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Be an Ohio Leader in Flight!

Show your pride in Ohio's aerospace industry and support aviation heritage. Your registration provides $15 to support NAHA's activities.
 
Photo: Dan Patterson
Dan Patterson
on WYSO radio

Seventy years ago was a crucial time for the U.S. and aerial warfare. Listen to Dan Patterson's commentary on 91.3 FM.
 
In the news

On the radar
Bark, buds and tree buddies

A National Park Service ranger will show how to identify trees in fall and winter at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center,
2380 Memorial Road, WPAFB. Call (937) 425-0008 for more information.

Our partners

National Park Service arrowhead graphic
The National Aviation Heritage Area is a part of the National Park Service's National Heritage Areas program.
November 14, 2013
Cassini image of Saturn eclipsing sun
Mound technology powers Cassini at Saturn (Image: NASA)
Space missions powered by Mound technology focus of museum talk

Cheri Adams, director of astronomy at Dayton's Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, will give a presentation at the Mound Science and Energy Museum about the scientific discoveries made by deep space missions powered by Pu-238 plutonium heat sources, a Mound technology. Just recently, the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn, powered by a plutonium-fueled generator from the former Department of Energy Mound plant, returned data that formed a stunning picture of the ringed planet eclipsing the sun.

The presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20 at the Mound museum,1075 Mound Ave. in Miamisburg, directly across from the Miamisburg Mound. Visit www.moundmuseum.com for more information.
USAF hosts Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' final toast at the National Museum 

Photo of 3 Doolittle Raiders at National Museum of USAF
Doolittle Raiders at final toast. (Photo: USAF) 
The Air Force hosted the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' final toast to their fallen comrades in a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Three of the four living Doolittle Tokyo Raiders attended the invitation-only ceremony, according to museum officials: retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" E. Cole, the copilot of Aircraft No. 1; Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor, the engineer-gunner of Aircraft No. 7; and Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher, the engineer-gunner of Aircraft No. 7. The fourth living Doolittle Raider, retired Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite, the copilot of Aircraft No. 16, could not attend the ceremony due to health issues.

On April 18, 1942, 80 men led by Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle took off from an aircraft carrier on a top secret mission to bomb Japan. They became known as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders.

Visit the museum's website for the full story and photos. Click here to view a 91-minute Defense Department video of the ceremony. 
Joe Kittinger to speak at Aviation Trail's first flight anniversary dinner
Photo of Joe Kittinger jumping from balloon gondola
Joe Kittinger begins record jump (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.

Kittinger is a 1997 National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee. 
Dayton History ringing in holidays
Image of Carillon Park's
Dayton History is on track to kick off the holiday season with "Ringing in the Holidays", a festive train-themed celebration to be held at Carillon Historical Park from 6-10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23. Tickets are $70 for Dayton History members and $85 for non-members. Visit daytonhistory.org for details and online registration.
NAHA flight scholarship available
 
If you are between 15 and 21 years old and dream of flying, the National Aviation Heritage Alliance can get you started!

NAHA sponsors a scholarship program that will provide $1,500 worth of flying lessons towards earning a Private Pilot or Light Sport Pilot's Certificate. That's enough for the average person to learn to fly solo!

The name of the scholarship is the Mitchel Cary/Don Gum Memorial Aviation Scholarship. It 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.
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
[email protected] * 937-443-0165