Personal connections to history are what make museum work so special and life-changing, and we had a doozy last week here at the museum:
Leigh Terrass from Washington state contacted us a few months ago with a remarkable story about her mother, Jackie, who received her pilot’s certificate in 1936 at age 19. Leigh had recently been going through her mom’s old logbooks, and wondered if any of those airplanes were still around… Unlikely, but why not look? A quick search of the N-Numbers (registration numbers) of airplanes her mom flew, and lo and behold, up popped NC16262, the Kelch Aviation Museum’s 1936 Aeronca LB, airworthy and beautifully restored. Leigh contacted us right away and asked if there was any way she could sit in the airplane some day. Are you kidding – YES!

So last week, Leigh made a special detour to the museum during a trip across the country, and was reunited with the airplane that is a part of her heritage. She sat in the old Aeronca right where her mom Jackie had sat as a teenage pilot 88 years earlier, flying the skies of Cleveland. It was amazing to be able to look at Jackie’s original logbooks documenting her adventures with this very airplane when it was brand new – as a matter of fact, Jackie’s first flight in 16262 was July 16, 1936, when the airplane was only two months old. We hope that Leigh can take a flight in the Aeronca LB on her visit next summer and relive what her mom’s flights were like!

It’s stories like these that really hit home how history isn’t dusty, dead, or forgotten. The people we read about were very real, like Leigh’s mom Jackie, with real lives and dreams and loved ones who are directly connected to the Golden Age of Aviation. Thanks to support from people like you, the Kelch Aviation Museum has the honor of sharing these stories and connecting people with their own history in life-changing ways.

You can be a part of this important work, too – learn more about how YOU can make an impact at www.kelchmuseum.org/donation-intro