A new exhibition at the SFO Museum will showcase eight aircraft models created by Edward Chavez, known for his detailed and historically accurate work. The display highlights Chavez’s contributions to model making and aviation history.
Edward Chavez (1917–2004) began his interest in aviation as a child in San Antonio, Texas. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1941 and served during World War II. After the war, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service and was commissioned to build aircraft recognition models while serving in the military reserve. During the Korean War, he served as a captain and received both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star.
Chavez’s reputation as a master model builder led to commissions from private aircraft owners and companies such as Piper Aircraft Company. In 1961, Edwin I. Power, Jr., one of the Nut Tree Restaurant’s owners and a pilot involved with developing Nut Tree Airport, saw Chavez’s work at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and commissioned him to build display models for the restaurant. Starting with an Aero Commander 500 model in 1962, Chavez produced numerous pieces over twenty-seven years, sometimes working with Robert Fogg.
The exhibition is located pre-security at the Aviation Museum on level three of the Dianne Feinstein International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport. It will run from October 25, 2025, through March 28, 2027. The museum is open daily from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM except holidays or special events.
SFO Museum was established by the San Francisco Airport Commission in 1980 with a mission “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.” Since its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums in 1999, it remains unique as an accredited museum within an airport setting.
Currently operating more than twenty-five sites throughout airport terminals—including fourteen galleries—the SFO Museum features rotating exhibitions covering art, history, photography, science, and culture. Its permanent collection includes over 160,000 objects related to commercial aviation history.
San Francisco International Airport aims to provide travelers with high-quality amenities that include sustainable design elements along with art installations such as those curated by SFO Museum.
