Ohio Aviation Museums

On July 20, 1972, three years to the day after NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong, a native of Wapakoneta, walked on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, the Armstrong Air & Space Museum opened with Armstrong present. Not a static museum, it features seven interactive exhibits, 10 audio/visual elements and three simulators. Visitors can practice landing the lunar module and space shuttle, or docking the Gemini capsule. There are also the Gemini VIII spacecraft, Armstrong's Gemini and Apollo spacesuits, Apollo 11 moon rock and two aircraft flown by Armstrong - one a yellow Aeronca Champion. In the Astro Theater, visitors can watch a 25-minute documentary about Apollo 11's lunar landing.

Butler County Warbirds Inc., a not for profit corporation, was formed for the purpose of acquiring and maintaining historic aircraft and establishing a series of mobile and permanent historical displays for use in educating the public. The museum is located at 2351 Wedekind Drive at the Middletown Regional Airport in a hangar built in 1940 that the Army Air Corp used during WWII. It was later used by the Aeronca Aircraft Company. Now it houses 1600 square feet of aviation and military artifacts in a climate controlled environment, in addition to aircraft that can be reserved for rides. One of these is a 1943 Fairchild PT-19. This aircraft served as a trainer at Parks Air College in East St. Louis, IL and has been restored and painted as it would have looked during its service at Parks Air College. An opportunity to experience flight in a historic WWII aircraft! Museum is open for display and aircraft rides on Saturdays and Sundays 10-5. Admission to museum is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Aircraft rides are available for purchase. For reservations and additional information please contact Tim via email at tim@bcwarbirds.com or call 513-702-3062.

Among the attractions at this unique, 65-acre outdoor museum is the original 1905 Wright Flyer III, the world's first practical airplane. The Flyer III, housed in Wright Hall, was restored under the personal direction of Orville Wright. Wright Hall is flanked by the Wilbur and Orville Wright Wings and is connected to a replica of the bicycle shop in which the Wright brothers built their 1903 airplane. These buildings comprise the John W. Berry, Sr. Wright Brothers National Museum at Carillon Historical Park, a unit of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, managed by Dayton History.

?Staff at this museum, located at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio, restore and preserve World War II-era aircraft to flying condition. Work is underway currently on a B-17G Flying Fortress Champaign Lady which was used by Curtiss-Wright Corp. as a test bed for experimental turbo-prop and turbojet engines and propeller research. On the B-17G will be a section from another B-17 used in filming Twelve O'Clock High with Gregory Peck. Other aircraft on display include a B-25N Mitchell, a C-47 Skytrain, an A-26 Invader, an S-10 and a 1939 Fairchild 24R.

Located at Grimes Field in Urbana, the "lab" is a Beech 18 that served the U.S. Air Forces as a C-45 and was modified to a C-45H as a test bed for aircraft nighttime lighting systems. The aircraft was a valuable tool for engineers who worked for Warren G. Grimes - the father of aircraft lighting - before and during World War II to advance developments for safer flight at night. Grimes produced his first airplane lights in his garage in 1933 and by World War II his company had grown to produce lighting for military aviation. Besides memorabilia from Grimes' life and Grimes Manufacturing Co., historical and modern aircraft lighting products are displayed.

Experience the Oakwood mansion that Orville Wright called home for nearly 35 years. The home of the man who invented flight and changed the world is available for educational tours. Tours are by reservation.

The International Women's Air & Space Museum is located in the terminal of Burke Lakefront Airport. The mission of the International Womens Air & Space Museum is to showcase the history of women throughout all aspects of aviation. Women have made many contributions to the history of aviation. Let the International Women’s Air and Space Museum show you there is more to women’s air and space history than just Amelia Earhart.

The world's largest military aviation museum features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles from the beginnings of military flight to today's stealth technology. Thousands of personal artifacts, photographs and documents further highlight the people and events that comprise the Air Force storyline. Tour the 19 acres of indoor exhibit space and see noteworthy aircraft such as the only permanent public exhibit of a B-2 stealth bomber, and the B-17F Memphis Belle™, one of the most recognizable symbols of World War II, and board the space shuttle exhibit and four of nine presidential aircraft. While at the museum you can ride a flight simulator, enjoy a 3D movie, eat in one of the two cafés, and shop in the museum store. Open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily. Free admission and free parking.

The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum is located on the second floor of the Aviation Trail Visitor Center. The Museum tells the story of the development of the free fall parachute from its invention at Dayton’s McCook Field after World War I, up to the vital role it plays in safely landing today’s spacecraft. ? The time line around the soffit of the exhibit space highlights significant events in the history of the parachute. The Museum also includes interactive exhibits, artifacts, historic photographs and text. The museum maintains what is considered one of the most comprehensive private parachute collections in the world, with research materials permanently housed at Wright State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.

This building is one of only two original Wright brothers' buildings still standing at their original locations in the West Side neighborhood where Wilbur and Orville lived, worked and invented the airplane. The other is the nearby Hoover Block building (Site 1a). The building was saved from demolition by Aviation Trail, Inc. before it was acquired by the National Park Service after the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park was created in 1992. The Wright brothers occupied the building from 1895 to 1897, manufacturing bicycles on the first floor and operating a job printing business on the second floor. During this period, Wilbur and Orville also took their first steps on the road to inventing the airplane, their Flyer I, in 1903.

A historic aviation museum dedicated to remembering those who fought for our freedom, and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Tri-State Warbird Museum was formed in 2003 and opened to the public in 2004 with a commitment to preserve the aircraft of World War II, educate visitors on America’s role in WWII, and to honor the veterans who fought and whose who made the ultimate sacrifice. Since Museum’s 24,000 sq. foot. hangar and 5,000 sq. foot. museum display space at the Clermont County Airport has opened over 1.5 million people have toured the facility and/or seen the restored aircraft gracing the skies at airshows around the country. Continuing to grow, the Tri-State Warbird Museum aircraft collection now consists of nine significant WWII aircraft with additional acquisitions planned for the future. The Museum seeks to play a significant role in educating local youth about American history.

The WACO airfield is a working airfield reminiscent of the grass airfields of the 1930s and 1940s, the approximate era (mid-1920s to World War II) during which the airplanes built at the WACO factory in Troy dominated the civilian airplane market. The WACO Airplane Museum includes aircraft, artifacts, historic photographs and other exhibits related to the WACO Aircraft Company and the aircraft it produced. In addition to the museum, the airfield buildings also house a Learning Center, vintage aircraft restoration area, reference library and gift shop. Also, one section of the airfield is available for radio-controlled model airplane flying throughout the year.

The Wright “B” Flyer is a flyable look-alike of the world’s first mass-produced airplane, manufactured in The Wright Company factory in Dayton from1910 to 1911. The look alike was built by a group of local aviation enthusiasts and the airplane is housed in a hangar that is similar to the Wright brothers’ 1910 hangar at Huffman Prairie Flying Field.