A new book in the “Images of Aviation” series from Arcadia Publishing documents the many aviation achievements that occurred in Dayton between the years 1927 and 1948 at the facilities of what was then known as Wright Field. “Wright Field” by Kenneth M. Keisel, a resident of Columbus, is a trove of history and of numerous incredible black and white photographs from that era.
The book is a companion piece to Keisel’s previous volume “Dayton Aviation: the Wright Brothers to McCook Field.” Before there was a Wright Field there was McCook Field. It was located just north of downtown Dayton. In 1917 the U.S. Army chose McCook as the location for their airplane engineering department. It must have been quite a sight to see all those planes flying in such close proximity to Dayton.
During this period the United States had finally entered World War I. Over in Moraine as many as 40 of the de Havilland model DH-4 planes were being produced daily at the Dayton-Wright Aircraft Co. Dayton’s aviation history is a rich one. The author points out that “were it possible to place a historical marker at every point in Dayton’s sky where a historic flight occurred, they would cast a shadow over the entire city.”
The book describes crucial events which might have adversely altered local aviation history. In 1917 Wilbur and Orville’s business, The Wright Company, shut down in Dayton. The former head of NCR, Colonel Edward Deeds, kept Dayton soaring through aviation history by putting together that new aircraft factory in Moraine and persuading the Army to use McCook Field as their testing location.
In 1922 the Army nearly shut down the operation at McCook. Planes were getting larger and McCook could no longer provide adequate facilities. This set the stage for the creation of Wright Field and subsequently, as things eventually developed years later, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“Wright Field” provides a chronology of what took place over six chapters that are jammed with vintage photographs. We start with “1917-1929: from McCook Field to Wright Field.” The next chapter chronicles the exploits of “the Air Corps Engineering School.” Two subsequent sections detail the dizzying growth of the aircraft industry and events at Wright Field during “the 1930s: faster, higher, farther” and “1940-1948: I want airplanes-now-and lots of them.”
During World War II many captured enemy aircraft were sent to Wright Field to be stored and evaluated. Readers learn about “Operation LUSTY: LUftwaffe Secret TechnologY.” The final chapter looks at “accidents: youth was the saving grace.” Photos of aircraft crash scenes include what the author calls “perhaps the most bizarre accident ever to occur at Wright Field.” One dramatic photo shows where the plane, a C-82A, finally came to rest among period automobiles in a staff parking lot.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.
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