TOUR AMERICA 2022, TOMORROW STAR’S RV RESORT, SOUTH CHARLESTOWN, OHIO

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Temperature 69 Degrees, Rain throughout the day

The Quest for Wilbear Wright and The Aviation Trail

We have one more project we need to complete before we leave this area. We are on a quest to obtain our own Wilbear Wright teddy bear.

And how do you get your own? It really is quite easy but at the same time it is time consuming and means miles of travel around the Dayton region. But hey, we have the time and travel is our middle name!

Here is how it works. In this region there is what is known as The Aviation Trail.

The Dayton Aviation Trail is a self-guided tour of selected, aviation-related sites open to the public.  The Trail was established in 1981 by Aviation Trail, Inc., an all-volunteer, not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to preserve and promote the Dayton’s area’s unique aviation heritage, starting with the invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright. 

There are a total of seventeen aviation related sites laid out as a self-guided tour. To qualify for your very own bear you are required to visit just eight of them.

You receive a passport book when you begin your quest and you must have it stamped at each site with their respective stamp. There is one required site and we will visit that one this coming Tuesday. Also, on Tuesday we’ll go back to the Air Force Museum and that will give us the last two stamps that we need for our eight.

On the trail yesterday we visited three sites.

This was our first stop and our first of three stamps.

This was not so much a museum as a restoration shop. They are currently in the process of rebuilding a B-17 Flying Fortress. They also make and ship parts to other shops that are in the process of restoring other historic aircraft.

Our second stop and second stamp.

Grimes was known as the Father of the Aircraft Lighting industry.

He was the inventor of the familiar red, green, and white navigation lights found on the wing tips and tails of the aircraft. He also developed other aircraft fixtures including landing, instrumental and interior lights. Every American-made airplane flown during World War II was equipped with Grimes lights.

Our third and final stop and stamp yesterday on the Aviation Trail.

This museum was dedicated to the Weaver Airplane Company of Ohio

Prior to World War II Waco was American’s most popular plane. Nearly 40 percent of all planes during that time period were Waco’s.

A very small but interesting exhibit. For instance,

this aircraft was flown by its last owner – Harold Johnson – for more than 45 years throughout the Midwest at various air shows and he also did a nightly air show for seven years at Kings Island Amusement Park. So what makes it unusual?

Yup, that is a Coke cup stuck on the nut that holds the prop on. The story goes that one night after finishing his nightly air show Harold was taken to task for not having a proper nose cone for his propeller. Well, he finished the coke he was drinking, took the now empty cup, stuck it on the nut over the propeller and said There, now it has a nose cone! The funny thing is, he forgot about it, flew the plane back to its home base and lo and behold the cup was still there – as it is today.

OK, that is where our travels took us yesterday. Today, we’re hunkered down as the rain continues to come and go. No problem we have Rummikub to keep us occupied.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.