Well . . . finally, the nation's business realms are realizing and talking about what we who live here have known for a long time.
The genesis and genius of the Wrights are well known, and then a great vacuum of notice. The aviation world certainly knew this all along.
Once the United States entered World War I, Deeds, Kettering and the visionary Dayton city manager, Fred Eichelberger, put this region on the global aviation map. That bet on the future paid off, as seen in the local economy more than a century later.
They opened McCook Field in 1917 with the Army's Aviation Engineering Headquarters and swiftly began solving issues that would have long-term effects on flying that still resonate today. The development of the turbo-supercharger, in concert with General Electric, led to sustained high-altitude flights. To do that, the Engineering Headquarters developed the systems and flight clothing that made high-altitude flight survivable and sustainable for thousands of aircrew—a legacy that continues to this day.
The Dayton Engineers Club supported the effort by maintaining the finest aeronautical library east of the Mississippi River. The world's aviation community came to Dayton to work with the engineers and to pay their respects to Orville Wright.
As the rapid advances in aviation created larger and faster airplanes, it became obvious that McCook Field had been outgrown. In light of rumors that the Army was looking to relocate the headquarters to Langley Field in Virginia, the same visionaries assembled local business leaders and residents over a single weekend to raise $400,000 to purchase 5,000 acres. They gifted the land to the U.S. government to create Wright Field, which opened in 1927. The bet made 10 years earlier had been remade and once again proved to be correct.
What we now take for granted was created, nurtured and supported not only by the government but also by local communities. The aircrews and the vast support systems essential to them, both military and civilian, were welcomed with open arms. Communities such as Fairborn, Beavercreek, Riverside and Dayton flourished with the expansion and the need for satellite industries that required room to grow. The communities welcomed the aircrews, ground support personnel and their families, and they all became neighbors, with children in the local schools and shopping in the local stores.
As the air base continued to grow, engineering organizations were created. For example . . . the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Air Force Research Laboratory and what is now known as the School of Aerospace Medicine all trace their origins to 1918 at McCook Field. The propulsion organization was founded in 1926, and the Foreign Technology organization in 1942. Many other research programs were consolidated into the Wright Laboratories in 1990.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, founded in 1923, began as strictly an engineering archive and expanded into the world's largest military aviation museum, drawing visitors to this region from across the globe.
So . . . let's continue to quietly celebrate as the world outside our hometowns and region discovers what we have known all along . . . thriving communities with ample opportunities for jobs and growth.
For WYSO, this is Dan Patterson wishing you blue skies and tailwinds.
Blue Skies & Tailwinds is sponsored by Sinclair Community College and produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO.
