Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Chino Airport is a busy county-owned general aviation field in San Bernardino County, California, roughly three miles southeast of the city of Chino and close to the Ontario and John Wayne airports. Once the wartime home of the Cal-Aero Academy flight school, it is now one of the busiest reliever airports in the Inland Empire, home to the Planes of Fame and Yanks Air Museum collections and a major centre for aircraft restoration. Three asphalt runways, a control tower and an ILS approach make it a straightforward but airspace-aware destination for VFR pilots operating near the Los Angeles basin.
Chino Airport (KCNO) is a county-owned general aviation airport in San Bernardino County, California, about three miles southeast of the city of Chino and within easy reach of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. It is the largest non-commercial airport within a twenty-mile radius, handling a mix of flight training, corporate traffic and warbird operations, and it hosts two aircraft museums, the Planes of Fame and the Yanks Air Museum, alongside numerous aircraft restoration businesses based on the field. For a sim pilot, its combination of a control tower, three runways of varying length, an ILS approach and close proximity to Ontario International Airport's Class C airspace make it an engaging and realistic destination in the Southern California terminal area.
Chino sits inside Class D airspace centred on the airport, with the boundary lying close to the Class C airspace of Ontario International Airport (ONT) immediately to the northeast. Riverside Drive is used as the visual boundary between the ONT Class C airspace and the CNO Class D airspace, and pilots in communication with Chino Tower should remain south of Riverside Drive when transiting eastbound. Chino Tower has an agreement with Southern California TRACON allowing aircraft in communication with the tower to use a portion of the Ontario Class C airspace at 2,500 feet MSL and below when departing runways 26L/R on a right downwind or when transitioning east or west of the field; this agreement does not apply when the tower is closed, in which case aircraft must remain outside the ONT Class C airspace or coordinate directly with Southern California TRACON.
Chino has three physical runways, all asphalt and lit. Runway 08R/26L is the longest, at 6,979 feet. Runway 03/21 is 4,910 feet, and runway 08L/26R is 4,827 feet, with runway 26R equipped with an ILS approach. Field elevation is 627 feet.
Chino Tower operates on 118.5 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF; ground control is on 121.6 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 125.85 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Southern California Approach/Departure handles arrivals and departures on 135.4 MHz. Runway 26R is served by an ILS approach.
Pilots departing Chino on runways 26L/R via a right-traffic (north) downwind, or transitioning east or west across the northern side of the field, should expect the possibility of an unplanned southward manoeuvre by other traffic avoiding the adjacent Ontario Class C airspace; this can bring aircraft across the final approach course for runways 26L/R, so extra vigilance is required for conflicting traffic in this area. Pilots remaining in communication with Chino Tower are authorised to use the coordinated portion of the Ontario Class C airspace at or below 2,500 feet MSL, but should keep south of Riverside Drive while transiting eastbound. When the tower is closed, this arrangement lapses and pilots must otherwise avoid the Ontario Class C airspace or coordinate directly with Southern California TRACON.
Riverside Drive serves as the published visual boundary between the Ontario Class C airspace and the Chino Class D airspace and is a useful reference for pilots transitioning eastbound near the field. The airport's proximity to Ontario International Airport to the northeast is itself a significant orientation feature when planning a VFR arrival or departure.
Chino Airport traces its origins to the Cal-Aero Academy, an independent civilian flying school operating at the field when the Second World War began; it is described as the first civilian aviation school in the United States. The U.S. Army Air Forces contracted with the school to provide basic and primary flight training for Army Air Cadets, using Stearmans and BT-13 aircraft, and the Abbott and Costello film Keep 'Em Flying was made at the base. The Cal-Aero name survives on several buildings at the airport today. From early 1945, surplus training aircraft and, after the war, large numbers of combat aircraft were flown into Chino for storage and disposal, with much of the area used as an open-air parking ground for warplanes before many were scrapped in portable smelters. In the mid-1960s the airfield stood in for the fictitious Archbury Army Air Field in the television series 12 O'Clock High, with the field and its wartime-era buildings used for exterior filming. Ownership passed from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to San Bernardino County in 1949, at which point the field took the name Chino Airport.
Chino remains the largest and busiest general aviation airport in San Bernardino County, operating under an FAA control tower and supporting well over 100,000 flight operations a year with around 590 based aircraft, spanning single and multi-engine piston types, jets and helicopters. The field is a significant centre for aircraft restoration and preservation, with numerous specialist businesses based on the airport, and it is home to two aircraft museums, the Planes of Fame and the Yanks Air Museum. Fixed-base operators including Encore Jet Center and Threshold Aviation Group provide fuel and other aviation services, and the airport also offers food, repair and avionics facilities on the field.
