Kelley’s collection, included in the museum, began with memorabilia, including “many, many uniforms,” a voluminous aviation library and other wheeled vehicles, like a 1945 Jeep and a Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) motorcycle used in the European Theater. But the cornerstone aircraft of the museum, and Kelley’s most-prized plane, is a gleaming B-25J, christened Panchito. The B-25 is the medium-range bomber made famous by the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April of 1942, proving that America had entered the war in the Pacific in deadly earnest. Whenever the B-25’s gleaming silver fuselage soars through the air overhead, it is a testament to the beauty and deadliness of another era. Each flight is also a poignant reminder of sacrifice and loss. “Every time I fly the B-25, I think about all the young men who climbed in but never climbed out,” Larry said, his voice strained with emotion.
Educating the general public about not only “the tools of the Greatest Generation” but also the people who used them is the heartbeat of the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation’s mission. The museum is alive. Unique flight adventures, pilot training and the ground school offered by the museum are a visceral experience that ignites a passion for preserving the memory of a time that turned the tide of the 20th century and the selfless character of a generation.