Wright-Patt part of celebration of practical powered flight

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff

 Air Force base, park service observe Wright brothers’ 113th anniversary

 

 

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE -- Col. Bradley McDonald, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, along with the great grandniece, great grandnephew and great-great-great niece of the Wright brothers, joined together the morning of Dec. 16 to lay a wreath commemorating the 113th anniversary of practical powered flight. The event took place at the Wright Brothers Memorial on top of the Wright Brothers Memorial Hill overlooking Huffman Prairie.

 

In his introductory remarks, McDonald said he was pleased to meet members of the Wright family.

 

“My life’s work to this point has been based upon what it is that your family has done,” he said.

“This is part of our legacy, our heritage,” he said to the Airmen in attendance.

 

McDonald noted that three words came to mind as he was anticipating the day’s event: delivery, inspiration and connection.

 

“The Wright brothers delivered aviation to our world. … Here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, that’s what we do – we deliver war-winning capability to our warfighter. We’re following right in their footsteps.”

 

The commander described how the mission of the 27,000-plus Airmen at the base focuses on the past, present and future of aerospace, inspired by the two men from Dayton.

 

He also explored the idea of connection, particularly how the Wright brothers had ties to the military community.

 

“Aviation is part of our daily lives because of what they did. I couldn’t be more appreciative; they delivered, they inspired and they connected,” McDonald said. “Today, we as an Air Force are delivering, we’re inspiring and we’re connected to this community as we work on supporting the national defense.”

 

The event’s keynote speaker – Dean Alexander, superintendent of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park – discussed the Wright brothers and their history as inventors and aviators.

 

He provided details about the iconic “first flight” photo, how Orville Wright carefully framed and focused the shot as he anticipated the moment of the first takeoff at 10:35 a.m.

 

“I mention the photograph because it is the one artifact from the process of inventing the airplane that most people are familiar with,” Alexander said. “That snapshot at 10:35 (a.m.) on Dec. 17 was one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century.

“The 12-second flight in the photograph governed our perception of the birth of flight,” he said, before discussing some of his observations of the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

 

Alexander expanded on the importance of the fourth flight made by the Wright brothers on Dec. 17, 1903 – it was 59 seconds and 842 feet long. As important as the flights are, it is the process, he noted, that tells the story of that first flight.    

 

“What Dayton can do better than any other place is go beyond the snapshot and make the process of invention come alive, to be an inspiration and example to present and future generations,” Alexander said.

 

Following his remarks, Rebecca Westlake, 88 ABW vice director, read a proclamation from President Barak Obama prior to the wreath-laying ceremony.

McDonald and Wright descendants Amanda Wright Lane, Stephen Wright and his daughter Iris Wright Sunshine, placed a wreath near the obelisk of the memorial, which was dedicated in 1940 with Orville Wright in attendance.

 

Concluding the event was the flyover of a P-51 “Mustang” from the Tri-County Warbird Museum near Cincinnati.