You really have to like airplanes!

For once my memory kicked in 100 miles before we get to a place instead of 100 miles after passing it. The place I am talking about is the National Museum United States Air Force located at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio. Possibly thirty years ago my son Adam and I visited this place and had a great time. To say that things have improved is an understatement. There are displays that represent several historical eras from time of airplanes first being used in combat all the way to the space shuttle era.

Where does one start when talking about airplanes? I guess all the way back to the Wright brothers and that us where this museum also starts but for some reason the lighting was really dim so didn’t get any real good photos. In fact, due to the enormity of the entire place I didn’t get too many really good pictures. However, I did get a really good shot of the Memphis Belle which was the first heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe. The last time I saw this aircraft it was sitting outside on Mud Island in Memphis TN and the museum did a fantastic job restoring this historical aircraft.

Another really good photo I got was of this P-26 Peashooter according to documentation this was the first totally metal aircraft, and it was a beauty!

Another interesting display was all of the presidential aircraft. Starting with FDR’s airplane all the way to the most recently retired Air Force One which was used for several presidents ending with Trump.

One of the exhibits that I remembered from my first visit was one concerning WWII POW’s and survivors of the Concentration Camps in Europe. The POW’s had it really rough but thanks to the Geneva Convention they were treated more humanely than the victims of the Halocaust. One display showing the ingenuity of Allied POW was a clock which was built entirely of cardboard and scrap tin from the canned goods they received in their Red Cross packages.

The one exhibit that was very moving was the one concerning the Concentration Camp victims, survivors and the stories of their rescue by allied forces. The uniform pictured below is a survivor of that era also. The number of videos relating accounts of actual soldiers who took part if the release of the prisoners as the German soldiers were fleeing was somewhat overwhelming. It had to be something that never left them from that day on. I know that one of my uncles was a Ranger in Europe and how difficult, well almost impossible, to get any stories out of him I would be willing to bet that he was part of the liberating force.

If you are ever in the Dayton OH area and you have a day or two free treat yourself and visit this museum. There is a very large outdoor static display that we never even got to see.