The Chico Air Museum is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

aviation museum located at the

Chico Municipal Airport Chico Regional Airport is north of Chico, in Butte County, California, United States. The airport covers , has two runways and one helipad. Its fixed-base operator, Northgate Aviation provides fuel, maintenance, flight training, and charter f ...

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

. Its mission statement is to "collect, preserve, document and display aircraft, and aviation and space artifacts. The museum’s primary purpose is to educate and inspire people of all ages about aviation and the history of flight".

Exhibits

The museum has a number of aircraft, artifacts and exhibits on display in a

WW II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era hangar that was originally part of the Chico Army Airfield (and once owned and operated by

Aero Union Aero Union Corporation was an aircraft operation and maintenance company based in Chico, California, United States. It was known for operating aerial firefighting aircraft, training crews and making custom designed firefighting systems tailo ...

). There is also an outside static display area, a large collection of

scale models Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

, and an extensive aviation research library. The museum's hangar is located next to the Chico Air Attack Base (CAAB). During fire season, visitors can watch air operations of multiple types of

air tankers The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

that use this base to re-load and re-fuel.

Airman Docent Program

In 2016, the museum launched the Airman Docent Program, which allows children under the age of 18 to volunteer as

museum docent Museum docent is a title given in the United States of America to people who serve as guides and educators for the institutions they serve, usually as a volunteer (unpaid) position. The English word itself is derived from the Latin word ''docēns ...

Improvements

In addition to aircraft restoration, the museum is currently working on a space exhibit and is planning to improve the entrance to the hangar, including a "walk of honor".

Aircraft on display

Below is a partial list of aircraft the museum has on display, as of September 2018. *

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

LTV A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

Vultee BT-13 Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the ...

SPAD S.XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...

Grumman AF-2S Guardian The Grumman AF Guardian was the first purpose-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) carrier-based aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy.Kowalski 1991, p. 3. It consisted of two airframe variants, one for detection gear, the other fo ...

Aero L-29 Delfin Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (Po ...

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

Lockheed P-2 Neptune The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (designated P2V by the United States Navy prior to September 1962) is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. It was developed for the US Navy by Lockheed to replace the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and ...

Piasecki H-21 Workhorse The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission heli ...

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...

Antonov AN-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bure ...

* Thorp T-211 *

Taylor Titch The Taylor Titch is a British fixed-wing homebuilt aircraft, developed in the 1960s by J.F. Taylor.''Air Trails'', Winter 1971, p. 78. , examples are still being built and flown.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Avia ...

Pitts Model 12 The Pitts Model 12 (also known by its nicknames "Bolshoi", "Macho Stinker", "Pitts Monster") is a high performance aerobatic biplane designed around the Vedeneyev M14P/PF engine. The aircraft can be built from plans or as a kitplane, or can be ...

Schreder Airmate HP-11 The Schreder Airmate HP-11 is an American mid-wing, V-tailed, single seat glider designed by Richard Schreder.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 19. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. USPS 499-920 Airmate ...

Rotary Air Force RAF 2000 The RAF 2000 is a two-seat kit built autogyro that was designed by Bernard J. Haseloh. Kits were first manufactured by Rotary Air Force Marketing Inc. in Canada. The marketing and manufacturing rights were sold to the Mocke Family in Upington, ...

Photo gallery

Chico Air Museum aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of the Chico Air Museum Chico Air Museum 1.jpg, Interior view of the Chico Air Museum Pitts 12 at Chico Air Museum.jpg, Pitts 12 on display Chico Army Airfield Exhibit.jpg, Exhibit on the history of the Chico Army Air Field BT-13 at Chico Air Museum.jpg, A BT-13 Valiant being towed from the Chico Air Museum hangar. This is the museum's only flight-worthy aircraft and is on loan to the museum. A-7 at Chico Air Museum.jpg, A-7D Corsair II in the outside display area AF-2 Guardian at Chico Air Museum.jpg, AF-2S Guardian (serial no. 2) awaiting restoration. F-86 Mama Inez dedicatoin ceremony.jpg, Dedication ceremony of the F-86 Sabre "Mama Inez" to Korean War veterans A-7 Corsair at Chico Air Museum.jpg, A-7D Corsair II after being re-painted as an A-7E from VA-25 A-7 & F-18.jpg, Chico Air Museum's A-7 poses next to an F/A-18E from

VFA-25 Strike Fighter Squadron 25 (VFA-25) is an aviation unit of the United States Navy based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The squadron flies the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet and is currently assigned to Carrier Air Wing 11. Its callsign is ...

. Both Aircraft were featured in the June 2021 issue of Combat Aircraft Journal magazine.

References

External links

Official website

Museum's Facebook page
{{Coord, 39.803415, -121.858291, display=title Museums in Butte County, California Aerospace museums in California