Visiting Huffman Prairie

THE GRASSY EXPANSE WHERE THE WRIGHTS did their 1904 and 1905 experiments survives today as a historic enclave on the property of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. The only structures are replicas of the 1905 hangar and launching catapult. The site also includes Ohio’s largest remaining tallgrass prairie, so it’s a nature as well as a history preserve. It is overlooked by a 17-foot obelisk that was dedicated on Orville Wright’s birthday in 1940 (he was present). For information on Huffman Prairie, visit www.nps.gov/daav or call 937-225-7705. Nearby, also on the Air Force base, is the world’s oldest and largest military aviation museum, the National Museum of the United States Air Force ( www.wpafb.af.mil/museum ). To see the 1905 Flyer , displayed according to Orville’s wishes, go to Bright Hall at payton’s Carillo’c0 Historical Park ( www.carillonpark.org , 937-293-2841).