A Journey through Aviation's Heritage

You may know that airplanes and flying are in my blood. My father was a C-47 pilot in Europe during World War 2, dropping paratroopers and towing gliders in the D-Day invasion, Battle of the Bulge, and other conflicts. Around 1947, he got a job with North American Aviation in Los Angeles, flying the company's C-47 and eventually progressing to production test pilot, flying fighters like the F-86 and F-100. He worked with the legendary airshow pilot Bob Hoover in customer relations at NAA, and was in the thick of the experimental test flying culture of the 50s and 60s, hobnobbing with notables like Chuck Yeager, the Doolittle Raiders, and a variety of astronauts, admirals, and generals.

But those are stories for another time. Suffice to say I was inoculated with aviation at an early age, so it was only natural my bucket list include a visit to where it all started--Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright Brothers. A bonus and another reason for the trip is the Museum of the U.S. Air Force, my first stop.

MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

The museum has about 350 air and space vehicles crowded into four enormous hangars, each displaying one or two historical periods. 

I started with

THE EARLY DAYS

Wright 1909 Military Flyer

Curtiss 1911 Model D

                   Glenn Curtiss and the Wrights were rivals and embroiled in a patent lawsuit for years. Ironically, the companies they founded merged in 1929, forming the Curtiss-Wright Corporation that continues to this day.

Italian Caproni bomber

German Fokker D.VII

Boeing P-26A "Peashooter" trainer

Then on to

WORLD WAR 2

Douglas C-47D Skytrain with CG-4 glider above it. The civilian version of the C-47 was the DC-3, a revolutionary airliner for its time. My grandmother worked at Douglas aircraft in Santa Monica, one of the places the C-47s my dad flew were built. A couple hundred of them are still flying.

Graduation of WW2 air cadets

Paratroopers boarding a C-47

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, an early fighter used in the Souh Pacific and Asia as well as Europe.

Flying Tiger emblem of the 23d Fighter Group that flew the P-40.

Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle with the captain of the USS Hornet. Doolittle led 16 B-25s that took off from the Hornet in April 1942 to attack Japan, a big national morale boost after Pearl Harbor.

Each of these goblets are inscribed with the name of one of the 80 Doolittle Raider crew members. When one had passed away, his goblet was turned upside down at the annual Raider's reunion. The final goblet ceremony was held in 2022 to commemorate Dick Cole, Doolittle's copilot, who died at age 103.

North American B-25B Mitchell

Boeing B-17F "Memphis Belle" which became
famous when it and its crew toured the US after
completing 25 combat missions in Europe.

B-17 ball turret. The Randall Jarrell poem "Death of
the Ball Turret Gunner" was posted in front of it.

North American P-51D Mustang. Before the arrival of long-range
escort fighters like the P-51, B-17s suffered as much as a 50%
loss rate on missions into Europe.

British Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc. Along with the Hawker
Hurricane, the Spitfire was key to winning the Battle
of Britain in 1940. Of the pilots, Churchill said "Never in the field of
human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Messerschmit Me-109, along with the
FW-190, was one of the primary fighters of 
the German Luftwaffe.

Luftwaffe Me-262 jet fighter introduced near the end of the war. My dad saw one of these while coming back from a mission and was very glad its pilot either didn't
see him or was on his way home too.

Curtiss C-46, famous for "flying the Hump" over the
Himalayas to supply China. (You may have seen one
in the TV show "Ice Pilots" too. In front is a FW-190.

Yokosuka MXY7 kamikaze rocket bomb

Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" that dropped the atomic weapon on Nagasaki

Let's take a break from those sobering images and go to

THE WRIGHT BICYCLE COMPANY

Riding a turn-of-the-century rage, Orville and Wilbur Wright got into the bicycle business and had their shop in several Dayton locations--they chased the best rent like anyone else. This building has been restored as the shop looked at the time. It was here the brothers honed their mechanical skills and nurtured ideas on flight.  

the neighborhood

the street is paved with bricks

Back to

THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM--KOREA

This is when my aviation memories started. Dad test-flew F-86s like this one when they came off the production line. If I had to pick my favorite plane of all time, the F-86 with its sleek simple lines, would be it.

North American F-86A Sabre

the huge C-124 Globemaster transport

The North Korean pilot of this MiG-15 defected
and flew it to South Korea in 1953.

The F-82B Twin Mustang looks like two
P-51s stuck together but it's a completely different airplane.

Lt Col Chappie James, here beside his P-51, later became
the first Black brigadier general. One of dad's acquaintances.

Next up:

SOUTHEAST ASIA (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)

I didn't go there during my short stint in the USAF, but there were some pretty cool airplanes.

McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phantom II

I could tell some stories about Robin Olds
from when he was commandant of cadets at the
AF Academy while I was there, but another time.
Regardless, he became an Air Force legend. My dad 
tried to get me set up with his daughter, but no go.

General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark

Republic F-105D Thunderchief

North Vietnamese MiG-21PF

North American F-100F Super Sabre
Dad test-flew these and once did an airshow for me.
My grandparents' response to me was "Be quiet,
he'll go to jail."

Lockheed EC-121D behind the F-105

Fairchild C-123K Provider

Douglas A-1E Skyraider

Boeing B-52D Stratofortress
North American T-28B Trojan above

North American OV-10A Bronco
Used for forward air control then and to direct
firefighting now. Another favorite of mine.

Let's take another break for

CHAMPAIGN AIR MUSEUM, URBANA OHIO

This museum highlights Ohio contributions to WW2, and one hangar is devoted to aircraft restoration.

Douglas C-41, the only one built (1938) and precursor
to the C-47 that was widely used in WW2. It was the 
personal aircraft of Hap Arnold, chief of the Air Corps.

