the host organizations and enthusiasm of the public far surpassed any expectations.

Col. Cole accepting a PBJ Patch from the crew

Group photo of all participating B25 crewsThe following short video serves as the highlight of the main event at the NMUSAF in Dayton.

This playlist contains videos of the veterans we met during the tour:

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our supporters who followed us on this epic journey and offered their encouragement and praise to a tired crew on the various social media platforms. 

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Follow this link for a presentation on North American B-25 production facilities in Kansas

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Images from tour stop locations, Gathering of Mitchells at Grimes Field and the Doolittle Commemoration assembly and flyover at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

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The PBJ will be part of seventeen B-25 Mitchell bombers from around the country appearing at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid. (LINK to news NMUSAF news release.)

Departing on April 11 and returning on the 23rd, the PBJ will make multiple stops along the way at the locations listed below, where the aircraft will be available to tour and for warbird ride experience to the public.

Rides can be purchased from our rides page, except at the Grimes field in Ohio

For questions and reservations for B-25/PBJ rides on this tour, please call:

805-603-9910

We are proud to announce that our home airport in Camarillo is one of three locations chosen for the 2017 AOPA  Regional Fly-In.

Four states, four fly-ins. And the first stop is Camarillo (KCMA), April 28-29, 2017

The event will feature two full days of activities, including an expanded roster of learning opportunities and workshops on a range of topics such as mountain flying or owner-performed maintenance. The goal is to help make flying more fun, affordable, safe, and accessible.

We are very excited to have this event take place at our home airport and are preparing for the increased exposure and attendance this will bring to our museum facilities.

We hope you enjoy the following mission report and images  from member Dan Newcomb as much as we did; it  succinctly encapsulates the PBJ flight to Alameda on the 75th anniversary of launch of USS Hornet with it’s complement of 16 B25s on the Doolittle raid:

75 years ago the Hornet left the dock with 16 B-25s on her deck. She then anchored in San Francisco Bay for the night and sailed under the Golden Gate the next morning. Our flight commemorated this event. The base has been closed since 1997 and is now, among other things, a nesting ground for birds. Airplanes are not in the old base’s future. We were most certainly the last Mitchell bomber to ever work the pattern. As I watched our shadow racing down the abandoned runways I thought of those other shadows cast so long ago by the Raiders. I thought of the nine Doolittle raider crew members that didn’t make it back and that the last runway they landed on in America was now below me. I imagined the roar of 22 B-25’s flying in from Sacramento of which 16 would be hoisted aboard the carrier. As we flew home out over the Golden Gate that for so many symbolized the great country many would never again see, I wondered if my generation would be the last to truly understand the historical significance of the war and what our parent’s generation endured.

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A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the tail gun position of he PBJ as captured by Thomas VanStein

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The following video was shared with us by the Alameda Museum personnel.
Our PBJ enters the video at about the 1 min mark:

Join us at the CAF SoCal hangars on April 15, 2017 and learn about the P51 Mustang, the air superiority fighter of WWII.

On 15 April 1944, the 8th Air Force began Operation Jackpot, attacks on Luftwaffe fighter airfields. Adolf Galland, commander of the Luftwaffe fighter force is quoted to have said that “the day when the Allies took their fighters off the bombers and put them against the German fighters, that is, went from defensive to offensive, Germany lost the air war.”

Join us in the museum hangar to hear a panel discussion on the P51’s historic importance and flight characteristics. The panel will be opened to a question and answer session followed by a walk-around the CAFSoCal’s own P51-D Mustang “Man’OWar” and a flight demonstration (weather and maintenance permitting)

Experience Living History
Saturday, April 15, 2017, 11am-2pm
Commemorative Air Force Hangar
455 Aviation Dr.
Camarillo, CA
805-482-0064