From the founders of flight to the first American to orbit the Earth, Ohio has been at the forefront of aviation. So strap in and take off for a tour of the state’s rich aviation and space exploration history.
Begin at the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum to see the intertwined history of land and air transportation. This museum entertains with engaging exhibits and activities. Next visit the MAPS Air Museum, dedicated to military aviation. Witness exhibits of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of African-American military aviators in World War II, alongside other aircraft of various periods.
Then travel to the International Women’s Air & Space Museum, which pays tribute to the achievements of women in aviation and space. Learn about famous women like Amelia Earhart and Jackie Cochran. Visit the the museum dedicated to the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong. On display, are the Gemini 8 spacecraft in which Armstrong flew and Apollo 11 artifacts. In the museum's Astro-theater, multimedia presentations of the sights and sounds of space unfold against a starry background.
Ohio’s space history continues with your visit to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center at the Great Lakes Science Center. Stop at Grimes Field, Urbana’s municipal airport, for a tour of a museum devoted to Warren Grimes, who is known as the father of the aircraft lighting industry.
See where aviation was born at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The area tells the story of brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A critical stop on the Ohio aviation tour is a visit to the National Museum of the United States Air Force with more than 400 aerospace vehicles.
The final stop is the Tri-State Warbird Museum near Cincinnati. Watch World War II military aircraft, nicknamed ‘Warbirds,’ take to the skies as they did while defending the country decades ago.