The Planes of Fame Central Coast Airfest is an innovative effort by the oldest warbird museum collection to leverage its crowd-pleasing warbirds at a venue that will host the museum’s new facility at Santa Maria Airport (KSMX) in California.
Boeing Model 81 trainer traded engines
In the late 1920s before the sobering effects of the Great Depression, aircraft and engine manufacturers tweaked and dabbled as they pursued the Next Big Thing.
Let the Spirit move you
When you first see the Spirit Engineering SE-1, it stops you in your tracks. It conjures airplanes from an earlier era that were designed for aerodynamic efficiency that did not forget art and beauty.
New Global War on Terror wing opens at Warhawk Air Museum
The new wing is a clear acknowledgement that history does not belong to a receding past alone, but is as current as those who served, and continue to serve, the armed forces of the United States in its efforts to counter terrorist activity.
Radical Japanese fighter overcome by events
The Kyushu Shinden first tested its wings on Aug. 3, 1945. Two more quick test sorties, said to have been made on Aug. 6 and 9, the dates when atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were the last flights for the Shinden. Six days later Japan surrendered, ending the war and the need for the Shinden.
Combat P-38 regenerated for a new century
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning nicknamed Jandina III made its post-restoration debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025, and returned home a Grand Champion.
Warbird Roundup 2025: Old, new, and evergreen
Like a popular band who know their audience’s demand for evergreen hits, the folks at Warhawk Air Museum repeat much of their successful formula each summer for Warbird Roundup at Nampa Municipal Airport (KMAN) in Idaho.
Ditching depended on design
War-time pilots were told ditching a B-17, P-51, B-24 and other warbirds was a “last resort.”
Horse race in the sky: Mustang racers at AirVenture 2025
P-51 Mustang unlimited air racers and their pilots enjoyed a round of appreciation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025.