Dayton air museum??? (Cleveland, Kettering, Warren: house, transfer, neighborhood)

[paintballer1708]

Does anyone know anything about the aviation museums in Dayton? I know there are a lot and they get a lot of visitors. But, i wanted to know more about them. They seem very interesting. Also, does anyone know about the airshows that go on in Dayton?

[happycow]

The U.S. Air Force Museum is in Dayton. Really a LARGE facililty. Free admission. Nice cafe. Wonderful exhibits. It's incredible to walk thru the plane that LBJ was riding in when he was sworn in as President after Kennedy's assassination. I love the place. My grandkids love to go.

There's also a new museum somewhere near Batavia. I haven't been there. I've read articles about it.

The Air Shows in Dayton are supposed to be incredible. I've never gone myself but I'd love to see the Blue Angels in flight and they seem to perform every year.

[paintballer1708]

^Yes, i have heard many good things about Dayton's air museums. I wanted to get some more info on them though. I will have to check out the one in Batavia too. And the Blue Angels are great. We watched them when we lived up in Cleveland. They have it right on the lakefront. I will never forget when they flew up right over the lake, then behind the skyline and then just popped out of no where. They were really good. You should really consider seeing them. They are great.

[paralleler]

Kittyhawk was a test center for the Wright Brothers -- their design and development took place in Dayton! The Army Air Corps that developed into the United States Air Force followed the Wright Brothers and built their R&D facility and national USAF Museum there ( http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/visit/ ). There are several large hangers filled with rare aircraft in Dayton. How about a plane the size of a medium jet airliner that cruises faster than a 30-06 rifle bullet (XB-70)? President Kennedy's, Air Force One? A five hundred seat auditorium to hear stories of flight?

Then there is Huffman Prarie where the Wright Brothers perfected their craft.

Then the Dayton International Air Show ( http://daytonairshow.com ). A large-scale Remote Controlled Aircraft fly-in was held at the USAF Museum a few weeks ago.

About an hour north of Dayton is a Museum that I have not visited yet for Neil Armstrong -- first man to step on the moon.

...and this is from a Californian who wants to learn more.

[happycow]

I work in an airplane hangar at the old Gentile Air Force base. The City of Kettering purchased the site and converted it to Kettering Business Park. And Warren County has a radio-controlled club that flies their planes out near Otterbein. It's really cool when you drive by and see all these little planes flying around.

[paintballer1708]

^Thats cool, i will have to drive up there and check that out someday. I am amazed by how short of a drive it is to the Dayton metro. Its a very nice drive up there as well. Some very nice countryside. Its nice being within a driving distance of two great metros.

[mnugent]

I've been to the museum several times. I have customers from all around country, who come to Dayton just to visit the museum. Everyone, including myself, remain impressed. Its great place to visit.

[plaidmom]

Another "two thumbs up" for the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum.

I live ~3 hrs. away; we've been twice in the last year. The first trip, I went just to appease my enginerd SO. He wanted to oh and ah over the technology. I soon found myself engrossed in the history. We covered air history up to WWII that first day, and stayed until we were kicked out. We left raving and vowed to return.

It's a huge facility. Wear comfy walking shoes. I would suggest two short days rather than one long, as it can be kind of overwhelming.

[lyrasstar]

...And, if you like the Air Force Museum, come up in July and see the Dayton Air Show at WPAFB! Oh, it's awesome!

[JefferyT]

The museum is going to expand in the next few years as the plans are to aquire a space shuttle and some artifacts from the space program (like space capsules and so forth) as part of a new "Space Gallery".

The presidential collection will eventually be brought over to the main hangar /museum complex, too, as they are in a secure part of the base and people need to be bussed over there.

There is an IMAX theatre there, but I think there is admission for that. The rest of the museum is free, and it is quite large, so do wear comfy shoes!

###

For Dayton proper, and sometimes overlooked, is the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Site, run by the National Park Service, which is about the Wright Brothers work here.

There are two visitors centers. The one that is overlooked is close to the museum, up on a hill at the Wright Memorial, which overlooks their Huffman Prairie flying field. This visitors center has a small museum or exhibit area which is really worth seeing as it talks more to the R&D efforts of the Wright Brothers, and then the Air Force and it's predecessors, in the Dayton area.

From there you can drive out to Huffman Prairie, which is usually open to the public though it is on base. The prairie has some replica structures and interpretation by the NPS, so you can see where they flew after returning from Kittyhawk.

The main visitors center and the old Wright Brothers Bike Shop is off West Third Street in West Dayton, and is a very nice little museum in a restored commercial building. This museum has an introductory film, various exhibits on the Wrights life in Dayton, and how they came to flight, and then across a small plaza the bike shop, where park rangers show how they built their bikes and how this skill transferred to their airplane experiments.

About a block or two away you can walk through a reconstructed neighborhood to the site of their old house (the orginal is up in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI)

So it is possible to do a weekend trip to Dayton as a quick
"aviation vaction" to visit the Air Force Museum plus the National Park things.