Day 36: Flying High

We had no idea of the scope of Dayton's connection to all things aviation. We knew the Wright brothers were locals and that they'd been honored in the naming of a big Air Force base in the area. But that doesn't begin to paint the picture!

The Wright brothers' printing shop and one of their bicycle shops have been incorporated into an excellent national park site. In the visitor center, we learned that they were never educated as engineers or in the scietific method, and yet they maintained a meticulous process of documenting their development of a flying machine. Not only were they highly intelligent, they also were incredibly dedicated and driven in their commitment to breaking the mystery of flight. There were great hands-on exhibits that helped all four of us better understand the concepts of drag, lift, yaw and other crucial elements of flying. We also learned that Dayton has an extensive history of inventors besides the Wrights...in the late 1800s, the city had more patents per capita than any other in the country. Fertile ground for the Wrights.

On our way to the National Museum of the U.S.Air Force on the Wright-Patterson base, we stopped at the Wright Brothers Memorial, erected in 1940, overlooking the field on which they achieved controlled flight (as opposed to the gliding success in Kitty Hawk) in 1905 and then perfected their powered flight machines. It's amazing to consider it as the world's first airport.

The Air Force museum stunned us; wish we'd had a lot more time to better explore the amazing collection of planes from every era of military use. Some have dramatic and sad stories, while others have virtually no history, being prototypes or terminated programs. We saw the plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, many bombers that saw critical tours in all the wars, and an enormous C-124 cargo plane that seemed as large as a football field. Perhaps the most memorable of all were the presidential planes. The collection includes Kennedy's Air Force One, which carried his body back to Washington and in which Lyndon Johnson was sworn into office; Truman's "Independence," in which he flew to Wake Island for a high-stakes meeting with Gen. MacArthur; and Eisenhower's "Columbine 3." Interestingly, Kennedy was the first President to not bestow a personal name on the main aircraft in his fleet.

We ended our time at Wright-Patt. with an IMAX film; it featured four individuals from various military branches who participated in rescue efforts in Haiti following the earthquake. Its title, "Rescue," was a bit confusing for Kendall...she asked if Penny and Madame Medusa were going to be in it (from Disney's "The Rescuers")!  It was a long day, but we didn't want to waste our chance to see these important places. Tomorrow, western Pennsylvania.

In the cockpit of a fighter jet

FDR's plane

A plane used by Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon and Johnson (and Stan?!) for domestic trips.

Truman's "The Independence"