Next to the runway at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport — in the airport's original terminal — sits the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, our focus this week on Give Back NH.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jeff Rapsis: It's part of our museum. The building itself is a part of a historic preservation effort that we maintain here at the Aviation Museum.
Jeff Rapsis is the director of the museum and says that preserving the vast history of aviation in New Hampshire is one of the primary goals.
Jeff Rapsis: New Hampshire has a lot of aviation history, and this goes all the way back to even before the Wright brothers. There's a lot of great stories to tell, and they need to be preserved and the museums is a good place to do that.
Steve Heffelfinger, volunteer archive manager for the museum, estimates that the archives contain over 5000 pieces, over 2000 of which have been inventoried.
Steve Heffelfinger: A lot of times what'll happen is it'll come to us through somebody's estate. His family has this large collection, they say "geez, what the heck are we going to do with it?" And they'll come to us and say, here, we've got this item or that item. And then we evaluate whether or not the potential donation is something we would like. Is it unique enough? Does it involve New Hampshire aviation?
One of the pieces of New Hampshire's aviation history that I saw during my visit was the first airplane built and sold in New Hampshire.
Chris Lippincott: That airplane was built by two cousins in Loudon, New Hampshire, 1929. Only two of those airplanes were ever built. This is the first and only one in the world. One of the fun stories about that particular plane is when it was donated to the museum, because it's so extremely rare, there were little blurbs on the radio, newspapers, TV, and somebody saw the tail number on it, 889W, and they said, oh my goodness, I know that number. And they went out into their barn. They had the wings. So the wings and the plane were reunited here after what, 70 some odd years.
No tour at the Aviation Museum is the same, volunteer Chris Lippincott says.
Chris Lippincott: I actually try and listen to what their interests are. Some people are interested in history, other people are interested in technology. So I'll try and tailor what I take them around to see, depending on those interests.
I've had World War II veterans who see the equipment they operated, the airplanes that they flew during the war. And we can talk about that. And I learn more from them than they're learning from me.
Jeff Rapsis: We also look to the future. Here at the Aviation Museum, we try and use the stories of the past to inspire young people to say yes, if people from New Hampshire could do it, then people from New Hampshire can do it today and tomorrow.
That look to the future is something Associate Director Leah Dearborn says was one of the reasons that interested her in the museum in the first place.
Leah Dearborn: I was interested in making it more accessible to students who might not otherwise be able to easily obtain their pilot's license, but also, you know, air traffic controlling is a great career or things that they they might not otherwise encounter, if you're just going through the public school system, you might not hear about these jobs.
Working with these students is one of the most rewarding parts of his job., says education director Nathaniel MacDonald.
Nathaniel MacDonald: To know that I'm really encouraging them to develop their knowledge base is excellent, and the fact that I'm continuously learning as well keeps me engaged.
