Chico’s Best kept Secret

by Jack

Inside the historic old WWII hanger you will find millions of dollars worth of rare planes and aviation items, but the best part it’s 100% free. Of course if you would care to make a donation they’ll gladly accept one. Yet, on any given day you’re likely not to see more than 50 visitors in a day. What is this odd place, you might wonder? It’s the Chico Air Museum of course! I work there, rather I volunteer there and it’s not work for me. I think its a wonderful place to hang out.

The museum is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people from Chico come for the first time and say, “Wow, when did this open up?” Then they are stunned to discover it’s been open for over 9 years!

Inside the museum you can get up close and personal with an F15 Eagle (a mach 2.5 aircraft) or Neptune P2-V sub hunter. My favorite is a 1917 Spad XIII (bi-plane) painted in camo colors.

Kids under 12 like the little yellow Thorpe, a single engine airplane. This is one of the few planes kids are allowed to sit in, as long as they are careful. There’s also a B-47 helicopter like they used on MASH, a record holding glider, a Reno air racer and a lot more. We even have parts off the Space Shuttle. There are literally hundreds of WWII, Korean and Vietnam era artifacts, you will also find lots of historic aviation photo’s and an extensive aircraft library. Outside, there’s more planes, a Corsair II, Guardian, L29, Antonov, another P2, a T-33 and an F86 Sabre jet and I still haven’t named them all!

So, if you are one of those people who didn’t know Chico has an air museum, I think you better hop in the car the first chance you get and go see it. It’s the best deal in Chico.

Location; Chico Airport, Convair and Ryan drive, which is the north end of the airport. People often ask me for the street number, but if you get close, you will see the big planes long before you will see the tiny address numbers painted on the hanger.