Jim Bray Speaks
Historic impact of Aviation on Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley


Jim Bray not only informed a gathering of about seventy people at the Oasis Center January 28th who came to get an update on the Planes of Fame Air Museum, but he offered a fascinating history on the part the local airport has had in World War II and Hollywood movie history.
​ Bray worked for Union Oil for over two decades and is well versed in oil production and Orcutt history. He is now working part-time for the Planes of Fame organization…currently relocating from Chino, California to the Orcutt area.
Groundbreaking for the first phase for the Planes of Fame Museum at the Santa Maria Airport is set for Thursday, February 20. The 57,000 square foot building includes a gift shop, lecture room, administrative offices, a catering kitchen and large exhibit room housing a part of the museum’s extensive collection of 160 aircraft from World War II and earlier, 35 of which are certified air worthy. Bray says $11.7 million has been donated toward the $12 million dollar goal for the first phase of the museum. The second building of the first phase will be a 13,000 square foot restoration building operated by Steve Hinton, president of Planes of Fame.
​ Eventually there will be four hangars with display areas, a research library, workshop and storage.
For the past five decades, Planes of Fame has been in Chino, California. Bray says the museum was the brainchild of Edward Maloney who had the foresight to purchase World War II aircraft being sold for scrap. “He very wisely purchased these historic planes for pennies on the dollar,” Bray recounted.
Maloney opened his first aviation museum in Claremont in 1957, with ten aircraft, the first aviation museum on the west coast. The museum relocated to the Chino airport in 1971.
Bray explained that Planes of Fame aircraft are often utilized in movies. There were several location shots of Santa Maria in the 1957 movie “The Spirit of St. Louis” starring Jimmy Stewart, a re-telling of Charles Linberg’s historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean and landing in Paris, France. One scene offers an interesting view of the Allan Hancock Aeronautic School that was built in 1929. Several scenes in the 1991 Disney movie “The Rocketeer” starring Bill Campbell were filmed at the local airport.
​During last October’s AirFest, coordinated for the second year by Planes of Fame personnel, the P-51 owned by filmmaker and actor Tom Cruise was on display. Bray says the plane was featured in the film “Top Gun-Maverick” and is in ‘pristine’ condition. He is hoping Cruise will again allow the plane to be on display at this year's AirFest in October.
The World War II P-38 fighter and the Santa Maria Airport
The P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of the Army Air Forces during WW II and its training base was the Santa Maria Airport. The plane was the only American fighter aircraft in large scale production dating from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the victory over Japan. Bray says the pads where the P-38s were stationed are still visible on the west side of the airport near the mobile home park. He says the Santa Maria airport logo has an image of the P-38, “because of the importance of the plane to the community.”
It is anticipated that when the museum is complete, the P-38 will be re-located from Chino to Santa Maria.
An interesting plane that was on display and flew last year at the AirFest was the twin engine deHaviland Mosquito or “Wooden Wonder.” The British made plane has a wooden fuselage. Bray says during a sortie over Berlin on the tenth of January 1944, exactly ten years after Hitler assumed power in Germany, the Mosquito bombed the radio station that Hermann Goring, Hitler’s second in command during much of the war, was broadcasting. The station was knocked off the air. Goring escaped.
Among the programs Planes of Fame offers are “Hangar Days.” The programs review the different aspects of history of aviation and aircraft.
Bray estimates the Planes of Fame Museum will generate substantial revenue to the Santa Maria Valley including spending at hotels, restaurants, other businesses and at the museum, based on the economic impact on the Chino area.
Jim Bray has served on the Allan Hancock Foundation, Honorary Commander at Vandenberg Space Force and has been honored by the Santa Maria Chamber as Citizen of the Year. Steve Southwick reporting