13 Preserved Airliners to See in California

Head to California and you’ll have your pick of major airports and busy airfields to spot at.

Hubs like Los Angeles International, San Diego and San Francisco International, as well as biz jet airports like Van Nuys, offer great days out spotting for the enthusiast.

California also has a good selection of aviation museums and collections, with some preserved airliners to enjoy.

Here are 13 you should hunt out:

90407/N51848 Douglas C-54

Photo (c) Alan Wilson

Located at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA, this former US Army Air Force, and later US Navy, transport aircraft first flew in 1942.

N8066U Douglas DC-8-52

Photo (c) Alan Wilson

Situated outside the California Science Center in Los Angele’s Exposition Park is this large Douglas DC-8 airliner in the colours of United Airlines. It flew for the carrier between 1966 and 1984, before being donated to this location.

N3779G Lockheed 18 Lodestar C-60A

Photo (c) Alan Wilson

A 1942-heritage aircraft used by the US Army Air Force and later many private operators. It is on display, uniquely, in in Royal Air Force colours at the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino, CA.

N19915 Douglas C-53

One of the small collection of aircraft on display outside the Proud Bird Restaurant near Los Angeles International Airport. The C-53 is a military variant of the DC-3, and this one joined the Army Air Force in 1942. It later flew for Capital Airlines and many private operators.

N810NA Convair 990-30-5-17

Photo (c) Steve Knight

A long-time resident at Mojave Airport in the Californian desert. It originally flew for American Airlines in 1962, and later for NASA. It is now preserved as a gate guardian at the airport entrance.

N9946F Short S.45 Solent A Mk 3

Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Built as a Short Seaford for the Royal Air Force, this aircraft was converted to a Solent and later flew for BOAC as G-AKNP and Trans Ocean Airways as VH-TOB. It was also once owned by Howard Hughes. Now on display at the Oakland Aviation Museum.

N807LM Dornier 328JET

Photo (c) Alan Wilson

This German regional jet was built in 1998, but acquired by Lockheed Martin as a testbed in 2007. It was used by the Air Force in the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft Program, and is now on display at the Joe Davis Heritage Park in Palmdale, CA.

N911NA Boeing 747SR-46

Photo (c) Kevin Baird

Also at the Joe Davis Heritage Park in Palmdale is the former NASA Space Shuttle Carrier 747 aircraft N911NA.

This aircraft actually began life as JA8117 with Japan Air Lines flying domestic services in Japan. It was bought by NASA in 1988 and retired in 2012.

N9637 Ford Tri-Motor 5

Photo (c) Ian Gratton

An original Pan American World Airways aircraft, built in 1929 and now on display at the San Diego Aerospace Museum at Pan American Plaza.

The aircraft had many later owners, and even flew tourists over the Grand Canyon as recently as 1982.

N242SM Douglas DC-3

Photo (c) Scarlet Sappho

There are many preserved and heritage Douglas DC-3s and C-47s around California. Perhaps the most iconic is this one, mounted on poles outside Santa Monica Airport in Los Angeles, where many of the thousands of DC-3s was built. This one dates from 1942.

72-7000 Boeing VC-137C

707 at the Reagan Presidential Library

One of the original ‘Air Force One’ aircraft, based on the Boeing 707. It was used between 1972 and the late 1980s, and is now on display at the Ronald Regan Presidential Library at Simi Valley, north of Los Angeles.

0606 Ilyushin Il-14

Photo (c) Joe Loong

An unusual, Soviet airliner on display in California. This Il-14 ‘Crate’ was once used by the Polish Air Force from 1955, and found its way onto the US register with Aviation Classics in 1994. It is now on display at the Pacific Coast Air Museum at Santa Rosa, CA.

N27MA Douglas C-54Q

Photo (c) Alan Wilson

Another classic Douglas DC-4 variant. This time on display at the Aerospace Museum of California at Sacramento’s McClellan AFB. The aircraft began life as 42-72449 with the US Army Air Force in 1945, and later flew with commercial operators like Aero Union. Now preserved in Army markings.

There are many aviation museums across California with plenty of transport and military types on display.