Day Twenty One

Another day in Dayton with the Wright Brothers. We visited the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park which included a building that was used as a bicycle shop by the brothers before they started trying to fly in earnest. Then it was off to Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. This is where the Wright Brothers did their flight testing starting in 1904. They also had a flying school here.

An interesting story is that they would lay out their rail launching system and often found out after hours of work the wind had shifted and they had to move the rails. Well, that wore thin very quickly and they devised a catapult system so they didn't have to rely on taking off into the wind. It was primitive but effective. The system allowed them to leave the rail in place regardless of the wind and it also significantly shortened the take off roll.

Today's photo is of a reconstructed hangar and a catapult tripod in the place they were on the field in 1905. Just think, they were doing cat shots before aircraft carriers were even invented.