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Recognizing the 20th Anniversary of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky

Floor Speech

By: Andy Barr
By: Andy Barr
Date: April 15, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Science Arts, Entertainment, and History

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky.

In 1978, a group of dedicated aviation enthusiasts founded the Kentucky Aviation Roundtable in Lexington, Kentucky, with the mission of preserving the legacy of the aviation and aerospace industries in the Commonwealth.

Through dedication, persistence, and the support of several generous benefactors, the Roundtable achieved its goal with the opening of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, on the grounds of Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, on April 15, 1995. Today, the Museum is an educational resource for central Kentucky: hosting exhibits, lectures, and events related to aviation and aerospace history, design, and engineering.

The Museum's grand opening ceremony doubled as a reunion for survivors of the Doolittle Raid, honoring the airmen's sacrifices on April 18, 1942 as the first mission to strike the Japanese homeland following the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

Since that inaugural event, the Museum has continued to recognize men and women in the Commonwealth for their outstanding achievements in the fields of aviation and aerospace, establishing the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Museum looks not only to the past, but also to the future, inculcating a love of flying and engineering in Kentucky's youth by hosting Aviation Summer Camps throughout the Bluegrass. These programs have benefitted 5,360 young Kentuckians, encouraging them to pursue careers in aerospace industries.

Today, Kentucky's top export category is aerospace and the Commonwealth's universities are becoming leaders in the fields of manned and unmanned flight systems. The Aviation Museum of Kentucky helped foster this flourishing industry in our state and will continue to inspire future generations of aerospace workers in the Bluegrass.

As the Representative for the Sixth District of the Kentucky, I ask my colleagues in the House to join me in celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. Furthermore, I encourage my fellow Kentuckians to visit and take pride in this institution and its preservation of the aviation and aerospace heritage of the Commonwealth.

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