The Birth of Aviation Pavilion is the anchor attraction on the ground at the 2003 Dayton Air Show, July 17 through 20, 2003. (The other anchors are all in the air -- the USAF Thunderbirds, the USN Blue Angels, and the Canadian Snowbirds.) It's a 100-foot by 200-foot structure filled with Wright aircraft, artifacts, and knowledgeable people to answer every question you may have about the Wight brothers. Here's what you can expect to find:

Full-Size Wright Aircraft:

• 1878 Wright "Bat," a rubber-band powered helicopter Will and Orve built as chidlren.
• 1899 Wright Kite, their first scientific experiment in aeronautics.
• 1900 Wright Glider, their first manned aircraft.
• 1901 Wright Glider, their biggest disappointment.
• 1902 Wright Glider, the first fully controllable aircraft.
• 1903 Wright Flyer I, in which they made the first sustained, controlled powered flights.
• 1905 Wright Flyer III, the world's first practical airplane.
• 1911 Wright Model B Flyer, their most successful commercial airplane.

Wright-Inspired Aircraft:

• 21rst Century Wright Flyer, a flying modern interpretation of the Wright Flyer III, made from high-tech materials and powered by a Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine.

Aircraft that Inspired the Wrights

• 1896 Langley Aerodrome No. 5, the first aircraft to make a sustained powered (but unmanned) flight.
• 1896 Chanute-Herring Glider, the biplane on which the Wrights based their first designs.
• 1895 Lilienthal Glider No. 11, the most successful aircraft of the nineteenth century.

Wright Models

• 1905 Wright Flyer III, a 1:10 scale radio-controlled flying model of the first practical airplane.
• 1909 Military Flyer, a 1:8 scale model of the United States' first military aircraft

Other Wright Artifacts:

• 1886 Excelsior Letterpress, set up to print the Wright's first newspaper.
• 1896 Man's and Woman's "Van Cleve" bicycles, replicas of the Wright's top-of-the-line "wheels."
• Scientific Instruments of the Wright Brothers* -- the anemometer, clinometer, stopwatch, and spring scales used to measure the forces of an aircraft in flight.
• 1900 Man's "St. Clair" with air foil experiment, a replica of a Wright bicycle and the experiment they performed that determined the need for  research in wing design.
• 1901 Wright Wind Tunnel and Balances, the instruments he Wrights designed to measure lift and drag in wing shapes.
• 1903 Wright Engine, our working replica on a test stand.
• 1903 Garrison Drill Press*, one of the machine tools used to make the first Wright aircraft engine.
• 1903 Wright Flyer cloth, a piece of the original wing covering, a gift of the Wright Family. We will display it just at the Dayton Air Show, then it will be incorporated into the Centennial Flyer.
• 1913 Wright Automatic Stabilizer*, the first autopilot for Which Orville Wright won the Collier Trophy.
• 1913 Wright Bent-End Propeller signed by Orville Wright* and lent to us by the Wilhelm family.
• 1934 DeSoto Airflow, one of the first aerodynamically "streamlined" cars. Orville Wright helped to build the wind tunnel and conduct the tests which resulted in the design for this classic automobile.

* These artifacts are displayed in the Pavilion for the first time anywhere.

And More Wright Stuff:

• Huffman Prairie Theater, a replica of the 1904 Hauffman Prairie Hangar in which we show selections from the new documentary Kitty Hawk.
• 1903 Wright Flyer Simulators, with lay-down- and-wiggle-your-hips control so you can fly just like the Wright brothers.

The Birth of Aviation Pavilion displays the work of some of the finest Ohio aircraft builders and craftsmen, including George Sendelbach, Marcus Petitjean, Terry Hesler, Bud Martin, Jim Shanks, Wayne Ulery, Mark Dusenberry, Joe Farro, members of EAA Chapter 610, and members of the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company. We also play host to many Wright scholars and authors, including James Tobin (To Conquer the Air), Susan Tate, (Flyer, the Wright Dog), Fred Fisk (From Bicycles to Biplanes), Howard DuFour (Charlie Taylor, the Wright Brothers' Mechanician), and Dan Patterson (A Century of Flight). You can talk with the authors and purchase signed editions of the newest Wright-related tomes.

The Pavilion is 100' x 200', large enough to display eight full-size Wright aircraft.

The historic aircraft are laid out in a timeline so you can trace the development of the airplane from a simple kite to a commercial product.

The banners that decorate the outside of the Pavilion show a brief aeronautical history of the century before and the century after 1903.

A view of the interior of the Pavilion, looking southwest.

Another, looking southwest. Note that you can walk completely around ALL the aircraft, viewing them from a full 360 degrees.

And another without the tent frame, looking northwest.