Please consider donating to our cause that will help offset the cost of flying a 1945 World War II Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon to the final Reno Air Races with a very special right seat co-pilot will be onboard.

Lewis “Pat” Patteson, at 101 years young, has countless hours flying the PV-2 and we’d love for him to be able to add one more flight into his logbook this year. Imagine, flying a big patrol bomber after decades of hiatus, only to have the recall to safely fly this big plane! Pat would assume flight responsibilities bringing the PV-2 Harpoon safely into Reno Stead Airport in mid-September.

Pat is a World War II veteran U.S. Navy pilot and member of the VP-135 “Blind Foxes,” who first flew the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura patrol bomber against the enemy from the Aleutian Islands. Pat also flew the PBY and PV-2 Harpoon aircraft. Pat is a veteran of several combat and reconnaissance missions and has some great stories to tell.

Your tax deductible donations will help fund this historic and newsworthy flight.

The Stockton Field Aviation Museum (SFAM) is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization whose mission is to offer the public a greater appreciation of America’s World War II aviation history, including the people who designed, built, maintained, prepared and flew the aircraft of our country’s “Greatest Generation.” Our passion is to preserve the equipment, stories and technical information of that time, and to offer it to the public through hands-on living history events. Our focus is not only Stockton Field but all of our country’s World War II training fields and military aviation heritage. 

Thank you in advance for helping to get Pat back in his old seat and flying once again.

Thank you for your interest in our upcoming event in August of 2020! We are fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the Celebration of the end of WWII in Hawaii. Our museum’s 1945 Lockheed PV-2D Harpoon will be flown to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, where she will be craned aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier. She will then be transported with other warbirds to Pearl Harbor, HI, to participate in the Legacy of Flight parades. Two WWII airmen veterans, Pat Patteson and Don Long (Pearl Harbor Survivor)  will be joining us and will be piloting the Harpoon over the Commemoration event above the USS Missouri, where the armistice was signed in 1945.

Please click here to go to our Donation Page and help us make this happen!

To all members and those who would wish to join, sadly due to the Coronavirus and requirements from our county and advise from health organizations, we have cancelled the March and May Warbird Group meetings. We hope to reconvene as soon as we can, with measures to ensure safety of our members. Check back here for more updates; we will hopefully see you all come July!

Our next meeting will be at 7pm on Wednesday, May 17th at the Stockton Field Aviation Museum, 7432 C.E. Dixon St. Stockton Metro Airport.

Our next speaker will be U.S. Army Veteran William (Bill) Neuman. Bill flew Huey Gunships in the Republic of Vietnam from 1967-1968 with B Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry 1st Cavalry Division. Bill left Vietnam and became an Instructor Pilot for UH-1s at the Department of Tactics Ft. Rucker, Alabama from 1968-1970. Bill then flew CH-47 Chinooks for the 49th Transportation Helicopter Company Army National Guard Stockton, California from 1978-1983. Bill lives locally and has owned a Cessna 172p. He is a member of the VFW, DAV, American Legion, AOPA, and the Quiet Birdmen.

Come out and hear Bill talk about what it was like to fly choppers over the jungles of Vietnam!

Come on down to the Stockton Airport on Sunday May 14th, 2017 for this great event. You can tour the Stockton Field Aviation Museums historic PV-2 “Harpoon” patrol bomber!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, November 16th at the Stockton Field Aviation Museum, 7432 C.E. Dixon St. Stockton Metro Airport, 7 PM.

Our next speaker will be NASA SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) 747 Flight Engineer Christopher Farinha. Chris was born and raised in Auburn California, where he started in aviation restoring Warbirds. He started his airline career in 1985 flying the Lockheed Electra, L-188. Chris has flown the civilian model of the Hercules the L-382 as well as the DC-8 for Southern AirTransport. He finished his civilian career at Evergreen International Airlines flying the B-747. Chris has been with SOFIA since January 2014. He also flies the GE flying testbed 747, which tests the next generation of jet engines. So, come on out and bring a friend!

SOFIA is the largest airborne observatory in the world, capable of making observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest ground-based telescopes. During its planned 20-year lifetime, SOFIA also will inspire the development of new scientific instrumentation and foster the education of young scientists and engineers.

SOFIA is an 80/20 partnership of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), consisting of an extensively modified Boeing 747SP aircraft carrying a reflecting telescope with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters (100 inches).
The observatory is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, manages SOFIA’s science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA; Columbia, Md.) and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI; University of Stuttgart).

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! 2017 dues are due. Your $12.00 Warbird dues also get you membership in the Stockton Field Aviation Museum! With many activities coming up in the new year!

WW II Warbird Group: President, Ken Terpstra (209-838-8680); Treasurer, Ed Ashcraft (209-772-1890); The WW II Warbird Group meets five times a year March, May, July, September, and November on the third Wednesday of the month at the Stockton Field Aviation Museum, 7432 C.E. Dixon St. Stockton Metro Airport. Each meeting features a speaker who flew in any of the military services during our nation’s conflicts, WWII to present. Visitors are always welcome. Membership is open to anyone interested regardless of military service, age, or gender. Dues are $12 per year and include mailed newsletters. Send application to Stockton Field Aviation Museum, 7432 C. E. Dixon Street, Stockton, CA, 95206.

You are invited …

The Stockton Field Aviation Museum is proud to host the annual BBQ Dinner & Monthly Warbird Group meeting on Wednesday, September 21st, 2016 at the 7430 C.E. Dixon St. at the Stockton Metro Airport. This get-together is open to the public.

Our guest speaker will be Korey Wells, Hawker Sea Fury Air Racer and one of a very few people in the world that is type rated in the Messerschmitt ME-262!

Mr. Wells has been flying since he was 10 years old, a total of 44 years! He owned and operated a charter business in Nevada where he did desert bush flying. Using Cessna 310s and 400 series twins to fly in and out of short dirt strips and dirt roads. He competed in the International Aerobatic club, flying a Pitts Special. Mr. Wells is an Unlimited Division pilot flying Hawker Sea Furys in the Reno National Championship Air Races. He is also one of a handful of individuals type rated and can fly the ME262! When it comes to vintage iron he really knows his stuff! Come on out armed with all those questions, he’d love to answer ‘em for you!

The BBQ dinner starts at 6PM and our Speaker starts at 7PM!

There is a $5 donation for the BBQ dinner to help cover our costs.

See you there!

The membership of the Aeronautical Educational Foundation, doing business as Stockton Field Aviation Museum, held an annual election for the Board of Directors. Upon a duly authorized election, the Foundation is pleased to announce our 2017 Board:

• President – Jeff DeMello
• Vice President – Nick Veronico
• Secretary / Treasurer – Sydney Ramey
• Bill Meehleis – Director at Large
• Taigh Ramey – Director at Large

The Stockton Field Aviation Museum is leading the effort on trying to preserve a historical wood framed WWII Hanger at the Stockton Airport, to be used as a future home for the Museum. Please read the excellent article by Michal Fitzgerald of the Stockton Record.

Here’s a great news clip from Fox40 news about the efforts of the Stockton Field Aviation Museum in trying to preserve the historic WWII hanger at Stockton Airport.