Chino Airport
IATA:CNO ICAO:KCNO FAALID:CNO
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	County of San Bernardino
Location	Chino, California
Elevation AMSL	650 ft / 198 m
Coordinates	33°58′29″N117°38′12″W / 33.97472°N 117.63667°W /33.97472; -117.63667
Website	cms.sbcounty.gov
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 3/21 4,919 1,499 Asphalt 8L/26R 4,858 1,481 Asphalt 8R/26L 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Aircraft operations (year ending 9/30/2016) 164,588 Based aircraft 590
Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Chino Airport (IATA:CNO,ICAO:KCNO,FAALID:CNO) is a county-ownedairport about three miles southeast ofChino, inSan Bernardino County,California, United States.^[1] TheFederal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 classified it as areliever airport,^[2] due to its proximity to theOntario International Airport and theJohn Wayne Airport (inOrange County).^[3]

Cal-Aero Academy was an independent flying school at Chino Airport whenWorld War II started. TheU.S. Army Air Forces contracted with the school to provide basic and primary flight training for Army Air Cadets.^[4] TheAbbott and Costello filmKeep 'Em Flying was filmed at the base.

During the war, Cal-Aero operated the training base withStearmans andBT-13s. The name "Cal-Aero" is preserved at the airport and it can be seen on several buildings.

Starting in early 1945, training aircraft surplused by the cessation of pilot training programs, and post-war, hundreds of combat aircraft were flown into Chino for disposal. This agricultural area was employed as a vast parking lot for warplanes. Soon, the entire area was filled with everything fromT-6s toB-24 Liberators. Most planes met an undignified end in portable smelters which were brought there to melt down the warplanes intoaluminum ingots.

During the mid-1960s, the field was used as the location setting for the TV series12 O'Clock High, as the fictitious Archbury Army Air Field, which was home base to the (equally fictitious) 918th Bomb Group. The airfield itself and a number of World War II-era buildings were used for exterior shots.

Chino Airport is the home of two aircraft museums, thePlanes of Fame and theYanks Air Museum, and the airport is one of the centers of aircraft restoration and preservation with several different companies that do this work at the airport.

• On November 6, 2007, aBeechcraft King Air impacted trees 3/4 of a mile past the departure end of runway 26R after takeoff in poor visibility. Both occupants were killed.^[5]
• On June 13, 2013, aprivate jet crashed into an empty office building near ahangar. Maintenance workers were testing thejet engines when the plane jumped over thechocks and the workers lost control. Since the building was empty, no one was seriously hurt, but the jet was destroyed.^[6]

Chino Airport covers 1,097 acres (444 ha) and has threeasphaltrunways:^[1]

• 3/21: 4,919 x 150 ft (1,499 x 46 m)
• 8L/26R: 4,858 x 150 ft (1,481 x 46 m)
• 8R/26L: 7,000 x 150 ft (2,134 x 46 m)

In the year ending September 30, 2016, the airport had 164,588 aircraft operations, average 451 per day: 99%general aviation and <1% air taxi. 590 aircraft were then based at the airport: 424 percent single-engine, 86 percent multi-engine, 64 percent jet, and 16helicopter.^[1]

FBOs:

• Encore Jet Center^[7]
• Threshold Aviation Group^[8]

• List of airports in California
• California World War II Army Airfields

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• San Bernardino County Department of Airports
• The History of Cal Aero Field
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 2, 2025
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAAairport information for CNO
  • AirNavairport information for KCNO
  • ASNaccident history for CNO
  • FlightAwareairport information andlive flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations:current,past three days
  • SkyVectoraeronautical chart,Terminal Procedures

• USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields
• Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California
• Airports in San Bernardino County, California
• Post–World War II aircraft storage facilities

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