The sounds of historic, and rare aircraft will soon be roaring above the Central Coast on a regular basis.
The Planes of Fame Air Museum, in the San Bernardino County community of Chino has announced plans to open a second museum at Santa Maria Airport.
"We in a nutshell have more planes than we can really fit in our hangars right now, so we need more hangar space," said Jane Hinton, who's the Director of Development for the museum. They have some planes stored at a facility in Arizona, but it isn't open to the public.
She says the search for a home for a second museum led the non-profit to Santa Barbara County.
Hinton says Santa Maria Airport is ideal. It’s nearly 2600 acres, with two active runways. There’s about 200 planes based at the airport, and one airline with limited flights. So, the skies in the Santa Maria Valley are much less crowded than they are at the current museum in Chino.
The non-profit is planning a complex of buildings. Initially, there will be a 56,000 square foot building.
It will also include offices, restrooms, and a gift shop. While plans for the new Central Coast museum are just being announced, a fundraising campaign has already raised more than $7 million of the the $12 million first phase.
Hinton says the new Central Coast museum will follow the same goals as the flagship Chino location.
"Our mission is to preserve aviation history, educate the public, and honor veterans and pioneers of aviation," said Hinton.
She says while they offer a number of different educational programs, the stars of the show are the museum’s historic aircraft. They range from World War one era biplanes to jet fighters from around the world. There are a number of rare U.S. World War Two era aircraft, like P-39, P-40, and P-51 fighters.
Some of the museum’s two dozen restored, and flying aircraft will be based in Santa Maria.
The museum official sees the new facility as a big new asset for Santa Barbara County.
"We'll have a lot of members who come out again and again, but it will also be good for drawing in tourists," said Hinton. She said people might come to the museum one day, and go wine tasting, or some other activities the next.
If all goes well with fundraising, permits, and plans, the goal is to start work around the middle of this year. The plan is to have the new Planes of Fame Museum in Santa Maria open by early 2025. But, even before that, the museum is planning to take a bigger role in Santa Maria Airport's annual air show.
