Magnificence in Miniature: The Nut Tree Aircraft Models of Edward Chavez

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Magnificence in Miniature:
The Nut Tree Aircraft Models of Edward Chavez

New exhibition features eight highly detailed and historically accurate aircraft models crafted by master model builder Edward Chavez.

SAN FRANCISCO For over a century, model aircraft have enabled aviation professionals and enthusiasts to visualize the history and achievements of human flight on a miniature scale. Many skilled modelers build from commercially available kits; however, crafting a model entirely from scratch requires an advanced level of artistry and dedication. In the age of mass production, a meticulously handmade model stands apart as a singular work of wonder.

Edward Chavez (1917-2004) was a recognized master of scratch building within the model-making community. Fascinated by aviation from an early age in San Antonio, Texas, Chavez enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1941 and served during World War II. After the war, he joined the U.S. Postal Service and, while in the military reserve, was commissioned to construct aircraft recognition models. He later served as a captain in the Korean War and was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star. His model commissions expanded from private aircraft owners to professional work for the Piper Aircraft Company.

In 1961, the Nut Tree Restaurant commissioned Chavez to build display models of renowned aircraft. Edwin I. Power, Jr. (1922-2017)-a pilot and one of the restaurant's owners who helped develop the adjacent Nut Tree Airport-had seen Chavez's work at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Beginning with the Aero Commander 500 in 1962, Chavez produced numerous models for the restaurant over twenty-seven years, occasionally collaborating with his friend Robert Fogg.

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Magnificence in Miniature: The Nut Tree Aircraft Models of Edward Chavez is located pre-security in the Aviation Museum located on the departures level three of the Dianne Feinstein International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport. It will be on display from October 25, 2025, to March 28, 2027. The Aviation Museum is open to the public seven days a week (except for holidays and special events), from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

About SFO Museum

Established in 1980 by the San Francisco Airport Commission, SFO Museum's mission is to delight, engage, and inspire a global audience with programming on a broad range of subjects; to collect, preserve, interpret, and share the history of commercial aviation; and to enrich the public experience at San Francisco International Airport. The Museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 1999 and retains the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport.

SFO Museum operates more than twenty-five sites throughout the Airport terminals, including fourteen galleries that exhibit a rotating schedule of art, history, photography, science, and cultural exhibitions. Among the sites is the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, which houses a permanent collection of more than 160,000 objects related to the history of commercial aviation. To browse current and past exhibitions, research our collection, or for more information, please visit www.sfomuseum.org. Follow us on www.facebook.com/sfomuseum, www.x.com/sfomuseum, or www.instagram.com/sfomuseum.

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