Travel Air 4000 Project
Ami worked on the exhaust manifold on the Wright J5 engine today, as progress continues on the museum’s Travel Air 4000 restoration! Restoration work is long, slow, and often tedious, but absolutely worth it. We are grateful to have vintage aviation restoration expert Kent McMakin on our team. Donate to
Blooper Reel
WE DID IT! Thanks to all of you, we met our $3,000 winter fundraiser goal … and you know what that means: The Blooper Reel has been published! So here it is, the long-awaited, often requested, much maligned, and hugely hilarious collection of outtakes from the museum’s video series and promos.
Final Hours
Only a few more hours left to donate to our $3K Blooper Reel fund drive Challenge! If we reach our $3,000 goal by tonight, we’ll publish the blooper reel. Sadly (but maybe fortunately?) the outtakes do NOT include any stunts or bloopers like the one in this photo… But we
Rose Parrakeet
We are thrilled to announce that Larry Steenstry of Elkhorn, Wisconsin has donated his original homebuilt Rose Parrakeet to the Kelch Aviation Museum. Based on the 1929 design, Larry built the ship in 1996 and has won numerous award at midwestern fly-ins over the years. Always the brave barnstormer, Larry
Ami & Hannah’s Blooper Reel Challenge
$3K Blooper Reel Fund Drive: Thought Ami’s videos were goofy? Loved Hannah’s outrageous extras? Well, hang on to your hats (and get out your wallets): For our winter fund drive challenge, Ami & Hannah will release their long-awaited, much-requested Blooper Reel – but only once we raise $3,000. Trust us,
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
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Take a peek into the museum’s photography archive with this beautiful unpublished large-format negative, donated by Pat Sparling!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