Planes Of Fame Air Museum

Planes Of Fame Air Museum, doing business as Planes Of Fame, operates as a California-based nonprofit tax-exempt organization providing vintage military aircraft performance and static demonstration services to the Department of the Air Force as a prime contractor on full-and-open purchase orders, with no subcontract relationships and no participation in IDIQs, GWACs, or agency vehicles.

The vendor's federal footprint divides into two distinct streams. On the contract side, Planes Of Fame delivers airshow performance and static display services featuring restored World War II and Cold War-era fighter aircraft — P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts, P-51 Mustangs, F-86 Sabres, F-4U Corsairs, and SBD Dauntlesses — to Air Force commands at no set-aside. Recent examples include a $42,000 firm fixed price purchase order from Air Combat Command (awarded May 14, 2026) for dissimilar formation activities at Gunfighter Skies 2026 at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; a $32,450 order from Air Combat Command (April 16, 2026) for airshow performance and static display at the FY26 Legacy of Liberty Airshow at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; and a $30,900 order from Air Mobility Command (April 23, 2026) for static demonstration services at the Travis Air Force Base Wings Over Solano Airshow in Fairfield, California. On the grant side, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Planes Of Fame $1.2 million on September 1, 2026, under the Museums for America program (CFDA 45.301) to improve collections management and prepare its aircraft and artifacts for relocation to a new facility at Santa Maria Public Airport. The grant funds a collections assistant, consulting services, rehousing supplies, shelving, storage cabinets, and professional art handlers and crating services, with performance ending December 31, 2027.

Planes Of Fame concentrates almost entirely on the Department of the Air Force, with Air Combat Command alone accounting for ten awards and $163 thousand of combined potential value across the vendor's portfolio. The vendor's 27 total awards span twenty-one years (first award 2005), with activity clustering in recent years — five awards in 2026 alone. Of the 27 awards, one reaches completion within the next twenty-four months. NAICS concentration runs across Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (8 awards) and spectator sports and amusement categories, with Museums representing four awards.