The Santa Maria Valley’s decades of aviation history will gain another chapter with the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s expansion to the Central Coast, an addition officials believe will become an attraction.

Museum officials, city leaders, supporters and aviation pioneers gathered Thursday at the Santa Maria Public Airport for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the first phase of construction for the museum’s newest facility, using shovels sporting images of vintage planes.

“On behalf of the Santa Maria Public Airport District … welcome home,” said Nash Moreno, president of the district’s board of directors.  

With four buildings planned, the first phase calls for the construction of a 56,000-square-foot hangar on airport property south of the Santa Maria Radisson Hotel. 

Along with being a local civic amenity, the museum will act as a regional attraction for visitors, serve veterans, and enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, City Manager David Rowlands said.

“This museum will have a great economic impact with visitors staying in our local hotels, eating at the best restaurants in the Santa Maria Valley and purchasing souvenirs,” Rowlands said.

The museum also will serve students by enhancing their history lessons and becoming a source of inspiration, he added. 

“This future museum will build upon Santa Maria Valley’s rich aviation history,” Rowlands said.

That history took off in the late 1920s when Capt. G. Allan Hancock launched a private aviation school teaching pilots at the site of today’s Allan Hancock College campus. 

World War II saw the flying school become a government contractor, training more than 8,400 aviation cadet student officers over five years at the Hancock College of Aeronautics.

The site of today’s airport also served as the Santa Maria Army Air Base, home initially to B-25 Mitchell bombers that ended up being too heavy for the runways. That led to the site converting to training P-38 Lightning fighter pilots.

The Planes of Fame aircraft collection includes a P-38 Lightning plane once stationed in Santa Maria. 

“Aircraft from that era will also call Santa Maria home, not as relics but as living, breathing, flying testaments to the courage, skill and innovation that define this airport’s history,” Moreno said.  

Not far from the ceremony, three vintage aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang owned by Tom Cruise and flown in the 2022 movie “Top Gun: Maverick,” sat on the ramp nearby after landing minutes earlier. 

Museum leaders have worked for at least three years toward getting the project ready for the groundbreaking. 

Museum President Steve Hinton, now 73 and involved with the museum since age 7, has been familiar with Santa Maria. He served as one of the pilots involved in the Walt Disney Pictures film “The Rocketeer.”

“We’re committed to really making a world-class display here,” he said.

They also plan to work with the existing Santa Maria Museum of Flight to benefit both organizations. 

With the help of supporters, the Planes of Fame raised $12 million to fund the first phase of the Santa Maria project. Donors include Clay Lacy, business aviation pioneer and former air racing champion.

Lacy participated in the groundbreaking alongside with World War II pilot and Santa Ynez Valley resident James Kunkle Sr. plus Steve Hinton, also a former air racing champion and former world speed record holder.

Kunkle and his son, James Kunkle Jr., who died in 2022 but started the Central Coast Jet Center at the Santa Maria airport, built the first Planes of Fame hangar at the Chino location.

Planes of Fame started in 1957 with recent operations based in Chino and later Arizona. The museum has more than 150 aircraft and plans to relocate several dozens to the Santa Maria campus.

“At the heart of the Planes of Fame is our mission: to preserve aviation history, inspire interest in aviation, educate the public and honor aviation pioneers and veterans,” said Jane Hinton, the museum’s director of development. 

Building Alpha, at 56,000 square feet, will have a hangar to display World War II aircraft still capable of flying. North and south galleries will house exhibits on the golden era of aviation and air racing history. The project also will include an education center and a restoration center to maintain the flightworthy aircraft.

In the future, Buildings Bravo and Charlie will contain exhibits on early aviation, the jet age and more. The museum still has to raise funds for those buildings so completion won’t occur for a few years. 

Orcutt Academy High School science teacher Ty Fredriks shared about how a Skyward Bound program influenced his students when they met military pilots last year in conjunction with Central Coast AirFest.

“The look of awe and wonder as my students were watching these aviation professionals perform right over our heads at AirFest was truly one of the highlights of my teaching career,” Fredriks said. 

He added that meeting a female military pilot helped reinforce one of his student’s dreams that she could serve alongside them. Fredriks said the student intends to apply to the U.S. Air Force Academy. 

“I’m telling you, I can’t wait to watch this gorgeous museum quite literally take flight,” Fredriks said.