Dover, DE — Thousands and thousands of motorists take Del. 1 every day, and many of them pass by a point just south of the Dover Air Force Base near the exit to Del. 9. On one side is a man-made body of water. On the other, about two dozen planes sit on what looks like an unfinished runway.
Large planes, small planes, gray planes, blue planes — an eye-catching sight for passing drivers.
And although many appear operational and have “U.S. Air Force” painted on the side, these planes aren’t actually used by the men and women at the base — not anymore, at least.
Just to the north is the base, but this site is the Air Mobility Command Museum, a resting place for more than two dozen historic airplanes. Among the collection are a former Air Force Two, a Soviet biplane and the world’s lone C-5 Galaxy in a museum.
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 to 4, the AMC Museum is the only site in the United States dedicated to airlift and air-refueling.
Visitors might be surprised at the lack of security, but the museum isn’t on the base — it moved to the current location in 1996 after formerly residing past the base’s fences.
On Tuesday, the 29-year-old facility got a bit of an exterior face-lift. The new gate, located a couple hundred feet closer to the Del. 1, opened after two years of work, much to the delight of museum and base officials present at the ribbon-cutting.
“What a fitting entrance to a fantastic facility,” said Col. Kevin Gordon with the 436th Airlift Wing at the base.
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