Warbirds Shine at Central Coast AirFest 2026

It gets busy at the end of the runway at Santa Maria, with two Planes of Fame P-51 Mustangs in wartime colors bracketing Vicky Benzing’s purple Mustang racer as they await the landing of the P-40C. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

There’s a stylized tradition and cadence to the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s annual warbird air show at Santa Maria, California. Groups of warbirds with some historical taxonomical relationship fly together, passing before the crowd with the roar distinctive of the engines powering them. Old hands return for it, new attendees come to appreciate it as a stirring spectacle.

Pleasant temperatures along California’s central coast facilitated a throng of attendees at the Planes of Fame air show in Santa Maria. Along a stretch of ramp, visitors inspect the warbirds just beyond a crowd barrier, and watch them fire up for flights. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

The air show’s organizers and their varied owner-pilot attendees break tradition each year based on the warbirds that come to this coastal California town, making some of the flying groupings unique to a particular year.

Herding Cats: Three pilots kept this trio of F6F Hellcat (bottom), F7F Tigercat (leading), and F8F Bearcat in formation for passes by the crowd at Santa Maria, depicting Grumman’s fighter design evolution in the World War II years. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

For the 2026 show, held Sept. 12-13 at Santa Maria Airport (KSMX), the presence of an early-model P-40C Tomahawk fighter caught the crowd’s attention. It was escorted in its daily tableau by the RAF-marked Kittyhawk and Parrot Head P-40N Warhawk flown in from Idaho’s Warhawk Air Museum.

Charles Somers’ P-40C shows the early nose contours of P-40s that served even before America’s entry into World War II. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

The Tomahawk, part of the collection of Charles Somers, is emblematic of an important segment in the warbird movement. Collectors with the capital to buy and restore rare warplanes share them with the public at events like this. Call it a pop-up of American culture or a flying art installation, the roving presence of increasingly expensive warbirds at public air shows gives us all a chance to see, hear, and appreciate historical machines that were considered extinct just a few years ago.

Another of Somers’ warbirds in attendance at Santa Maria was an FG-1D Corsair bought from Navy surplus by Ed Maloney, later flown in Canada, and rebuilt by John Lane’s Airpower Unlimited in Jerome, Idaho, a number of years ago. Its crisp rendition of late-war unit markings with white tail surfaces made for striking photo passes.

Inky Sea Blue camouflage on Charles Somers’ FG-1D Corsair hosts brilliant white unit markings circa 1945. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

Parked for the crowd to enjoy, and flown masterfully by Bernie Vasquez, this P-47G Thunderbolt is another jewel in the Charles Somers collection. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

On Friday, Sept. 11, the air show grounds were not open to the public. This was aircraft arrival and practice day, topped by a twilight air show for VIP sponsors of the event. On that day and through the weekend, performers, announcers, and the crowd were conscious of the somber anniversary of 9/11.

Coastal air at dusk is a perfect setting for Jason Somes’ MiG-17 in afterburner, trailing condensation streamers during Friday night’s VIP demonstration at the 2026 Planes of Fame Central Coast AirFest. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

Aarron Deliu scribed a smoke line across the sun in his dusk performance at the Central Coast AirFest’s VIP event Friday night. Deliu flies an Extra 330. Silhouetted beneath his airplane are a MiG-17, left, and a North American F-86 Sabre. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

Modern military flying was provided by a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey. A few days before the air show, the Air Force’s F-35 demonstration flight canceled its appearance.

One of the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s two P-51D Mustangs, Wee Willie II, waits beyond the TSA fencing while a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey performs during the Central Coast AirFest. (Photo by Barry Martin)

A Hawker Sea Fury, wings folded, receives maintenance attention as a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey motors past at Santa Maria. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

The Planes of Fame Air Museum staff and volunteers have evolved their classic warbird air show to accommodate the layout at the Santa Maria airport. Some readers will remember many years of Planes of Fame air shows at its Chino, California, location.

Planes of Fame flew a number of warbirds from its collection during the Santa Maria show, including a trio of World War II U.S. Navy warplanes, (left to right) the F4U Corsair, TBM Avenger, and SBD Dauntless. Farther right is a British Hawker Sea Fury. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

With a major expansion of the museum to Santa Maria’s flightline, this central coastal community, far from the bustle of greater Los Angeles, has become an annual destination for warbird enthusiasts.