During Kelch Aviation Museum tours, it’s a challenge to fit the rambling, tangential, sometimes wacky story of the Golden Age of Aviation into an hour or less, for visitors who may have never seen an airplane up close or kids who don’t fully understand the concept of history. Our guides, mostly volunteers, have curated ingenious ways of illustrating these stories, and some of the key points our tours currently touch on include the development of airmail (and how that paved the way for passenger airlines, navigation, and infrastructure), the homebuilt aircraft movement (and how it was influenced by the great depression), and the “Lindbergh Boom” of the late 1920s, to name a few. 
A recent addition, however, is the Golden Age of Air Racing. Although the Kelch collection includes only one racing plane, a homebuilt biplane from 1935 that needs restoration, we do have a Menasco Pirate engine on display, lots of original artwork and other media, and many models related to racing. Realizing we hadn’t devoted much specific attention to this broad topic, the museum’s Chief Curator, Hannah Shickles, made a new video this winter highlighting the ways air racing in the 1920s and 1930s shaped aviation.
In spite of their seemingly narrow focus – speed and spectacle – air races shaped every part of aviation. In addition to pushing developments in engine technologies and aircraft designs, the golden age of air racing had a huge impact on cultural awareness in the United States, and this shaped how the American public viewed aviation.
Thousands of regular people would gather to watch these racing events, and in an era when aviation was new and often considered dangerous, this mass exposure was a major factor in increasing public trust in aviation. This in turn bolstered the success of new aviation industries: Support and infrastructure for passenger airline travel, airmail, aerial photography, and even military aviation grew steadily throughout the 1920s and 30s, ultimately preparing the USA for WWII and the Jet Age.
The tricky part of museum work isn’t finding content, it’s narrowing down and choosing which stories to tell! I encourage you to watch Hannah’s full video to learn more about air racing and how it changed aviation.
The Kelch Aviation Museum will be open by appointment only until March 1st, while we install new exhibits and prepare for the 2026 season. Please check our website for updates! We look forward to welcoming you and sharing other fascinating stories of aviation and innovation.
