Summary

  • Ohio is designated as the “Birthplace of Aviation” due to its strong connections to the Wright Brothers and their groundbreaking aircraft.
  • The state boasts the world’s first airport, where the Wright Brothers tested and perfected their aircraft, influencing aviation to this day.
  • Ohio has produced more astronauts than any other state, including John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, who made history with their space missions.

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The US Congress designated the State of Ohio as the “Birthplace of Aviation” due in part to its strong connections to the Wright Brothers. Orville and Wilbur owned a bike shop in Dayton, Ohio, and famously went on to create and fly what is widely recognized as the first powered heavier-than-air aircraft.

The Wright Flyer took to the skies in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, but its legacy is seeped into Ohio’s history. In the 120 years since the state has been the home to quite a few aerospace innovations.

5 The world’s first airport

Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Ohio following their success at Kitty Hawk to perfect their craft. A local banker, Torrence Huffman, allowed the brothers to use his pasture eight miles northeast of Dayton as an airfield free of rent. The following two years proved critical for the Wright’s ongoing success as the aircraft they tested there over the next several years influenced aviation to the present day.

In their first year at the new airstrip, the brothers made 105 flights with their 1904 Wright Flyer II. While only spending a total of 49 minutes in the air, the two managed to set several records, including the first turn and the first circle in the air. The following year, they returned to Huffman Prairie Flying Field with an improved machine, the 1905 Wright Flyer III.

Wilbur and Orville Wright with their second powered machine; Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio

Photo: Library of Congress

This third iteration became the first practical airplane the brothers took on to market to prospective buyers. The aircraft is now exhibited at Wright Brothers Aviation Center in Carillon Park. The airport came into service again in the 1940s when the Air Force used its airspace to calibrate the speed of new planes.

4 A groundbreaking flight school

The brothers then shipped their aircraft to demonstrate in Europe before returning to Huffman Field and founding a flight school. Initially housed in Alamaba, the school shifted back to Ohio in 1910 after only a few months due to bad weather and mechanical problems. A hangar was built at Huffman Field to hours the airplanes required for flight school operations, which trained both civilian and military pilots and members of the Wright Exhibition Team.

Wright B Flyer & Students c.1910

Photo: National Park Service

The Wright Exhibition Team only operated for a year, ending in 1911. The Flying School lasted through 1916. Over 100 aviators were trained at the school, including Hap Arnold, Roy Brown, and Marjorie and Edward Stinson.

Locals came up on the trolly that ran every thirty minutes from downtown Dayton to nearby Simms Station, bringing students and throngs of visitors to watch the ariel maneuvers. The US Army eventually acquired the land, which has since been incorporated into Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

3 First Airplane Factory

The Wright brothers were keen to sell their aircraft. They began producing airplane engines and drivetrains at their bicycle shop and temporary structure at Speedwell Motor Car Company while their new factory was being completed. They moved into the new facility in 1910 as The Wright Company and produced about 120 airplanes in 13 models over the next six years. After Wilber’s death, Orville Wright sold his company share in 1915.

Print of a newspaper photograph showing mechanic Albert M. Flora at work assembling wings in the Wright Company factory.

Photo: Wright State University Libraries

The factory went through several uses in the years since. Darling Motor Company purchased the property in 1917 but went bankrupt the following year. It was then purchased by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company in 1918 and manufactured aircraft parts during World War One.

The factory went on to produce various products before being purchased by the City of Dayton in 2018. It is being preserved and redeveloped but suffered a significant fire in March 2023.

2 The first emergency parachute jump.

Ohio is also notable for its connections to the modern parachute. While different versions of parachutes have existed for centuries, Ohio is the location of the world’s first free-fall parachute descent using a ripcord. Leslie Irvin made the historic jump on April 19th, 1919, from a plane over McCook Field near Dayton. Irvin broke his ankle during the jump but was inspired to start his own parachute business.

Early parachute testing

Photo: Library of Congress

The area is also the location of the first lifesaving use of a parachute. Three years after its first demonstration, Loutinent Harold R. Harris, Chief of the Flying Section at McCook Field, was forced to bail out of his aircraft at 1,000 feet after his Loening PW-2A became unresponsive. He successfully deployed the shoot and touched down in a grape arbor. His first words on being discovered were, “I’m not hurt. Just a little excited, that’s all.” The plane crashed a block away, and souvenir hunters swiftly removed the wreckage.

Over 60 years later, Harris, by that time a Brigadier General, returned to Ohio and presented a framed photograph of the parachute in the backyard at 335 Troy Street to the home’s current owners.

1 All the Astronauts

Ohio’s most recent claim to aviation fame is producing more astronauts than any other state. According to NASA, 25 Ohio natives have risen to become part of the space agency, including several of the most notable American astronauts of all time. Together, they have spent over 22,000 hours in space across 78 missions, including three trips to the moon.

Ohio’s astronauts are also some of the most notable. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, served as a United States Senator from Ohio, and was the oldest American to travel into space when he returned in 1998. Wapakoneta native Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon when he commanded the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

Cleveland’s Jim Lovell participated in four spaceflight missions, including the famous Apollo 13, which suffered an explosion and narrowly avoided catastrophe. Judith Resnick, born in Akron, participated in the first voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Sadly, Resnick lost her life in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

What are your favorite Ohio aviation milestones? Let us know in the comments.

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