Newsmaker Q&A: Mike Leister

For Mike Leister, the job of running the Air Mobility Command Museum on Dover Air Force Base is sort of like being the old Roman god Janus: he’s always looking at the past while keeping a careful eye on the future.

Originally from Maryland, Leister, 60, came to Dover AFB with the C-5 aircraft in 1970. As an Air Force airman, he was part of a program that put the initial Galaxy airplanes through a rigorous series of stress and durability tests. He retired from the reserves in 1995.

But it was while serving in the reserves that Leister found his true calling.

Q How did the AMC Museum get started?

A Back then, it was hard to get people to enlist in the reserves, so I asked our commander if I could find an old aircraft to restore, something that would bring us some attention. We chose an old B-17G because I figured it would be easier to generate enthusiasm for that kind of plane rather than taking something no one knew about.

That plane was cut into 25 chunks. We had no instruction manuals to use and we had to figure out what was what, learning along the way. We worked on it for eight years and we got it into flying condition.

It was wonderful to see it take off and fly and I wasn’t too happy to see it gone. But by then we had a little museum going and had started working on other projects, like our C-47, so it wasn’t so bad.

Q Looking back, could you ever have envisioned that the museum would become so popular?

A When I was a kid, I collected Civil War stuff and took it on exhibits, so collecting wasn’t that much of a stretch. People say I have a pretty vivid imagination, so when we got started I could see the museum turning into what it is. But it’s become much more successful than what I had any right to expect.

Now I collect trench art, works made out of artillery shell casings, German beer steins and antique tools, plus pieces of rare airplanes like one belonging to Amelia Earhart or Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. My wife, Claudia, and I volunteer at Auburn Heights, near Yorklyn, where she’s a tour guide and I drive a steam locomotive that people can ride on.

Q Why are museums so important?

A You can look at pictures of anything, but if you want to see what the real thing did, like for example, a butter churn, you’d have to touch it and see it being used. A photo doesn’t replace the real thing. You can learn a lot from a book or from the Internet, but you have a whole different set of experiences from the real thing.

Q Why is the AMC Museum itself vital?

A We’re the only museum in the country specializing in airlift and air refueling. We fill a niche that no one else does. When planes first started flying, they could barely carry their pilots; our branch of history has shown where planes started carrying passengers and cargo, and that’s something definitely worth preserving.

Q What drives you as director?

A I enjoy going to work every day. Most of our staff are volunteers and they come to work because they enjoy it. I also enjoy a challenge. I could never work on assembly line; it would drive me crazy. Every single day here is something completely different.

Q With all the demands on your time, what’s your family life like?

A I’m ridiculously, happily married, and we have two grown daughters, Christine and Megan. As for pets, Claudia and I don’t have the time for them. We travel a lot and if you have pets you have to be able to take care of them. We play with the neighbors’ pets when we need a fix.

Q. Will you ever retire?

A I don’t have any real intention of retiring. I love what I’m doing and I have to keep working to keep traveling, because I love to travel.

Q You’re always so busy, but is there anything about you that people might not know?

A Occasionally, I do sit down!