Planning a visit to USAF museum at Wright Patterson

[Paul K]

Hi folks,

I'm planning a visit to the USAF museum at Wright Patterson AFB, near Dayton Ohio, in September. Has anyone of this parish been there and if so, can you recommend where to stay, where to eat in the evenings, and where beer might be had ? It's the biggest aviation museum in the world - it'd be a terrible shame not to drink any beer while there.

All advice and opinions gratefully received.

[airboatr]

Hi Paul.

Well I called a friend of mine who is from Dayton, Ohio, He moved to Florida in 1980 so he didn't have any good suggestions. He mentioned a restaurant but I did a check on it and found out it had closed - Permanently .

But being that No One else has offered any suggestions I did a little research myself.

Besides the Wright Patterson AFB Museum the is Wilbur and Orville's Wright Flyer III at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park Also the Bicycle Shop they had.
Carillon Historical Park has many things you can learn about such as; the early pioneering days of the colonist, some of the first cars in the US aeroplanes {would you believe that was flagged by my spell checker?? Aeroplanes .. yes aeroplanes.. ok I'll just.... and there we go - added to the dictionary,) and a steam locomotive.
there are 65 buildings in the park..
And here is something, since I know you love literature, Paul Laurence Dunbar's memorial. He was an early American poet. That's somewhere in the park area..

Then there is the Dayton Art Institute, The Wright Brothers Memorial , and the SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park , which is a reconstruction of Fort Ancient,
which existed 2000 years ago. I don't know who tookit down, but I'd guess The colonist, the British or the French. If you go , you might want to use a different accent just in case it was the Brits..... ..
Right, .. Moving along now...

Also The Packard Automobile Museum ... Loaded with Packard cars ... These were the finest cars in the world ( I think so anyway) except maybe some left hand steered type you might have in mind?

There are a number of micro breweries in and around Dayton, which serve lunch and dinner. Probably your best bet for a pint.
And there are a few Irish Pubs as well; the Dublin and Murphy's (that Murphy just seams to pop up everywhere)

for my last suggestion.. you may want to check out the Caverns and caves.. from Dayton , go north towards Sidney , that's right North to Sidney and have a go down under. the Stalactites and Stalagmites are a sight see .. I've been to them and I think they are worth the time. Seneca is one of the largest , Crystal King has the largest Stalactites in any cave , anywhere.

Also if you go east from Dayton towards Westerville you'll come to Dublin, and a stones throw east of Westerville there's London. --- Ohio.
If you look at a map of Ohio it all makes perfect sense



hope you'll find this of some help...

Cheers

Joe


PS
Do watch you speed driving , Ohio Cops are notorious about speeders.

and Ohio's Alcohol limit is very low .08 BAC. That's easy to blow after even one beer. considering the microbrews are as high as 16 percent by volume

[Chris Trott]

That's quite a list, but I think he'll be plenty busy just seeing the museum itself. If you really want to experience the museum, you'll need at minimum a full day, more likely 2. I know my first trip, I needed a day and a half to see it all, and that was just seeing it. I didn't take many pictures that time because the lighting at the time was pretty poor (they've brightened everything substantially since and digital cameras have advanced substantially as well). Had I been taking pictures, I would've needed the rest of the second day too I'm sure.

Make sure you spend time in the Air Park as there are several unique pieces there in addition to the fully replicated 8th Air Force tower and Nissen Hut complex. The Memorial park is nice for contemplation and reflection, but I don't know how germane it'll be for you beyond seeing how many units served in Europe during WWII as many have bricks and plaques placed. The important thing to me is to read the information next to each display. The USAF did a really good job not just giving the facts and figures about the type, but many times have great stories of the actual airframe in front of you or the specific airframe it represents. The USAF amazingly has do a pretty remarkable job of preserving some pretty rare types over the years, despite many attempts by the leadership to simply scrap the "useless, obsolete metal" that the museum kept hoarding away.

[Paul K]

Joe, thanks for the list of Dayton's attractions, but I'll only be there for two or three days and as Chris says, I'll be pretty wrapped up with the USAF museum itself. ( Might make an exception for the micro-breweries, however ) The XB-70 is an aircraft I've always wanted to see, ever since my dad showed me a picture of it in Flight International when I was a nipper. I shall be spending some solemn time in its presence. The B-36 Peacemaker is another one - ever since seeing the film Strategic Air Command with James Stewart, it's an aircraft that has fascinated me.

At the moment I'm finding out about where to stay. On the A2A forum, I've been advised to choose a hotel on the Interstate highway side of the airfield, rather than the Dayton side - so that's a welcome pointer. I've also worked out it will probably take me six hours to drive there, if I include a lunch break, and given distances in the USA, that's not bad at all.

Chris, Joe, thanks for your responses and info so far. All very useful !

[Airspeed]

Paul, that sounds like a dream holiday, pity that time always seems so limited!
Enjoy it to the max, and don't forget that we want to see EVIDENCE!

That was very kind of you Joe.
Amazed that you say .08 is the "low" alcohol limit!
In our part of Oz, it's a mere .05
Just as well I'm a clean living specimen these days, or I'd spend most of my time in jail.

[airboatr]

Hi Paul,

Glad to help. I can understand there are so many things to see, it may take you a few days to get through it all.
Me, I'm more of a smorgasbord kinda person... Hit the high points and move on.

[Paul K]

Paul, that sounds like a dream holiday, pity that time always seems so limited!

Hi Mike,

Well if you love aeroplanes, the USAF museum has got to be high on the list of things to do, eh ? The one at Pima is another - the collection there is enormous, though of course it helps having the boneyard at Davis Monthan just across the road. I do like going to the USA - there is plenty to see and it's easy to get there and tour around. I've done the battlefield at Gettysburg, and this time it will be aviation connected, so next time it might be a naval-themed visit - one of their preserved battleships, I think.