Planes, planes, and more planes!
National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio

Day 26:  Our schedule today required driving all the way from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania to Indianapolis, Indiana--356 miles. You wouldn't think we'd have had time to do much of anything, But eagle-eyed Greg spotted this design carved into the supports holding up an overpass just outside of Dayton, Ohio...


"Look at that," he said. "There must be an air force base around here."
"It's Wright-Patterson," I reported, checking the map.


And that's the most excited I saw Greg on the whole trip. He's a fan of a History Channel show about the history and development of weapons. Apparently, the show's host, R. Lee Ermey had done some of his demonstrations at Wright-Patterson AFB. But more importantly, the base is home to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. the oldest and largest air museum in the United States. And we just happened upon it!

Click to enlarge or for slideshow

Greg in his jaunty straw hat, headed to the museum.

The museum has hundreds of aircraft, missiles, and aviation-related items. This is a fantastic museum, very well laid out in separate galleries such as The Early Years, WWI, WWII, Korean War, etc., so that the history of aviation through time could be easily followed. Well worth the stop.

There is a nice park outside for picnicking or just relaxing.

Although the museum was laid out in time, my photos are not. The place was so packed that it was often difficult to get good pictures, so I've just chosen a few that turned out well.

Wind Tunnel designed by Orville Wright

B-2 Stealth Bomber

Apollo 15 command module Endeavor at the opening to the Missile and Space Gallery

I don't remember what this is--the original hang glider?  It was hanging up near the ceiling. Looks fun!

The museum was wonderful, and gave us a much needed break in driving.  Dayton, Ohio is also the birth place of the Wright Brothers. Although much of their experimentation and the first flight took place in North Carolina at Kittyhawk, the brothers did a lot of research at their home in Dayton, Ohio. It would have been nice to visit the nearby memorial, but we had spent about 3 hours in the air museum, and so decided to move on.

Next week we continue our journey home through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.