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LA Visit - any good places?

TASEsq

Well Known Member
Patron
Hi,

Bit of a strange question (maybe?) from an Aussie RV14 builder visiting the US - I’ve found myself with a day off on Monday 18th down at KSNA - any recommendations for aircraft building related cool places I could visit? Any good pilot shops or airports to go and visit? Museums maybe?

We will have a hire car - can you go and visit Aircraft spruce? Do they have a store per se? Shipping is so expensive to home I was thinking of picking up some hardware etc maybe??

Does anyone have any rv14 builds going on around the area?
 
Hi Trent,

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions.

Spruce does have a bit of a store front, but not really all that impressive. You can call and order any parts you want and then pick them up at the store. Very convenient.

Nearby is the Chino airport (lunch at Flo's on the field) and a trip thru the Planes of Fame museum is worthwhile. Also just wondering around Chino airport is fun too. Fighter Rebuilders is on the field and worth popping into the hangar.

Unfortunately I'm out of town, but would have been happy to show/fly you around a bit. Wife is an ExPat from Melbourne.

Regards,
Laird
Whiteman
 
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Aircraft Spruce is in Corona, which is about 20 miles north of KSNA. They have a storefront, but just a small amount of their product is displayed in the front. I seem to drive there a couple times a month to pick up stuff. Traffic is heavy at times, so check google maps or equivalent. Rush hour runs from about 2-7PM, depending on the area. Best to visit between 10-2.

I’m building a -14A in my garage in Fullerton which is about a 25 minute drive from KSNA without traffic. Construction blog is in my signature.
 
I agree: Chino would be my top suggestion. It is one of the greatest warbird collections in the world.

Unfortunately, tours of Edwards AFB have been cancelled until further notice due to COVID. That was going to be my next suggestion.

San Diego has the Midway aircraft carrier museum (mostly US Navy/Marines stuff) and the San Diego aerospace museum which has some real rarities like an X-13 (first VTOL jet), a Sea Dart (seaplane jet fighter on skis), and a Wee Bee (which was the smallest airplane in the world, way back when).

The Pima aerospace museum, near Tucson, is one of the most impressive air museums in the world, with a huuuuuuge and diverse collection that will make even the biggest airplane geek ask "What the heck is THAT?"... but that's a 6-hour drive. Depends on how hard-core you are. When I relocated myself from California to the Pacific Northwest, I made the drive (and saw lots of other aeronautical sights - e.g. tour of Edwards AFB - before saying good-bye to that corner of the world).

There are a few museums scattered around southern California, but most of them are much smaller. The Science Center near downtown LA has a couple of real treasures like an A-12 blackbird trainer and the last remaining F-20 and, of course, a Space Shuttle. (You've probably seen pictures of NASA's 747 flying over LA to deliver it). March Air Reserve Base also has a very nice museum, a B-36 probably being the highlight. If you don't want to spend hours on the road, then after visiting Chino, I'd say March should be next on the list.
 
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Just be advised...this is L.A., and traffic can be nightmarish, so plan accordingly on what you want to visit. E.g., San Diego would be a full day trip, and leave early and return after rush hour. It's not a short drive, but does have a good museum. Tucson is *way* too far to drive, if you ask me. And...it's summer, so hotter than blue blazes.

Chino and the Planes of Fame is an excellent suggestion.
 
Aircraft Spruce is real close to Corona Airport, which has a number of RV's. Corona Airport Cafe is also a very good place to eat (breakfast/lunch hours).
 
Thanks all!

Sounds like we will head up to the museum in Chino after breakfast, look over the museum, lunch at Flo’s then stop by and pickup an order from spruce and try and be back by 2. Thanks for all the replies.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone!

