Aviation museum hosts open house
The Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation hosted a pancake breakfast and open house May 8 in its museum hangar at Delaware Coastal Airport near Georgetown.
After the weather cleared, several people who signed up for plane rides took to the air. Among the planes offering rides was the silver Panchito.
Panchito, a restored World War II B-25J bomber, is housed at the museum. Owned by Larry Kelley of Cambridge, Md., the historic plane flew 19 missions from its base on Okinawa over Japan in the final months of the war, including the final combat mission on Aug. 12, 1945, just before the Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15.
Over the next 50 years, Panchito – named for a feisty Mexican rooster in “The Three Caballeros” – was on display in several museums and served as an orange grove sprayer and mosquito bomber in Florida. In the early 1990s, restoration of the plane was done by Rich Korf. It was purchased by Kelley in 1997.
Today, volunteers help with maintenance and upkeep of the plane, which has become a showpiece at air shows.
Go to delawareaviationmuseum.org for more information about the foundation and museum.
