The Air Force Museum in Dayton

After we left Brighton last week, we spent a few days in Dayton, Ohio. There really aren’t many good campgrounds in that area; all the better ones seem to be east of I-75 in the areas of Cleveland or Columbus. We didn’t want to go that much out of our way since we are heading to Tennessee. In the Dayton area, we did find a good KOA… one that had 400 campsites! Being after Labor Day, the campground certainly wasn’t full. It also wasn’t like being at John and Rosi’s…we had been spoiled there!


One thing we did find to do while in Dayton was to go to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. Both Frank and I had been through this area many times before (in our previous lives), but had never taken the tour.



The museum welcomes over 1.2 million visitors each year. The galleries present military aviation history through the exhibits that bring history to life and connect the Wright brothers’ legacy with today’s stealth and technology.



We spent several hours viewing the planes housed in the large exhibit hangars. We saw not only the plane that dropped the atomic bomb, B-29 “Bockscar”, but also the area that paid tribute to all the years Bob Hope entertained the troops in his USO shows. We saw everything from early planes of the 1940’s, to the B-2 stealth bomber, and even a Presidential Air Force One. There was also a moving tribute to the Holocaust.



There is a beautiful quilt on display “Fabric of the Air Force” that was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the US Air Force. It contains 100 hand-made squares from virtually every Air Force installation throughout the world. The four corners of the quilt are dedicated to installations that have closed in the continental United States, Asian Theater, European Theater, and other worldwide installations. After its unveiling on Dec. 5, 1997, "Fabric of the Air Force" was placed on display at the Pentagon before its transfer to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.




If you have the time and are a history buff of the evolution of the US Air Force and the role it has played in the warfare of our country, then this is the place to visit.

"Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder..."