Commemorative Air Force Aviation Museum at Camarillo Airport
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Located at the Camarillo Airport at 455 Aviation Drive, the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force has hangars devoted to preserving, maintaining, displaying, and flying World War II aircraft.
The Commemorative Air Force Southern California Wing Aviation Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays noon to 4pm. (As of January 2024.)
Donations requested of $15 for adults, $10 for ages 10 to 18, $5 for ages 6 to 10. Kids under 6 and active military are free (as of January 2024). Visit www.cafsocal.com or call 805.482.0064 for more information.
Also, take a vintage WWII airplane ride on the only remaining U.S. Navy/Marine Mitchell B-25 PBJ Bomber, the open cockpit Primary Trainer PT-19, the SNJ Texan and the Aircoupe. Details at www.cafsocal.com/warbird-ride-program.
Docents are enjoyable to speak with as they have a lot of history to share at this museum. Two 15,000 sq ft hangars and a 32,800 sq. ft. hangar complex serve as a Museum Hangar and a Maintenance and Restoration Hangar.
The Museum Hangar contains some of the many artifacts that are currently on display as well as a gift shop. It also houses any of the aircraft that are not away on a mission or undergoing maintenance. For safety reasons the maintenance hangar is not available for a walk-through, however visitors can observe any work in progress from behind a safety perimeter.
There are a number of aircraft on display, including several you can physically inspect, which is always fun to do with the kids. There are some interesting WWII exhibits on hand too.
The only authentic Marine BPJ-1J variant of the famed Mitchell B-25 Bomber. It flew into Camarillo from Midland, TX in 1993 for a 20 year restoration project. It is now flight-ready!
The Kakovlev Yak-3 is widely considered the lightest fighter aircraft between 1939 and 1945.
