Dayton, Ohio, has a claim to many of today’s inventions, but perhaps none as important as the first plane. Former home to Orville and Wilbur Wright, Dayton is proud of its aviation heritage and inventive roots. We traveled to Dayton on an extended Ohio trip and I discovered a few places where kids could learn more and appreciate the significance of the aviation’s past.
National Museum of US Air Force
We started at the National Museum of US Air Force, and I have to admit, my kids were too young to spend enough quality time here. However, the museum is free to the public, so any time spent there was educational and there were plenty of stops they enjoyed. The museum is set in a number of hangars, each containing a gallery of aircraft from a different era or subject. Small kids may find it hard to walk through the entire complex, so bring a stroller or rent one at the museum if you get here early enough (limited number of strollers available). Depending on where you park, you can first visit the Memorial Park or the Air Park outside. Memorial park has over 500 memorials now to recognize the courage of air force. Air Park has a lot of interesting aircraft exhibits and my kids were simply fascinated being able to walk next to large real-size planes.
Once inside, you can choose to visit the hangars/galleries in historical order or depending on the areas you or your kids are most interested in. As I mentioned, with smaller kids you may want to focus on areas they like best – for example, rockets or first planes. We decided to start in order and visited the Early Years gallery first. There are a lot of interesting facts about the first plane – from the Wright Brothers first bike to the addition of wings and propeller and the variety of changes in between. That was definitely a good lesson in “test and learn” for the kids.
The ingenuity of the Wright brothers was simply amazing – and my kids were much surprised the first flight took place 110 years ago.
There were a lot of interesting sightings in this Early Years gallery.
This gallery of the National Museum of Air Force definitely captured that spirit of imagination, as we continued to walk through, we saw aircraft from World War I.
From the Early Years gallery, we moved to World War II. Here, it added to the experience to not only see the aircraft but also some scenes from the war days.
One of the areas we enjoyed the most here were the “nose art” planes. The insignia art on the war aircraft was originally done by Walt Disney (who served in World War I) and his team. The fact sheet at the National Museum of Air Force says they made over 1200 designs, most, but not all including the Disney original and special characters. “Nose Art” became so popular that some of the images on the planes were also depicted on the jackets and more.
Our next gallery was the Cold War gallery but we didn’t linger here, except for probably the most prominent symbol of the cold war or rather the end of it – the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I have to mention that majority of the aircraft in the museum is for viewing only. It’s good to warn kids about it, since some may be disappointed that they will not be able to get into the planes (the way we did at the Palm Springs Air Museum). Still, there are a few areas where they can experience the inside of the cabin. There is a paid flight stimulator ride and near the Cold War gallery you can find a few cabins kids or adults can get into to look at the controls.
Our final stop at the National Museum of Air Force in Dayton was the Missile & Space gallery. A little known fact is that Ohio has produced more than 20 astronauts, including John Glen and Neil Armstrong. The sheer magnitude of rockets as you walk into this gallery is simply stunning. It was also fun to ride the elevator up to see a higher perspective and more space engines and capsules. Apollo 15 and the overall moon mission was a lasting conversation point for us. This was the perfect end to our visit to the National Museum of Air Force. That and a few rocket souvenirs from the gift shop back at the front.
Carillon Historical Park
Our second day on the “aviation history” trip to Dayton took us to Carillon Historical Park. This was one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited and such a nice mix of indoor and outdoor history and fun. This park, easily found by its tall Carillon, is a place to learn more about Dayton history. We started in the main building (Heritage Center of Dayton Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship) which houses a collection of Dayton inventions, starting with the cash registers, to refrigerators, magazines, full size scales and more. Heritage center is a perfect parking spot for the Carillon park visit.
There are plenty of areas for kids to play at, including the train, the carousel and the house that was once the beginning of the youngest entrepreneur’s dream and now a fun play area.
If you can pull your kids away from the carousel, explore the expansive grounds outside. There is a collection of old buildings, some dating to the 1700s, including an old school, gas station and clock. Volunteers can give you a lot of insight into the history of Dayton.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the Carillon Park is the building dedicated to the Wright brothers and the original first plane.
There are many areas for kids to play at the Carillon historical park but mine especially enjoyed the Archaeology adventure zone with a digging sand area and a beautiful walk into the woods. We even caught a glimpse of deer.
