Air museum an unlikely find in an unlikely city

By Siobhan McAndrew • smcandrew@rgj.com • June 8, 2008 There are 50 different reasons to visit Atwater, Calif. I'm almost sure this isn't a sentence you've ever heard said about Atwater, a city of about 30,000 people located in the San Joaquin Valley along California 99. The city, an hour from Fresno and two hours from Sacramento is, to most, a place to get gas when driving from Northern to Southern California. But Atwater is home to the Castle Air Force Museum, an amazing collection of restored and historical aircraft. The museum has been open since 1981, but enthusiasts and volunteers have worked hard in the last 20 years to develop it into one of the largest displays of vintage aircraft in the United States. The museum features a great collection of World War II, Korean War and cold war aircraft. It's a place definitely... [read full story]