Delaware Aviation Museum

Situated on the grounds of Delaware Coastal Airport, the Delaware Aviation Museum represents the crossover between local airfield operations and the preservation of twentieth-century aviation history. Established in 2004, the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation grew out of decades of restoration work by co-founder Larry Kelley, whose experience began in 1957 assisting with a UC-78 project. That restoration ethos still defines the institution: the museum occupies a substantial hangar and adjacent terminal spaces, giving it the character of a working facility rather than a static display hall. For military aviation enthusiasts, the value lies in seeing aircraft and related technology maintained within an active airfield environment, where engineering, maintenance, and operational concerns remain visible and immediate. The on-site Jeffrey L. Ethell Aviation Library, built around the noted aviation author’s personal collection of some 3,000 volumes, underpins the museum’s interpretive depth and research potential. Located a short distance inland from Delaware’s fortified coastline and sites such as Fort Miles, the museum fits into a broader regional story of airpower, coastal defense, and mid-Atlantic aviation development across the Cold War and postwar eras.