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Show your pride in Ohio's aerospace industry and support aviation heritage. Your registration provides $15 to support NAHA's activities.
 
In the news

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Aviation history
on the air

Hear Dan Patterson's aviation heritage  commentaries on WYSO Public Radio, 91.3 FM. 
Our partners

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The National Aviation Heritage Area is a part of the National Park Service's National Heritage Areas program.
November 27, 2013
WACO to host meeting for people interested in flight training, club 

Image of WACO logo and airplane If you have always wanted to fly but didn't know where to begin, this meeting might be for you. WACO Air Museum will hold an informational meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2 to discuss the types of pilot licenses, regulations, requirements, training, testing, certifications, resources and costs required to secure a pilot's license. The meeting will include discussion about an upcoming ground school and light sport aircraft (LSA) club. The WACO Air Museum is located at 1865 South County Road 25A in Troy, Ohio. For more information, visit wacoairmuseum.org or call (937) 335-9226. 
Last chance for flight scholarship
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Saturday, Nov. 30 is the application deadline for NAHA's Mitchel Cary/Don Gum Memorial Aviation Scholarship.

The scholarship provides $1,500 worth of flying lessons towards earning a private pilot or light sport pilot's certificate for a person between 15 and 21 years old who lives or attends school within the National Aviation Heritage Area. The scholarship is named in honor of two pilots who lost their lives in 2011 in the commemoration of the Wright brothers' invention of aviation.

Visit NAHA's scholarship page for more information and an application form. But do it soon, because time flies too!
WWII combat glider infantrymen
to speak at WACO air museum
Photo of WACO Glider CG4A
WACO CG4A Glider (Photo: WACO)
 
Charles Davis and Lee Mendenhall of the Veteran's Memorial Museum in Germantown will speak at historic WACO Airfield and Museum on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. as part of WACO's Aviation Lecture Series.

Davis and Mendenhall were World War II glider combat infantrymen. They will speak of the experiences aboard the  gliders, which were produced by WACO. Mendenhall also engaged in CG4A WACO glider training, including experimental glider extractions from a C-47 flying at a very low altitude. He received the Glider Badge, Combat Intantry Badge, Bronze Star and European Theater of Operations Campaign Medal.

Davis was a glider soldier who conducted airborne combat operations and a parachutist. He took part in "Operation Varsity," the Rhine River crossing into Germany in the spring of 1945. He landed with a jeep and three other troopers in his glider.

The event is free, but donations will be accepted to benefit WACO Historical Society. The WACO Air Museum is located at 1865 South County Road 25A in Troy, Ohio. For more information, visit wacoairmuseum.org or call (937) 335-9226.
Joe Kittinger to speak at Aviation Trail's first flight anniversary dinner
Photo of Joe Kittinger leaping from high altitude balloon
Joe Kittinger (Photo: USAF)

Retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger will speak about his role as a member of the record-breaking Red Bull Stratos balloon team led by Felix Baumgartner at this year's Aviation Trail dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
 
Baumgartner ascended to 127,852 feet on Oct. 14, 2012-nearly 25,000 feet higher than the record Kittinger set in 1960-and parachuted back to earth, as Kittinger did.  

The annual dinner commemorates the anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flights on Dec. 17, 1903. It will take place in the Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering. Tickets are $60 per person. Send checks and choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian to Aviation Trail Inc., P.O. Box 633, Wright Brothers Station, Dayton OH 45409.
Shop NAHA partners for holidays    
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When you shop for holiday gifts, don't forget our partners' gift shops and online catalogs. Your purchases help support their operations.

The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park has two shops-one in the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center and one in the Wright-Dunbar Visitor Center.

Several other partners have gift shops on site or online; some have both. Here is a list of partner sites with website information about their offerings.

Air Force Museum Foundation
Armstrong Air and Space Museum
Dayton History
National Aviation Hall of Fame
Vectren Dayton Air Show Presented by Kroger
WACO Air Museum
Wright "B" Flyer
The National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) is a private, not-for-profit corporation designated by Congress as the management entity of the National Aviation Heritage Area. The Heritage Area encompasses an eight-county area in Ohio (Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clark, Warren, Champaign, Shelby and Auglaize counties.) NAHA's vision is to sustain the legacy of the Wright brothers and make the Dayton region the recognized global center of aviation heritage and premier destination for aviation heritage tourism.

PO Box 414 * Wright Brothers Station * Dayton, OH 45409