The Right Stuff at Wright-Patt

(Dayton, OH: 27-28 April) Wright-Patterson AFB is home to the Air Force Museum. The Wright Brothers were from Dayton and did most of their post Kitty Hawk NC testing and improvement here, so this really is the cradle of aviation. In fact the National Park Service runs several sites here and in connection with the Museum has developed an "Aviation Trail" you can follow where you can visit about 14 sights in and around Dayton all with significance in the history of flying. I had been to the AF museum several times, but always squeezing it in after a business trip to the base here, never with enough time to do it justice. There are 3 hangars and another silo type building full of airplanes and other items from aviation and space history as well as an outdoor park with more aircraft and a huge memorial garden. The museum took us over 8 hours to explore over 2 days it is that packed. I particularly enjoyed the early history and the story of the Wright Brothers. The museum is laid out chronologically with the early years up to and including WW I, the interwar years to WW II, the interwar years (including a great piece on the Berlin Airlift), the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War, and Desert Shield/Storm and Current Operations (Iraq/Afghanistan). The amazing thing about this museum is the number of original artifacts they have. Yes, some of the older stuff are reproductions, but we were amazed by the number that were not, like one of the actual early Wright Flyers. What we both appreciated is that this is not a museum with a bunch of old military equipment stuffed into some dusty hangars. It is well displayed and they try to tell you the story of aviation while highlighting the major achievements, breakthroughs and milestones, and the people who made them. Throughout the displays were well done video's, often with original footage that helped tell the story. One moving display and video presentation was on the Vietnam POW's, their ordeal, conditions and struggle to survive and endure, and their homecoming.
We had some personal memories too. We found the kind of plane Joy's Dad worked on at Beech Aircraft Industries in Wichita Kansas during World War II. I had flashbacks to my days in missiles seeing the display at the Titan II missile. And we were imagining how far aerial refueling has come (the kind of mission/plane CJ will be flying when he is done with pilot training) when we saw a picture of what is believed to be the earliest attempt at refueling a plane in the air.
This is one of the best museum's we have ever been to. Be sure to get here if you are ever in the area. You won't be disappointed.