Larry D. Kelley
DAV Flight Team lead
Honorary Doolittle Raider
Formation Flight Organizer
5800 Flying Hours/12 WWII Airframes
Executive Director of the Delaware Aviation
Museum Foundation
Larry D. Kelley Larry is from Enterprise, Alabama, but makes Maryland/Delaware his home now. He first started flying with his Uncle at the age of 9 when he rode his bicycle to the airport to wash and wax planes for rides. He earned his pilot certificate 42years ago and quickly added multiengine, commercial and Instrument ratings. He currently has accumulated 5,800+ hours flying experience mostly in over a dozen different WWII era
ex-military aircraft. He has appeared on both the History Channel and Military Channel and written many articles for aviation magazines. He was the technical and historical consultant for the Missions that Changed the War: The Doolittle Raid television documentary. Larry was the first civilian pilot to fly a tributeover Arlington Cemetery after the airspace was closed due to the Sept.11th attack.
He has flown as lead or coordinated multiple flyover events for notable WWII pilot's burial ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery and across the country. The last of these was the flying tribute of both WWII aircraft and F-15's for the burial of Dick Cole, the last of the Doolittle Raiders. He has organized large B-25 formations for the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders reunions for the past 24 years, including the largest public flight of B-25's since the end of WWII. The
Doolittle Raiders named him an “Honorary Doolittle Raider”. For 12 years Larry has represented the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) as the DAV Flight Team lead at over 120 air shows across the country. He, along with country music star Aaron Tippin, were the stars of the television documentary 'Fighting Back'.
He is the co-founder and executive director of the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation. Larry, along with John Kenney, started the Wings and Wheels event at the Delaware Coastal Airport over 20 years ago as a free event to the public. Partnering now with the local Chamber of Commerce, the event is the largest publicly attended event in southern Delaware. As part of the Wings and Wheels event, the foundation co-hosts an Aviation Education Day for local high school students to introduce them to careers in Aviation.
