Explore the History of Aviation!
Doesn’t little Charlie look great in her new aviation helmet? We love sharing aviation with folks of all ages, and our kids area is full of hands-on activities for everyone. Come find yourself a helmet, enjoy our book collection, and explore the history of aviation! The museum is open 10am
Old Magazines with Michael John, no. 3: Airplanes Earning Their Keep
by Michael John Jaeger What does dropping pens out of an airplane in Europe in the 1930s have to do with the history of aviation in southern Wisconsin? Read on for some thoughts. Last month I looked at the U.S. air mail system in early 1922. Air mail was one
The Untold Story Of Bernard Pietenpol and Westy Farmer
On this date in 1901, Bernard H. Pietenpol was born. Considered the grandfather of the homebuilt airplane movement, BHP designed his 2-seat “Air Camper” in 1928 and powered it with a simple Ford Model A car engine. Watch Kelch Aviation Museum Archivist Hannah Shickles present “The Untold Story Of Bernard
Photography Archive
Take a peek into the museum’s photography archive with this beautiful unpublished large-format negative, donated by Pat Sparling! Our team first identified the aircraft as a Monocoupe model 70, but records indicate it is an earlier Monocoupe model 22 with a 60 h.p. Detroit “Air-Cat” engine, likely built in 1928.
Black History in Aviation
John C. Robinson, the Father of the Tuskegee Airmen, poses with a 1928 Alexander Eaglerock at the Waukegan Illinois flight school, Lake County Airways, in 1929. Robinson was a pioneering aviator and activist who went on to form the renowned aviation school for Black pilots at the Tuskegee Institute in
Name the Plane!
Name the plane! We had an amazing set of pictures donated today by Rick Schneider of Brodhead. His father Rudy was an Army mechanic before WWII and took a lot of pictures of the aircraft he worked on. While we don’t normally concentrate on military aviation, this batch of local
Waukegan Air Show of 1932
Here we see the Waukegan (Illinois) Air Show of 1932. Just think, all the airplanes in this picture are brand new! How many aircraft can you identify? Large format negative scan donated by Pat Sparling.