Masterworks by Edward Chavez: Model Aircraft Collection

Masterworks by Edward Chavez: The Nut Tree Restaurant and Airfield Model Aircraft Collection

This ongoing exhibition is a selection of work from Edward Chavez (1917-2004), a recognized master within the aircraft model-making community

In 1961, the Nut Tree Restaurant commissioned its first Chavez model after Edwin Power, a pilot and one of the restaurant's owners, had seen Chavez's work in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum. Over the next twenty-seven years, from 1961 to 1988, Chavez built twenty-seven models for the restaurant with occasional assistance from his friend Robert Fogg.

In 1996, after 75 years of successful operation, the Nut Tree Restaurant closed. The airfield, donated to Solano County in 1973, continues to operate as the Nut Tree Airport. The models in the Nut Tree Restaurant and Airfield Model Aircraft Collection represent aircraft of historic importance. In 1997, the majority of the collection was acquired by SFO Museum.