Planes of Fame Airshow at Chino and the flying Japanese Zero with the only original Sakae engine left on Earth

The Planes of Fame Airshow at Chino Airport (CNO) in southern California is home to one of the most remarkable sights in warbird aviation: the world’s only airworthy Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero flying behind its original Nakajima Sakae fourteen-cylinder radial engine. Every other flying Zero at airshows worldwide has had an American Pratt & Whitney engine swap. This one is the real thing — and it sounds like nothing else in the sky.

What Makes the Planes of Fame Zero So Special?

Every flying Zero at other airshows relies on a substitute American engine to stay airworthy. The Planes of Fame Zero is different. Its Nakajima Sakae radial is the same type that rolled off wartime Japanese production lines, and it produces a sound that pilots and historians immediately recognize as distinct from its American counterparts.

Where a Pratt & Whitney growls, the Sakae sings. The engine produces a lighter, higher-pitched, almost musical tone that stops crowds mid-conversation when it fires up. Pilots who have flown Zeros with both engine types confirm the difference is unmistakable.

How Do They Keep an 80-Year-Old Japanese Engine Running?

Maintaining the Sakae is an exercise in pure determination. Crew chief Kevin, who has overseen the engine for years, describes the process in one word: patience. There is no parts catalog. There is no supplier. When a component fails, the maintenance team reverse-engineers and fabricates replacements from scratch, machining new parts in-house from measurements taken off the originals.

This level of craftsmanship is what separates a museum piece behind a rope from a living, breathing piece of aviation history.

The airshow’s standout sequence paired the Zero with a Grumman F6F Hellcat — two aircraft built to destroy each other during the Pacific air war, flying formation passes at roughly 200 feet down the runway.

The visual contrast tells the story of the entire conflict. The Hellcat is big, brutish, and dark blue. The Zero is light, nimble, and green. During a tail chase sequence, the Zero’s extraordinary maneuverability was on full display — rolling in behind the Hellcat and turning on a dime, demonstrating exactly why American pilots in 1942 were terrified of it. Then the Hellcat reversed, used its superior speed and dive performance, and ended up on the Zero’s tail, illustrating the tactics the Navy developed to counter it: boom-and-zoom attacks and the Thach Weave.

What’s It Like to Fly a Zero?

Pilot Steve Hinton, one of the most experienced warbird pilots alive, described flying the Zero as “like flying a thought.” The controls are so light that the airplane responds almost before the input is complete. Hinton — who regularly flies Mustangs, Bearcats, and other heavy American fighters — said the biggest challenge is not over-controlling it. That sensitivity is a direct testament to designer Jiro Horikoshi’s engineering philosophy: sacrifice armor and self-sealing fuel tanks for unmatched agility.

Steve’s father flew this very Zero decades ago, making each flight a continuation of a family legacy intertwined with the aircraft’s history.

What Else Flies at Planes of Fame?

The airshow fields an extraordinary lineup beyond the Zero:

North American T-6 Texans in four-ship formation
P-51 Mustang solo demonstrations with that iconic Merlin engine howl
Messerschmitt Bf 109 paired with a P-40 Warhawk in a simulated North Africa combat sequence with historical narration
P-38 Lightning, F4U Corsair, Hawker Sea Fury, and Grumman Bearcat demonstrations

What sets Planes of Fame apart from other airshows is historical storytelling integrated into every flight. Each demonstration includes narrated context — the pilots, the campaigns, the conditions they fought in. The audience doesn’t just watch a P-38 fly; they hear about Guadalcanal. They don’t just see a Corsair land; they learn about Marines bringing damaged aircraft back to carriers.

The Museum Behind the Airshow

The Planes of Fame Air Museum is worth visiting year-round, housing aircraft found nowhere else on Earth:

Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar — a rare Japanese Army fighter
Northrop N-9M flying wing — the only survivor, essentially the ancestor of the B-2 Spirit
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in pristine condition

The museum exists because founder Ed Maloney started buying surplus warbirds in 1957 when they were being scrapped and melted down. He purchased aircraft for next to nothing when no one else saw their value. Without his stubbornness, many of these airframes would be razor blades and tin cans.

The collection draws visitors from around the world. Japanese aviation historians have studied the Zero. Engineers from Mitsubishi have visited. A volunteer named Diane, who has worked at the museum for 22 years, recounted an elderly Japanese gentleman who stood silently before the Zero for nearly an hour, then bowed to the airplane with tears on his face. These machines carry the weight of real human history and sacrifice from every side of every conflict.

Flying Into Chino for the Airshow

Chino Airport (CNO) is excellent for general aviation fly-ins:

Two runways, the longest at 7,000 feet
Tower-controlled during daytime hours
Friendly FBO accustomed to airshow traffic
Temporary parking areas with volunteer marshals during show weekends

Arriving from the west means transiting near Ontario International’s Class C airspace — contact SoCal Approach for sequencing and expect a smooth arrival. The airshow takes place every May.

For pilots wanting to extend the trip, Chino is positioned within easy reach of Big Bear in the mountains and Agua Caliente, a scenic desert strip — making a three-day flying weekend an easy proposition.

Key Takeaways

The Planes of Fame Zero is the only airworthy example in the world flying with its original Nakajima Sakae engine — every other flying Zero uses an American engine swap
The maintenance team fabricates replacement parts from scratch, reverse-engineering components that no longer exist anywhere
Steve Hinton, one of the most experienced warbird pilots alive, describes the Zero’s controls as almost telepathically light
The airshow pairs historical narration with every flight demonstration, connecting the aircraft to the campaigns and crews that flew them
Chino Airport (CNO) is GA-friendly with 7,000 feet of runway and easy access from the Los Angeles basin
The museum houses aircraft found nowhere else, including the only surviving Northrop N-9M flying wing