Dayton Trip – Day 3 Part 2
As you go deeper in to the hangers of the museum, you see aircraft that you’ve only ever seen in artists renditions or if you were really lucky, grainy out of focus photographs. Every year I’m amazed at the aircraft I’ve come across in my trips to and across the US. The US Airforce has made it it’s mandate to preserve what it can of aviation history and they’ve amassed a hell of a collection.
Michael and I agreed that the word, “Wow,” was wholly ineffective to describe what we were seeing but a the same time, we couldn’t stop saying it as each series of steps revealed another and another amazing aircraft.
The USAF lost over 88,000 combat personnel in the Second World War with another 17,360 wounded in action (badly enough they could not continue in service). A good chunk of the first hanger (over half) is dedicated to this conflict.
And here I am at my absolute favourite aircraft the Mosquito and we’re not even half way through the WW2 exhibit. We still have two full hangers to go through. All told it took about seven hours to see what we could. There’s a separate tour onto Wright Patterson proper to see the Presidential aircraft and some of the other aircraft that have been moved off display in the main hangers. Which really means another trip to Dayton to see those in the future but I’ll be saving that for maybe the return leg of the trip to see the Spruce Goose.
More to come, including my return trip back home…
