Those Daring Young Men in Dayton

Dayton, Ohio (map, government) is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and its museum with a spectacular collection of aircraft spanning the entire history of aviation. It is a living memorial to those daring young men and their flying machines. It rivals, or perhaps eclipses, the collection seen in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and Annex.

The complex includes hangars of planes, a memorial park (see right, click to enlarge), iMax theater, cafeteria and gift shop. Housed primarily in three incredibly large hangars, one can freely spend hours wandering the aircraft, artifacts and stories behind the young men, and women, of the air force who have so devotedly served.

"Freely spend" is the operative phrase, as it being a government facility there is no charge for parking or admission. In what feels like no time, several hours have passed and there is still more to see. This is not an easy museum to do in one visit unless you can spend most of your day absorbing it all.

Parking is primarily in two long rows and you can easily on a busy day have to walk quite a way to the entrance (an unloading zone is easily accessible). But this allows the visitor to wander through the Memorial Park. Scattered are numerous monuments to various air wings, aircraft and even individual events or pilots. There is tremendous creativity in the variety of monuments erected (see left, click to enlarge).


The hangars are divided into eras: World War I and II, Korea & Vietnam and the Modern Era. There is another hangar off the main base housing Presidential Aircraft and other Wright Brothers historical sites. Each hangar display offers aircraft on the ground, mounted on stands and hanging from the roof. It is easy to be struck at the enormity of the complex (see right, click to enlarge). It is also amazing to see the large variety of planes that flew. For those younger boys (and not-so younger boys), it would be hard to name each plane you encountered.

What is easily lost to history, especially an era where black and white photography was the only archiving footage available, is that many planes sported unusual coloring. Particularly striking to me was the German World War I bi-plane that appears to be supporting breast-cancer awareness well before its time (see left, click to enlarge). Particularly during World War I, many of the planes on display have very colorful paint schemes.

The aircraft are displayed in a manner that puts you right up close to the actual aircraft. These are not mock-ups, but the real aircraft, now retired and preserved. Despite the warnings not to touch, it is difficult when allowed such close proximity to intimidating aircraft, such as the World War II B-24 Liberator bomber (see right, click to enlarge). While the museum is very kid-friendly, there are many points to consider explaining or shooing the young ones past.

Unavoidable is the decorative nose art many of the World War II era planes carry (see B-17 Flying Fortress to below left, click to enlarge). Many are laden with visionary thoughts of ladies in various drawings or statements (or both). It should never be forgotten to history that the flyboys of World War II were as young as 18 and girls are never far from the thoughts of a young man. Even several of the flight jackets carry both whimsical and suggestive artwork. History is what it was and sometimes it may need some explaining to those with different sensitivities. Today reproductions are available for purchase.

Between the World War areas of the first hangar there is a display devoted to Bob Hope (see right, click to enlarge) and his decades of performing for soldiers in combat zones. A native Ohioan, Bob Hope is synonymous with the United Service Organizations (USO). Video and artifact displays do a wonderful job of presenting his patriotic contributions.

While the nose art and jacket art tell one story, there are many displays that touch upon the all too human story of war. Many aircraft on exhibit also have on display related artifacts. Next to a World War II P-38 Lightning, the pilot's flight jacket is rife with shrapnel holes punched through it along with the story of being shot down (see left, click to enlarge).

But one of the most compelling companion aircraft and artifact displays tells the story of the Doolittle Raid on Japan in World War II. The raid was of little productive damage to Tokyo, but served to boost the morale and spirit of America. A retaliatory strike revenging the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was largely symbolic. But in 1946, a year after the war, the surviving crews from the raid met to celebrate Doolittle's birthday and it has turned into a memorial reunion.

Located behind the retired B-25 is a series of Goblets that the survivors drink from each year. The photo above right (click to enlarge) shows a blow-up inset of the goblets (above the left engine), the display can be seen between the left engine nacelle and fuselage on a wall at the rear of the plane. When one passes away, his goblet is inverted. As of the past reunion, only 11 surviving crew remain, with Doolittle himself passing away in 1996. Two died in November of 2008, leaving only nine remaining. The final two survivors will open an 1896 bottle of Cognac, donated by Hennessey to commemorate Doolittle's birth year.

Displays are not limited to American craft. Displays of Italian, German, French, English and even Russian combat aircraft can be seen in all of the hangars. One section of the World War II area has several Nazi aircraft, ranging from the first jets and rockets to larger bombers (see right, click to enlarge). In fact it was surprising, but in hindsight shouldn't have been, to hear several different languages being spoken by the visitors on the day I toured the facility.

The Cold War and Modern Era hangars have countless aircraft on display and allow access up to the cockpits, but not inside, some of the less vintage aircraft. One could climb and peer along and then down into an A-10 "Warthog" (see right, click to enlarge). The museum does allow veterans who have flown planes, and who are physically able, to access a plane like he flew.

The retired F-16 that was part of the elite Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team (see left, click to enlarge) has a mock cockpit that was used for training purposes that one can climb in. Appropriately cautioned, the dimensions are very small in the cockpit and only those nimble and agile enough should take a quick seat behind the controls.

The massive B-52 spans a large portion of the Cold War hangar, giving a symbolic feel to the global implications of nuclear fears that spanned the years following World War II up through the early 1990s. Standing under the open bomb-bay doors, it is unfathomable to see the amount of destruction that could be rained down from these behemoths.


There is still more to uncover at the museum, as if your time allows there are several aircraft displayed outside. Along with the displays a mock-up of what appears a "Mighty 8th" Army Air Force base in England during World War II.

Upon leaving, the F-104 Starfighter mounted at the entrance to the grounds points skyward, beckoning to those who daydream, who dare to dream of the impossible and for those who dared to do and have already been to the wild blue yonder and beyond.

- J.