Aviation Museum of Kentucky
A Trip above all others
Looking for a reason to get out of the house? Need a destination that will interest all the members of your family and is inexpensive too? Visit this months “Day Trip from Berea,” the Aviation Museum of Kentucky!
| A unique
place, unknown to many Kentuckians, is right next door to the Blue
Grass Airport in Lexington. Ran almost completely by volunteers,
the Aviation Museum of Kentucky is home to many retired planes,
helicopters and engines; as well as, numerous planes ready for flight,
model airplanes and memorabilia from historic flights and famous
pilots. |
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When entering the Aviation Museum guests are greeted at the front desk and asked to sign the Guest Book. This allows a record to be kept of where guest to the Museum are from. According to their brochure, “Since we opened in 1995, we have welcomed visitors from all 50 states and 47 foreign countries.” While on the tour, a guide shared with us that he was showing a family around the museum when the mother suddenly turned to her children to inform them that the engine in front of them was the exact model that their grandfather worked on in Germany. Even though the museum is small in size it is full of unique and historically significant items.
The Museum itself is a large, single room, with more planes than imaginable in the size of the space. There are airplanes hanging from the ceiling, sitting in every corner and even a few outside that couldn’t fit in the museum. Guests can follow their “Self-Guided Tour” brochure around the museum or a volunteer will be happy to share their passion and knowledge of the museum. The “Self-Guided Tour” brochure has a small paragraph about each exhibit and methodically leads you around the museum so you are able to view each item. I preferred having a volunteer guide me around the museum. The volunteers are often retired air force pilots as well as lovers of aviation. They are very knowledgeable about the museum itself as well as each individual aircraft and its history before entering into the museum. However, I strongly recommend picking up a “Self-Guided Tour” brochure to at least take home with you. Each month the exhibits change and the museum is rearranged; the brochure is a unique record of the museum that month.
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A gift shop is also located next to the lobby, where items large and small can be purchased for any lover of aviation. Cameras are also sold at the gift shop, so if you forget yours, be sure to pick one up. Photograph’s of all exhibits are permitted and even encouraged.
The museum opened to the public on April 15, 1995. Since then, they have outgrown their allotted space and have plans for expansion within the next couple years. They have also started the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame, which has pictures and information on the inductees within the museum. The museum also sponsors an Aviation Summer camp. Children ages ten to fifteen are invited to register for a four hour session, three days a week. They will learn basic history of flight, why airplanes fly, meteorology, basic flight controls and they will tour the Blue Grass airport and control tower. At the end of the week, each individual child will get to aid a FAA approved pilot in flying a small plane to various airports around the central Kentucky area. Steve Parker, Executive Director of the museum, speaks very highly of the Summer Camp. He shared that in the past they have had students who were not interested in math or science, but liked airplanes and decided to attend the camp. Now, several of those previous campers are enrolled in Universities and studying aeronautical engineering. Parker believes that the camp provides a good knowledge base for students and helps them understand how important math and science is in the real world. The camp is taught by school teachers and airport employees.
The Aviation Museum is located on Hangar Drive off of Airport road. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am until 5 pm, and on Sundays from 1 pm until 5 pm. Costs range from $4.00 for adults to $2.00 for students and children under 6 are free. Anyone interested in more information can log on to their web site at www.aviationky.org or e-mail Steve Parker at sparker@aviationky.org
Aviation Museum of
Kentucky
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