Jax Stumpes: Dayton-Fairborn (10/14-15/2018)

Sunday, October 14, 2018
I was on my way back from Buffalo, NY where I attended the Bennett High School Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last evening. With me was Kathy J, and we stopped in Shaker Heights, OH for a brunch prepared by Kent, then continued on to Dayton with Kent.
Our trip was delayed by a traffic accident; serious enough that three life flight helicopters arrived after dozens of police, fire, rescue, and towing vehicles.
Once in Riverside, we picked up a meal to take back to Kathy's house, where her husband, Rod, was patiently waiting. After saying goodbye to the Js, we drove to Fairborn to say hello to the Hs! Brad and Deborah H were to be our hosts for the next few days.

Monday, October 15, 2018
An overcast and rainy day. Brad was our driver as we started out in Fairborn, OH, a small city next to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The name Fairborn was created when the villages of Fairfield and Osborn merged in 1950. Osborn was originally located in a flood-prone basin and suffered in the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. Many Osborn houses were moved to their present location in 1921 during the construction of Huffman Dam, and in fact, the Hs live on an Osborn house.

Mercer-Smith Log House (c 1799 by one of the first families
to settle in the area) is distinguished by its preservation
and not having been expanded or changed

Wright Brothers Memorial (1940, by Olmsted Brothers),
is located on Wright Brothers Hill

Wright Brothers Hill overlooks the Huffman Dam that
controls the flow of water in the Mad River flowing under
the bridge at the near end of the so-called dry dam

The hilltop also includes six Adena burial mounds (c 500 BCE-300 CE)
ranging from 0.5m/1.7' high and 6m/20' in diameter
to 1.3m/4.2' high and 15m/50' in diameter

After a visit to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center, we drove to the Flying Field itself.

Marl Road is built on the electric interurban streetcar line
used by the Wright Brothers to reach Huffman Prairie Flying Field

Replica of Simms Station, the streetcar stop
at Huffman Prairie Flying Field

After the first powered aircraft flights at Kitty Hawk, NC (chosen because of regular winds and soft landing surface of sand), the Wright Brothers used the cow pasture at Huffman Prairie to research and develop the airplane. They used a catapult and starting rail for take-off.

Huffman Prairie Flying Field

Replicas of the hangar and catapult with starting rail
at Huffman Prairie Flying Field

The main attraction of the day was the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

National Museum of the USAF (founded 1923, 1971 with expansions
in 1976, 1977, 1988, 1989, 2003, 2004, and 2016)

Early Years Gallery

Boeing P-26A Peashooter, the United States Army Air Corps'
first all-metal fighter plane (1932-1933)

Cold War Gallery:

F-86H Sabre (1953-1955) has the outer skin removed
to show the internal structure and placement of equipment

Space Gallery:

A peek into the Space Shuttle
Crew Compartment Trainer

Research and Development Gallery:

Brad and Kent mull over the Boeing X-45A J-UCAS (2000), a remotely
piloted aircraft designed to attack opposing surface-to-air missile defenses

Presidential Gallery:

Boeing VC-137C SAM 26000 (1962), the first Air Force One and the first
jet aircraft built specifically for use by the President of the United States

The paint scheme of Air Force One was developed by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Hours after the assassination of President John F Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as the new president aboard SAM 26000. It carried eight American presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton, and became the back-up aircraft in 1972 when the Air Force acquired another Boeing VC-137C (serial number 72-7000). The SAM 26000 finally retired in 1998.

Kent stands in the location where
President Johnson was sworn-in

Douglas VC-54C Skymaster (1945) was the first aircraft purpose-built
to fly the President of the United States, and had a battery-operated
elevator to transfer President Franklin D Roosevelt into the plane

World War II Gallery:

The recently restored Boeing B-17F "Memphis Belle," the first
heavy bomber to return to the US after flying 25 missions over Europe in
World War II, when it then toured the United States to promote war bonds

We stopped at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Gate 1B to see the Wright Flyer sculpture.

1909 Wright Flyer (2003, Larry Godwin), apparently with
Orville at the controls and Wilbur running alongside, was
dedicated 94 years after the original 1909 Flyer was accepted
as the world's first military airplane

A view back at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

We took a walk on Main Street in Fairborn, passing the Roadside America recommended Foy's Halloween Stores. With beginnings as a five-and-dime store, several more stores have been added to provide year round access to costumes, decorations, haunted house props, etc. There is also Foy's Grill.