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  • March 2027

  • Sat 27
    Vietnam Veteran Welcome Home Celebration at Yanks Air Museum

    Vietnam Veteran Welcome Home – Remember and Honor at Yanks Air Museum

    Featured Saturday, March 27, 2027 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
    Yanks Air Museum 15121 Stearman Drive, Chino, United States

    A Morning to Honor Vietnam Veterans on March 27, 2027 FREE Admission to Vietnam...

  • June 2027

  • Sat 5
    Skytrain Event Open Cockpit June 5, 2027

    2027 Skytrain Event – Open Cockpit at Yanks Air Museum

    Featured Saturday, June 5, 2027 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
    Yanks Air Museum 15121 Stearman Drive, Chino, United States

    Join Us For A Special D-Day Anniversary on June 5, 2027! SATURDAY / JUNE...

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📅 On This Day in Aviation History — September 28, 📅 On This Day in Aviation History — September 28, 1920

On this day in 1920, some of the fastest airplanes in the world gathered in France for an international race with an unusual prize: win it for your country three consecutive times, and the trophy was yours forever.

The Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy had been one of aviation’s premier speed competitions before World War I interrupted the series. When racing finally returned in 1920, France, Great Britain, and the United States arrived with specialized aircraft built to wring every possible mile per hour out of the technology of the day.

Flying for France was Joseph Sadi-Lecointe, Nieuport-Delâge’s chief test pilot, in the remarkable Ni-D 29V. Derived from the Ni-D 29 fighter, the racer had dramatically shortened wings and a modified Hispano-Suiza V-8 producing roughly 320 horsepower. It was small, light, and built for one thing: speed.

The competition didn't go quite as planned for many of Sadi-Lecointe’s rivals. American pilot Rudolph Schroeder’s Verville-Packard R-1 suffered overheating, another American entry encountered elevator-control trouble, and Britain's Martinsyde was sidelined by an oil-system failure. Sadi-Lecointe, meanwhile, completed the 300-kilometer course and brought home the victory for France.

And he did more than win.

During the race, Sadi-Lecointe established an FAI world speed record over 200 kilometers, averaging 274.60 km/h (170.63 mph) over the measured distance. That accomplishment was part of an extraordinary run of record-setting flights for the French test pilot; only three days earlier, he had established a world record over 100 kilometers.

The victory also brought the Gordon Bennett competition to an end. France had won in 1912 and 1913, and Sadi-Lecointe's 1920 victory made three consecutive French wins. Under the rules, the trophy became the permanent property of the AĂŠro-Club de France and was retired from competition.

The Gordon Bennett race actually began in 1909, and its very first winner was an American. Can you name him?

(Hint: there's another very famous aviation company associated with his name.)
Part of every pre-flight check and pre-moving-any- Part of every pre-flight check and pre-moving-any-vehicle-check is checking where Geebs is… 🤦 

Someone tell him we need to move the Waco for sand-blasting!
🎂 Happy Birthday to aviation pioneer Thérèse Pelti 🎂 Happy Birthday to aviation pioneer Thérèse Peltier!

Born September 26, 1873, in France, Peltier was an accomplished sculptor before airplanes were even a practical reality. But when powered flight began capturing the world's imagination, she became one of the very first women to take part—and she wasn't content to remain a spectator for long.

On July 8, 1908, Peltier climbed aboard an aircraft with fellow sculptor and aviation pioneer LĂŠon Delagrange in Milan, Italy. Their flight covered about 200 meters (656 feet), but its place in history was much larger: Peltier is recognized as the first woman to fly as a passenger in a heavier-than-air aircraft.

Remember, this was 1908. The Wright brothers' first powered flight had taken place less than five years earlier. Simply climbing aboard one of these fragile early machines required a considerable sense of adventure.

And apparently one flight wasn't enough.

Peltier soon learned to operate an airplane herself. Later that year, she made several solo flights in a Voisin biplane, including a flight at Turin lasting approximately two minutes and covering another 200 meters at about seven feet above the ground. Some historical accounts recognize her as the first woman to pilot an airplane, although the surviving record makes that particular "first" more difficult to establish conclusively.

What we can say is remarkable enough: Peltier was taking the controls of an airplane in 1908, when powered aviation itself was barely five years old.

Happy birthday, Thérèse Peltier, and thank you for helping write some of the earliest chapters in women's aviation history. ✈️

Aviation Trivia: The Voisin had a propellor, but it wasn't in the front! Where was it and why?
✈️ The Stinson L-5 Sentinel: Small Airplane, Big J ✈️ The Stinson L-5 Sentinel: Small Airplane, Big Job

It didn’t carry the firepower of a fighter or the bomb load of a heavy bomber, but the Stinson L-5 Sentinel became one of the most useful aircraft in the U.S. military inventory during World War II.

The Army initially classified the new aircraft as the O-62, for “observation,” before redesignating it L-5 when the liaison category was introduced in 1942.

Light, unarmed, and exceptionally versatile, the Sentinel was designed to go where larger aircraft often couldn’t. Its short-field capability allowed crews to operate from rough, improvised strips close to the front, carrying out missions that included artillery spotting, reconnaissance, message and personnel transport, delivery of supplies, rescue, and casualty evacuation.

That last role became especially important. Later versions were modified to accommodate a litter patient, allowing wounded personnel to be flown out of remote areas where conventional ambulances or larger transports could not easily reach. Liaison pilots often operated from primitive fields and under combat conditions, making the little L-5 an important link between front-line troops and the larger Allied support network.

The Sentinel also proved its usefulness far beyond World War II. L-5s continued serving into the postwar years and saw further military use during the Korean War era.

Despite its modest size, the L-5 represented a major shift in how armies used aircraft. Aviation no longer had to operate only from established airfields or high above the battlefield. A light airplane could work directly alongside ground forces, carrying people, information, and urgently needed supplies almost wherever they were required.

And that history is more than static here at Yanks Air Museum. Our Flight Team has returned an L-5 Sentinel to the air, allowing one of these remarkable liaison aircraft to continue doing what it was built to do more than 80 years ago: fly.

Sometimes the aircraft with the biggest impact aren’t the biggest aircraft at all. ✈️
You've seen our staff show you around the planes t You've seen our staff show you around the planes themselves, but there's some history behind everything here! Have you ever seen someone with this patch?
From a zoom-in on that beautiful nose... tell us w From a zoom-in on that beautiful nose... tell us what kind of plane this is! 

📸 credit @roberttphotography

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  • Home
  • Collections
    • Collection by Timeline
    • 1903-1918 / Early Birds
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Museum Hours

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15121 Stearman Drive, Chino, CA 91710

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