Discover Delmarva: Delaware Aviation Museum
GEORGETOWN, DE- The Delaware Aviation Museum is home to an impressive collection of historic aircraft. Founder and Executive Director of the museum, Larry Kelley, showed us around the museum, but there’s a stark difference between their museum and others. “The aircraft you see in here all still fly. We have some that’s in restoration. We have two other hangars here that we have aircraft in.”
In fact, the museum itself is more of a working museum, with planes much older than me- heck, older than my grandparents! They require constant maintenance to be in pristine flying condition. So what possesses someone to start not just a museum, but a living and breathing one that actively engages people in the history of aviation? Kelley states, “We were talking about all the airplanes and books and aviation memorabilia that I collected. And somebody said you ought to start a museum. I said yea sounds like a great idea- but I don’t want to have something we’ll have to charge admission on.”
This living history’s focal point is centered around their B-25 “Panchito” that you’ll often see in the skies around Delmarva during the summer. So when you have a World War Two era plane right in front of you. You have to climb on board, right? Easier said than done…. Without banging my head, I boarded this storied plane and got to sit front seat. It felt surreal looking out and looking down at this piece of technology so advanced for the time, it can still fly today. I also got to check out the rear of the plane and where the crew would have been positioned during its time in service.
While the museum itself is very much still a workplace. The knowledge and history of these aircraft and their stories are preserved in their expansive collection of books in their library. Kelley says all of this is meant to inspire another generation of aviation enthusiatsts “This is our history- this is our aviation history, and with all of this comes the stories. You know those young airmen- who volunteered putting themselves in harm’s way.”
To plan your visit or to find out how you can support the museum, check out their website.
