Air Force Base and Park Service to honor the anniversary of powered flight Published Dec. 5, 2012 By Public Affairs 88th Air Base Wing WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A wreath will be laid at the Wright Brothers Memorial commemorating the 109th Anniversary of Powered Flight on Dec. 17 at 10:15 a.m., on Wright Memorial Hill near Area B. Base officials will gather with representatives from the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in the ceremony that has become a tradition in the Miami Valley. The 75th anniversary was celebrated in 1978 and has been carried on since. The guest speaker this year will be Lieutenant Colonel Eric Piel, a C-5/C-17 pilot with the 89th Airlift Squadron. Colonel Piel has flown worldwide missions transporting high level dignitaries and flown priority missions delivering and resupplying troops into Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and other critical destinations supporting global contingency operations. Dean Alexander, Park Superintendent will also present a presidential proclamation prior to the wreath-laying ceremony. The wreath-laying will be done by Mrs. Amanda Wright Lane, great grand niece of the Wright Brothers and Colonel Cassie Barlow, 88th Air Base Wing and Installation Commander. If weather permits, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber aircraft, owned by Champaign Aviation Museum at Grimes Field in Urbana, will perform a flyover to conclude the event. The aircraft was the type used by General Jimmy Doolittle in World War II. The event is open to the public.