The Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force is nestled against the south side of the Camarillo Airport, just west of the Santa Monica Mountains in Camarillo. It’s a sprawling complex of hangars jam-packed with World War II aircraft.
And they are beautiful examples of airplanes from both sides of the conflict. You’ll find a huge Curtiss C-46 Commando (the largest twin-engine plane ever flown by the US Army), a Grumman F-6F Hellcat, an F-8F Bearcat, and a Fairchild PT-19 trainer sitting alongside a North American SNJ-5 advanced trainer in its original, glorious yellow paint. There is a wonderful Messerschmitt BF-108 Taifun, and an in-process restoration of a Fiesler Storch. The Supermarine Spitfire MkXIV, with its menacing 5-bladed propellor is a must see, as is the Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero.
The star of the show, and the pride of the museum, is the North American PBJ Maritime Patrol Bomber. It took 23 years of loving restoration to clear the corrosion from this impressive, beautiful airplane which, at a first glance, looks like a B-25J Mitchell Bomber.
“It is the same airframe,” said Lucien Pillai, the museum’s public information officer, “except this one was built for the US Navy, not the Army. They called theirs B-25s, but the Navy called theirs P for patrol, B for bomber, and J because the plane was built by the North American Aircraft company. We traced out her tail numbers. This is the only surviving PBJ in the world.”
Like the PBJ, nearly all the other airplanes are either fully restored or in the process of getting back to their original, flying condition. The Bearcat and the Storch, for example, are currently missing their wings. The museum has the wings, but they’re being rebuilt.
Most importantly, you’ll find an oil-drip pan parked beneath each aircraft, because the CAF flies these beauties whenever they can.
Colonel Ron Fleishman, the museum’s historian, quipped that if an airplane doesn’t drip oil, there’s something wrong with it.
To prove the point, a meticulously restored T-34 Mentor in stunning Coast Guard graphics rumbled past us as we were crossing the tarmac, heading into a hangar towards a waiting drip pan.
And here’s something: you can book a ride one of these guys! Can you imagine, sitting in the front seat of the open-cockpit PT-19, rumbling through the Southern California skies? Or sitting in the all-Perspex nose of the PBJ as she thunders down the runway? Clear your calendar for the second Saturday of each month, and visit the museum’s website for ticket information.
One of the many fun things about the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (based in Harlingen, Texas, but with museums, called “wings,” all over the world), is that everyone you meet is an officer, as in a military officer. We met with the Public Information Officer, Lucien Pillai. He introduced us to the SoCal wing’s historian, Colonel Ron Fleishman. Ron explained that, as the title “colonel” is an honorarium, everybody’s a colonel in the CAF!
The museum also houses an impressive collection of World War II artifacts, including a semi-melted engine from a P-38 Lightning that crashed into the Camarillo hillsides back when Camarillo Airport was the Oxnard Air Force Base. You’ll also find an actual ball turret, a fiberglass replica of the lower turret that was used in B-17 and B-24 bombers. And a huge number of model airplanes, from World War I right through to the present day.
And don’t miss the Link Trainer, a flight simulator so authentic that one student pilot actually bailed out of it!
There’s a lot to see at this easy-to-find, engaging museum.
We put together a video tour of the museum that you might like. But we strongly encourage you to go visit this great collection of vintage airplanes for yourself!
Get off the 101 Freeway at Las Posas Road, go south, make a right on Pleasant Valley, and a right on Eubanks, and you’re there. You can’t miss the huge Hamilton Standard propeller!
Visit them online at CAFSoCal.com, or call them at +1 805 482 0064. They’re open Fridays and Saturdays, 10-4, and Sundays 12-4.
Marvelous Air Museums 