Touring the Vintage Aircraft at the Eagles Mere Air Museum

Northeastern Pennsylvania is an area known for its amazing outdoor activities. However, if you’re looking for something different to do, don’t like outdoor activities, or are simply trying to pass the time on a rainy day, the area is also home to many great museums. One of these is the Eagles Mere Air Museum.

Located halfway between the tiny boroughs of Eagles Mere and Laporte in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, the Eagles Mere Air Museum is one of the more impressive private collections in the state.

That’s right, the Eagles Mere Air Museum features the collection of one man, George Jenkins. Jenkins started the museum in 2008 at his private airport, Merritt Field, which he opened in 2001.

If you’re lucky, you might be able to watch some of the museum’s historic airplanes taking off or landing here. It might be hard to believe, but despite all the planes in the collection being at least 60 years old, almost all of them are still flown on a regular basis.

That makes the Eagles Mere Air Museum a wonderful living museum of early aviation history. And, while a few planes may be zipping above you, most of the planes are located inside the Eagles Mere Airport’s four hangers, which are located right next to the runways.

The Eagles Mere Museum is home to roughly 30 vintage aircraft, with a focus on aviation between the World Wars. Many of the airplanes at the museum are the best remaining examples of their particular model, with several being the only remaining one.

Truthfully, I don’t know enough about airplanes to understand all the ins and out of the different models or what makes each one special, but it’s clear that the workers at the museum do have a passion for vintage aircraft, and your tour through the museum is sure to be incredibly informative.

The types of planes at the museum range from airmail planes, biplane racers, and even early commercial aviation planes that sit half a dozen passengers. Each plane is unique and it’s interesting to hear how the planes were used and what steps are being taken to restore them and keep them operating.

In addition to the incredibly impressive aircraft collection, the Eagles Mere Air Museum has a fantastic collection of airplane engines.

Their earliest engine dates back to 1905 and is the last working model of that engine in the world. Looking at how the engines changed over the years gives a great look into how quickly aviation changed during its first few decades of existence.

The museum is also home to a small collection of vintage airplane memorabilia as well as several trucks that date from between the wars.

The Eagles Mere Air Museum really surprised me for both the amazing quality of the airplanes and their great collection. Anyone visiting Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, with any interest in vintage aircraft of machinery should definitely take an opportunity to check it out!

While at the museum, don’t miss the Eagles Mere Auto Museum, which is located directly adjacent to the air museum. You can even get a combined ticket to visit both on the same day! And, if you want to explore even more, check out the nearby Eagles Mere Museum which tells the story of the area.

Note: My visit to the Eagles Mere Air Museum was hosted by the museum. However, the opinions expressed are my own.

Check out a few more of my favorite seasonal museums in Pennsylvania.