Santa Maria Museum of Flight

Great little air museum, tons of small exhibits and gear and memorabilia. Enthusiastic and friendly staff / volunteers. Check out the 1930 pilot license signed by Orville Wright!

Nice little museum, takes a couple 3 hours to go through it.

Saddly, in our travels, the times the museum was open did not work out with our schedule. This is a smaller museum with a few aircraft on display outside along with an M113 apc. This museum, despite being small, has one of the coolest hangers to be housed in. The paintings on both sides of the museum, along with keeping what I can only assume is its 1940s facaued, makes it worth a stop on its own accord. Make sure to check out this museum as it is off the beaten path but worth a stop.

So wonderful! My son goto ride in a plane and go see the ocean, for free. We're going to go back and next time he and I will ride together(for a fair cost)😊

A great exhibit of aircraft, history of flight, history of Santa Maria in relation to aviation history, great docents, really nice exhibit. something for everyone in Santa Maria to explore.

Our Cub Scout Pack spent the morning at the museum. The guys working were so knowledgeable and did a great job wrangling a bunch of 9 year olds. The museum is full of Santa Maria’s history in the air. Great little stop for an hour or two.

Small and clean place. Staff was pretty knowledgeable about the place. Lots of stuff from the rockateer movie here since they filmed it here.

Nice place to visit when in Central Coast. Great for collectors and airplane enthusiasts. It is fun to walk around and see nostalgia and learn history. Free to enter but donation suggested.

A little flight museum here in Santa Maria. Technically I believe this place is free but they kindly ask for donations ($6 per person) if you can. They also accept credit card if you don't have cash. Museum itself, it's small but good. Easily can be done in 30 minute to an hour. There are 3ish sections and one being outdoors. You get to see real old airplanes outside and also in the hangar. There is a 3rd room after the outside section that could be missed so definitely make sure you look at everything. Overall it's good for what it is.

It's not a huge space, but the amount of airplanes and history they fit in here is absolutely stunning! They do not charge a set admission, by donation only. I would challenge you to count the numbers of airplanes inside the hanger, because I counted more than 50.

Oh how we loved this museum! We stopped here on our way back from Pismo Beach and enjoyed all the history and vintage airplanes. The had a meeting of maybe some airmen and women while we were there. It was very big and informative and fun for all. They had a separate hanger for Space flight history and I. Between the buildings were older mode planes. It was great! The kids couldn't believe they were up close to them. An army tank was also there. Great for pictures. The were proud that some parts of The Rocketeer movie was filmed there. Such a great blast from the last. If you get the chance stop by. There is a suggested donation of $7 per person I believe. Well worth it!! There is also a little shaded sit down area and a rose garden dedicated all the women of flight. Gift shop too!

It is nice to discover small museums while visiting an area. This one has displays in two buildings and the outdoor space in between. The docents are helpful and answer any questions. There is even a small gift shop for collectors. It makes a nice outing for kids of any age.

My boys love airplanes and they actually love this place. The guy that was there gave us a tour and told us about the history of Santa Maria. I'm not a history nerd, I thought this place was interesting and the stories that was told on this tour was not boring. My 2 years old and 6 years old listen and asked questions during the entire tour. If you have kids the same age as I do, it's hard to keep them still during any tour. This place is a must visit on the way to San Luis Obispo

If you love the Rocketeer, this is Mecca. Between the original Bigalow hanger and the second hanger with more props and aircraft, there's a lot to take in for a museum at a small town airport.

Worth the $5 of admission. So many cool things to look at. Especially the aviator paraphernalia. A must see in the otherwise nothing to do town of Santa Barbara

For being a small museum, they sure pack in lots of great models/instruments. The docents were informative and interesting! I would easily take guests there when I can convince someone to come visit me!

This is a tidy little museum located at Santa Maria airport. The exhibits are distributed among two hangars, with the larger aircraft displayed outside. 13 aircraft with lots of scale models and aircraft parts on display. Did not have enough tine to absorb all the exhibit information, but it was worth the $5 admission. I have seen a LOT of aviation museums and this one was pretty decent considering its size.

Fun aviation museum with great docents. There's something for everyone, whether you're interested in models & props used in Hollywood movies to women in aviation. There are two hangars featuring historic planes & display cases filled with all types of memorabilia dating from the early days of aviation up thru the space program. Plus several warbirds, trainers & experimental craft on display on the tarmac. It's a bit haphazard at times how all this is crammed into two small spaces, but you will get your money's worth with a visit. If you are a pilot, know that you can tell the tower you want to taxi to the museum & just park your plane outside.

Drove up here from LA, mainly to see some of the locations and props used in one of my favorite films "The Rocketeer", but was thrilled to see everything else. Mike, the guy who runs the place and does everything but "clean the toilets", is a great guy who gave us a private tour. He has a passion and history for every thing there and story to go along with it. Really made for a great little day trip. Thanks Mike!