Stinson Voyager in Civil Air Patrol livery. In the early years
of WW2, CAP aircraft like this patrolled the US coasts
looking for German submarines.

After WW2, this B-25J was used for firefighting 
until the late 1980s, then returned to its wartime
livery by the museum.

B-17G being restored/rebuilt. Many of the parts
are being fabricated from scratch.

Back to

AIR FORCE MUSEUM--COLD WAR

Powered by six giant piston engines and four jet
engines, this 1950s-era Convair B-36J still has the longest
wingspan of any Air Force aircraft. Look closely for
the Cessna 172 under its wing.

This Civil Air Patrol Cessna 172 was the only
civilian aircraft flying on Sept. 12, 2001--the crew
took an iconic photo of the  smoking ruins of
the World Trade Center. CAP is the volunteer
auxiliary of the Air Force. Here's a video of
the plane's dedication and crew members
describing what they did on 9/12, with
photos taken from the plane.

Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter

Lockheed SR-71A high
altitude reconnaissance

Convair B-58A Hustler supersonic bomber

F-16A--what the Thunderbirds currently fly.
A display next to it highlights women who have
been on the team. 

Boeing RB-47H Stratojet

Soviet Sukhoi Su-27

Republic A-10A "Warthog" 

Rockwell/North American
B-1B Lancer

McDonnell-Douglas F-15C Eagle

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger interceptor

MISSILE GALLERY

houses a collection of early and recent ballistic missiles. In the early 80s I worked on Stage 4 of the "MX" Peacekeeper missile (the black one). We sometimes called it the "rubber rocket" since it was coated with a rubber-like material for protection. I saw a test launch at Vandenberg AFB and some engine tests at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana facility.

On to the

WRIGHT BROTHERS MUSEUM

The Carrillon Historical Park in Dayton has a museum dedicated to the Wrights. I got a 1-person tour with a docent who filled me in on the family and local context.

The brothers designed and tested airfoils in a wind tunnel, and also on a bicycle. Movement of the horizontal bike wheel told them how the airfoil would perform. This is one way they discovered that Otto Lilienthal's lift equation they'd been using was off.

The Wright Flyer III, the first practical aircraft. The Flyer they'd
flown at Kitty Hawk only went in a straight line. It took many
more design changes and flying hours to perfect the control
needed for turning, landing, and taking off.

For one of their demonstration flights, Orville
was to circle in Statue of Liberty in New York.
He couldn't swim, though, so what if he went
down in the water? The solution was to put
their canoe on the bottom of the Flyer,
said to be a precursor to seaplanes.

The Wright Company factory was the first
manufacturer of airplanes. It was slated to 
become part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage
National Historical Park, but a fire delayed it.

In 1910, Orville finally took his father for a ride.

AIR FORCE MUSEUM--R&D

The rocket-powered X-15 (foreground) with external
fuel tanks and XB-70 (background). Three X-15s were built for
high-altitude hypersonic research. I still have
the LA newspaper headlining a world speed record.
The X-15 still has the record at Mach 6.7 (4520 mph) 
at 102,200 feet altitude.

You're not supposed to touch the airplanes, but
the X-15 had been such a part of my childhood
imagination, I had to reach across the
barrier and put a finger on its nose.

Likewise the XB-70 had loomed large for me. 
Designed as a Mach 3 bomber, only two were
built for research purposes. It was too high
to touch anything but the tires, but I sat with 
both these planes for a long while
just letting it all sink in.

X-5 (front) and X-4 research aircraft.
An X-4 sat in the Air Gardens at the AF Academy during
 the years I was there, and no one really knew how it got there;
the Class of '67 was suspected.

Bell P-59, first US jet aircraft

Bell X-1B, follow-on to the X-1A
that Chuck Yeager took past the
sound barrier in 1947.

McDonnell XF-85 Goblin,
designed to hang in the bomb bay
of a B-36 and launch to 
protect the bomber.
Didn't happen.

Apollo 15 command module
(all-AF crew)

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSPORT

The R&D Gallery shares a hangar with several iterations of Air Force One, from Roosevelt's administration through Carter.

VC-54C "Sacred Cow," 
 that carried FDR and Truman.

VC-118 "Independence" named for Truman's
home town in MIssouri.

VC-121E "Columbine" named for Colorado's
state flower by Eisenhower in honor of
his wife, Mamie.

VC-137C, a modified Boeing 707. Jackie
Kennedy designed the paint scheme.

LBJ was inaugurated on this plane after Kennedy's assassination, and these seats
were removed to transport Kennedy's casket back to DC.

HUFFMAN PRAIRIE FLYING FIELD

A breath of fresh air...

After their first powered flights at Kitty Hawk NC, the Wright brothers had a lot of work ahead to develop a dependable, fully 

controllable airplane. In April 1904 they started testing the Flyer II

at this field, with permission from the owner, a local banker, Torrence Huffman. About 150 flights in 1904-1905 led to the Flyer III, considered the first practical airplane.

The Wrights had to partly disassemble the Flyer
to fit it in their hangar.

Replica of catapult rail used to launch the Flyer.

The Wright Company started the world's first

flying school at Huffman Prairie in 1910. Is this the foundation?

Huffman Prairie is also an Ohio Natural Landmark,
one of the few remaining stands of undisturbed prarie.
Buildings of Wright-Patterson AFB in the distance.
The Army Signal Corps purchased the field, and
it eventually merged with Patterson Field to become
the Air Force base.

THANKS for coming along! If you made it this far, you may be an aviation nut like me. If you want to see ALL of the photos I took, let me know and I'll send you a link. Better yet, the Air Force Museum's website has photos of almost all its air and spacecraft sorted by gallery with thorough descriptions.