Recognizing The Aviation Museum Of Kentucky

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise to recognize and congratulate the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, the official aviation museum of the Commonwealth, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. The museum, located at 4316 Hangar Drive at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, KY, first opened its doors on April 15, 1995.

The Aviation Museum of Kentucky has welcomed guests from all 50 States and from over 80 foreign countries. It serves as an educational and cultural resource for my State and for the Nation, focusing on aviation history and the important roles many Kentuckians have played in it.

The museum's exhibits attract approximately 10,000 students each year to learn about the science of flight. Through the study of aviation, students learn about math, physics, geography, and more. They also learn about the history of aviation.

The museum educates young people about potential careers in aviation and the importance of the aviation industry, which supports thousands of jobs in Kentucky. Pilots, mechanics, engineers, flight controllers, meteorologists, and more are all spotlighted.

The Aviation Museum of Kentucky holds summer camps to give 10- to 15-year-old Kentuckians a hands-on introduction to flight. To date, they have engaged with over 5,000 youth to help them explore aviation, aerospace, and the possibility of productive and fulfilling careers in the field. Students learn from professional educators and go aloft with licensed instructors. And thanks to the museum's scholarship program, nearly one-third of all campers attend at no charge.

In 1996, the Aviation Museum established the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame to recognize famous Kentuckians in aviation. To date, 45 Kentuckians have been honored. The Hall of Fame pays homage to Kentuckians like Matthew Sellers of Carter County, who gave us retractable landing gear; Solomon Van Meter of Lexington, who gave us the lifesaving pack parachute; and Noel Parrish of Versailles, who flew with the legendary Tuskegee Airmen.

The museum also hosts historic aviation events, giving the public the chance to see in person restored and vintage aircraft. Thousands each year come to view them. And the museum hosts quarterly lectures with speakers from around the world who come to share their stories.

The Aviation Museum of Kentucky was founded by the Kentucky Aviation Roundtable, a group of aviation enthusiasts that was first organized in 1978 in Lexington. The group worked for nearly two decades to see the dream of an aviation museum become reality, and now the Aviation Museum of Kentucky is a great asset to the State, to the industry, and to the Nation.

So I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Aviation Museum of Kentucky and the many fine Kentuckians who run and support it. I am proud of all they have achieved in 20 years, and I look forward to many more years of excellence from this unique Kentucky institution. I wish the Aviation Museum of Kentucky many more years of continued success.

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