Maryland airfield a working museum

When you first see it, the Corsair looks like it’s rising up from the airfield, ready for another World War II battle in the Pacific.

But it’s not. The plane, actually a full-scare fiberglass replica of a Corsair, heralds your arrival at the Massey Air Museum, just west of the Delaware-Maryland border. Mounted on a pedestal, the Corsair stands just a few feet away from a 1937 DC-3 — the real deal, not a doppelganger — done up in a 1940s-era military paint scheme.

But while you can find display cases of airplane models, aviation books and assorted memorabilia at Massey, these things are not the field’s main focus.

That, to no great surprise, is flying.

Massey Aerodrome is a working, breathing airfield, a bit of a throwback to a time when civilian aeronautics, buoyed by the wartime experiences of the nation’s former military pilots, really took off in the United States.

The airfield features a 3,000-foot turf runway that hosts up to 4,000 takeoff and landings per year. It is incorporated as a non-profit group dedicated to grassroots aviation in America.

Founded in 2001 on a former 93-acre farm, the organization is the brainchild of Jim Douglass of Kennedyville, Md., and three of his neighbors.

“We all are flight enthusiasts to varying degrees,” Douglass said. “At least two of the four of us are here every day.”

Massey does have that feel, a place where pilots can just get together and talk about their favorite hobby. But not everyone who hangs around the airfield is a pilot. Some are just like 15-year-old Anthony McKeown, who regularly rides his bicycle to the field from his Smyrna-area home.

“I really love airplanes and I love flying,” Anthony said. “So I started volunteering here.

“I do whatever they want me to — cutting grass, taking out the trash, or working on airplanes,” he said.

When it comes to the latter, Anthony joins Douglass and a number of other flying aficionados who keep the museum’s collection airworthy. Upon walking into the field’s terminal, one immediately catches the odor of paint, glue, oil and a myriad of other mechanical smells.

This part of the terminal is a workshop where Douglass is restoring a Stinson Reliant AT-19, the same plane he owned when he learned to fly as a teenager, and later sold. He bought the airplane again several years ago, stripped it down to its metal skeleton and is slowly making it flyable again.

And Douglass is not alone in his efforts. On any given day, the workshop is home to several small aircraft in various states of restoration; other planes are stored in two nearby hangars.

“There is so much breadth and depth to restoring an airplane,” Douglass said. “The purpose of this aerodrome is to keep old aircraft flying.”

To that end, Douglass and his compatriots are only too glad to escort the curious visitor through the museum and its workshops.

“We want to keep the sights, sounds and smells of the old rural airports for future generations,” Douglass added. “There was a lot of activity in those places. They were instrumental in making the transition from the Wright Brothers to today.”

The Massey Aerodrome, located at 33541 Maryland Line Road, Massey, Md., is open to the public for tours of its workshop, terminal and hangars from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, or by appointment.

Most of the aircraft are privately owned and are on display with permission of their owners.
To reach the aerodrome, call 410-928-5270, or visit www.masseyaero.org.

Some of the aircraft at the Massey Aerodrome
Aeronca Champ
Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly
Boeing Stearman PT-17
Cessna C-150
Piper Pacer PA22/20
Stinson Vagabond Pa15 (currently under restoration)

Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.