From left to right-Peter Cody, Eric Verdon-Roe (grandson of Alliot Verdon-Roe, founder of AVRO), Captain David Rowland (President, The Royal Aeronautical Society), Walt Hoy (Trustee, Wright "B" Flyer Inc.), Amanda Wright Lane (Great-grandneice of the Wright Brothers), Samuel Franklin John Cody. (Photo by Jessie Duckro)

The Dayton region’s aviation heritage is on display at the world’s largest air show as part of the Farnborough International Air Show's International Pioneers of Flight Pavilion today through July 20.

The National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) is participating in the 60th Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, at the invitation of the air show’s producers. The producers had met Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandniece of Wilbur and Orville Wright, during NAHA’s participation in last year’s Paris Air Show in France.

“It is an absolute honor to have another country invite us and to recognize the importance of the Wright brothers. This may be a first – for multiple aviation pioneers to be celebrated together under one roof. People are walking away talking about it,” said Wright Lane.

The Pioneers of Flight Pavilion, with the help of living ancestors of great aviation pioneers, holds four accurate, full-scale replicas of early 20th century aircraft including the AVRO Biplane (1908), AVRO Triplane (1910), the Cody Flyer (1908), and the Wright "B" Flyer (1911). The original Wright "B" Flyer was designed to provide pilot training and reconnaissance for the US army Signal Corps and was used for that purpose from 1911 to 1914. The replica Wright "B" is being presented by volunteers from Wright "B" Flyer Inc., a NAHA partner, based in the Wright brother’s hometown, Dayton, Ohio. It is sponsored here by Makino, a global leader in metal cutting and manufacturing technology. Makino’s North American headquarters is located in Mason, Ohio, just south of Dayton.

Inspired by the success of the Wright brothers, Samuel Franklin Cody flew on October 16, 1908 on a field that would evolve to become the site of the FIA. This year’s participation by the Cody Flyer marks the 100th anniversary of the first flight in the United Kingdom. The AVRO company was founded in 1910 by Alliot Verdon Roe and was manufacturing airplanes in Great Britain at the same time the Wrights were building planes in Dayton.

On the show’s opening day, descendants of the three aviation pioneers — Samuel and Peter Cody, Eric Verdon-Roe and Amanda Wright Lane — gathered for the first time and met members of the international news media.

NAHA Chairman John Bosch, said FIA is an important venue for his organization. “Our presence here allows us to promote Dayton as the global center of aviation heritage and we hope, ultimately, that Farnborough visitors will become visitors to Dayton in the near future,” he said.

In addition to the Wright B Flyer 1911 replica, NAHA is presenting a simulator that allows visitors to virtually “fly” a Wright brother’s airplane over the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the site near Dayton where the brothers perfected flight in 1904 and1905. Farnborough marks the first time this simulator, originally funded by the Wright Family Foundation in 2006, is being presented outside the United States.

FIA is the largest, most internationally attended aerospace event in the world and is a globally renowned showcase of aerospace equipment and technology. It provides a venue for the world’s civil and military aerospace suppliers and their customers to meet and finalize business transactions. More than $40 billion in orders were announced at the 2006 show.

The National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) is a private, not for profit corporation operating as the management entity of the Congressionally designated National Aviation Heritage Area, one of 40 national heritage areas in the United States. NAHA’s vision is for Dayton to become the recognized global center of aviation heritage and premier destination for aviation heritage tourism, sustaining the legacy of the Wright brothers. The National Aviation Heritage Area encompasses an eight county area (Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clark, Warren, Champaign, Shelby, and Auglaize counties.)

Tags: aviation heritage, Wright Brothers, Wright "B" Flyer, Farnborough Air Show

In the early 1960s, my family drove to Port Clinton, Ohio, for a trip to Put-in-Bay (South Bass Island.) We flew on an airliner operated by a small, island-hopping carrier called Island Airways (later, Island Airlines.) It was my first airline flight. I've forgotten a lot about that trip — the exact year, even my age — but I remember those barn-door like wings, the naked radial engines, and the long roll down the grass airstrip as we lumbered into the air for what seemed like a wave-hopping flight to the island. The airplane was a Ford Tri-Motor, also known as the Tin Goose.

Even then, the chance to fly on a pioneer airliner was a rare treat and an experience that helped shape my interest in aviation heritage. The chance to fly on Henry Ford's dream of the future (video) is much rarer now, but still possible: The Experimental Aircraft Association operates a restored, 1929 Ford Tri-Motor, and its annual tour will bring it to the Dayton region for four days of flights from June 26 through June 29. The 1929 "Tin Goose" will be at Commander Aero, Wright Brothers Airport, on Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) in Miami Twp. Rides in the 12-passenger plane will be available to the public for $50 per person. To order tickets, call the EAA at 1-800-843-3612 or book a flight online. The visit is supported by EAA Chapter 48 of Moraine. (Disclosure: I'm an EAA 48 member.)

I don't know what prompted my parents to take me on that Ford Tri-Motor flight more than four decades ago, but I'll always be glad they did. This is your chance to do the same for your children or grandchildren — or even yourself!



Aerobatics in a Ford Tri-Motor?

No, your Ford Tri-Motor flight won't include loops or spins, but if it did, here's how it would look.

More Ford Tri-Motor videos

Tags: Ford Tri-Motor, Island Airlines, Wright Brothers Airport, EAA

Air Force Col. Greg Johnson, a 1980 Park Hills High School graduate, is set to blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, March 11, aboard Space shuttle Endeavour. The STS-123 mission is officially set for launch after getting the "go" from NASA's Mission Management Team on Sunday. Liftoff is scheduled for 2:28 a.m. EDT.

The current weather forecast calls for only a 10 percent chance atmospheric conditions will delay the launch, with the primary concern coming from a slight chance of a low cloud ceiling around Kennedy, according to NASA.

As pilot, Johnson will add the space shuttle to the more than 40 different aircraft he's flown. U.S. Navy Capt. Dominic Gorie will command the shuttle. The crew also includes Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi.

The crew will deliver the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo Logistics Module and the Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robotics system to the International Space Station.

The mission was scheduled for launch in February, but problems that delayed the preceding mission pushed it back.

Tags: Greg Johnson, STS-123