We ended up having a great day. We headed up to Corona and stopped at Spruce. That was a real treat for an Aussie - picked up a couple of things I “needed”. :D Saved $100 in shipping - was basically printing money being there. We were blown away when a bloke wandered in with a broken tacho from some old aeroplane, and with the help of Bill at the on call counter looked it up in the book and got a new one off the shelf!! For someone who lives on the other side of the planet this was a totally foreign concept for me! Just getting an email back usually takes 2 days ;);)

We then headed out to Chino - unfortunately, being a Monday, both museums were closed, and so was flo’s! We were amazed at how many machines were parked there - from old fighters, radials, cessnas and even some Airbus’! But we bumped into Keith from https://barnstormersbiplanerides.com/ who has a beautiful 1929 Travelair. He saw us hanging around peering through the fence and invited us into his hangar to regale us with some great stories of the barnstorming tours he does in his aeroplane. A great piece of history - his 50 year old fabric on his wings looks like it was done yesterday!

Shame about the museums, but Keith sent us down to Flabob airport to go and have a look. Being starving an in and out shone like a beacon from the motorway and we arrived at Flabob full and ready for a walk. We ended up walking the taxiways, poking our heads in hangars and ended up having a good old look around. Awesome so see such an active aviation maintenance school there - we wanted to go in and have a look, but the “no peeping toms” sign on the window deterred us! Was cool to run across the EAA Chapter 1 hangar - shame we can’t be here for the pancake breakfast under the trees.

Overall we had a great day - for a bloke who is passionate about flying aeroplanes I was certainly born in the wrong country (for aviation related things anyway!). You guys have some awesome GA airports and some awesome equipment over here. Flying around for work we are constantly amazed how simple flying here is and how smoothly everything works. Like clockwork.
We still can’t get used to the “number 4, cleared to land” tho :confused: The number of airports in the LA basin is totally flabbergasting.
 

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Palmdale

I agree: Chino would be my top suggestion. It is one of the greatest warbird collections in the world.

Unfortunately, tours of Edwards AFB have been cancelled until further notice due to COVID. That was going to be my next suggestion.

San Diego has the Midway aircraft carrier museum (mostly US Navy/Marines stuff) and the San Diego aerospace museum which has some real rarities like an X-13 (first VTOL jet), a Sea Dart (seaplane jet fighter on skis), and a Wee Bee (which was the smallest airplane in the world, way back when).

The Pima aerospace museum, near Tucson, is one of the most impressive air museums in the world, with a huuuuuuge and diverse collection that will make even the biggest airplane geek ask "What the heck is THAT?"... but that's a 6-hour drive. Depends on how hard-core you are. When I relocated myself from California to the Pacific Northwest, I made the drive (and saw lots of other aeronautical sights - e.g. tour of Edwards AFB - before saying good-bye to that corner of the world).

There are a few museums scattered around southern California, but most of them are much smaller. The Science Center near downtown LA has a couple of real treasures like an A-12 blackbird trainer and the last remaining F-20 and, of course, a Space Shuttle. (You've probably seen pictures of NASA's 747 flying over LA to deliver it). March Air Reserve Base also has a very nice museum, a B-36 probably being the highlight. If you don't want to spend hours on the road, then after visiting Chino, I'd say March should be next on the list.

Last I checked, Palmdale has the Blackbird Airpark next to the Joe Davies Park. It has a few SR71's on display. Very impressive.
 
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We ended up having a great day.

Excellent! Glad to hear it!

...for a bloke who is passionate about flying aeroplanes I was certainly born in the wrong country (for aviation related things anyway!)

Many countries around the world are even worse. But yes, I realize that I am very fortunate to have been able to come to the US to pursue my passion for aviation; Most people around the world do not have this opportunity!

Last I checked, Palmdale has the Blackbird Airpark next to the Joe Davies Park. It has a few SR71's on display. Very impressive.

Yes, an SR-71 and an A-12 which is actually the very first Blackbird. Plus an F-117 and a U-2. Joe Davies Air Park has lots of fighter jets, one of the shuttle-carrier 747s, and the Triumph - a Rutan creation that I think would be of interest to any airplane geek, especially us Experimental fans.
 
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