THOMASVILLE — While walking among the row upon row of airplane engines at the Power of the Past Antique Aviation Museum, one of which dates back nearly 100 years, it is easy to have thoughts of the Red Baron or Snoopy’s Sopwith Camel.

An original 1917 poster enticing recruits to the U.S. Air Service also harkens back to that conflict.

With the Friday opening of the museum featuring aviation engines from 1910 to the 1960s, James Dekle will have the 56 engines and other memorabilia he has gathered over the years open to the public on a regular basis.

Previously the items have been on display for school field trips, during annual fly-ins and by appointment.

The collection is being housed in an Thomasville Regional Airport building after spending years in a World War II-era hangar that was torn down this year to make room for new corporate hangars.

“If you could put yourself in the position I’m in, renting that old hangar for 48 years, then to get an eviction notice,” he said. “The city sort of came to my rescue, especially (City Councilman) Roy Campbell, making this building available for me.”

Dekle acquired his first engine in the mid 1960s when a friend who was taking photographs for National Geographic magazine ran across an ancient airplane that had been abandoned by bootleggers. That engine, a 1918 Anzani built too late for use in the war, was in pristine condition because the Castor oil used in it preserved it even though the plane itself was falling apart.

The friend got permission for Dekle to take the engine, and a logging crew who had a truck with a wench got the engine out of the swamp for him.

“We realized if nobody started saving that, wouldn’t anybody know what they were,” he said of the engines.

Since then he has acquired engines from Spain and England, and even an old Volkswagen engine that had been converted to aviation use. The majority, however, are American-made by companies that went out of business long ago.

Many were donated, and Dekle also traded over the years to add to his collection, which also includes propellers and posters. In addition to those on display, he has another six at home that are not ready for display, as well as donated engines in Florida, Georgia and New Jersey that he has not had time to retrieve.

Dekle is relieved to have the engines in a climate-controlled environment.

“This is wonderful,” he said. “The old hangar was a mildew trap. It stayed wet. It was nearly impossible to keep them clean and prevent rust and corrosion.”

The museum will be open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Following the opening weekend, Dekle plans to have it open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays and from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Sundays and by appointment. There is no admission for the museum.



Reporter Alan Mauldin can be reached by calling (229) 226-2400, ext. 226.