Huffman Prairie Flying Field: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, National Park Service

The Huffman Prairie Flying Field is located northeast of Dayton in southwestern Ohio. Along with other sites within the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, the landscape commemorates the history and lives of several individuals associated with innovations in aviation. This particular landscape marks the location where Wilbur and Orville Wright continued their quest to prevail in flight after returning from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. The field was used by the Wright Brothers from 1904 to 1905 to develop and test the world's first practical airplane, the Wright Flyer III. During these experimental years, the Wright Brothers perfected the technique of flying and developed a powered airplane completely controllable by the pilot: able to bank, turn, circle, make figure eights, withstand repeated takeoffs and landings, and successfully remain airborne for more than half an hour. The period of significance for the flying field includes 1904 to 1916, representing the time when Huffman Prairie Flying Field was used by the Wright Brothers to perfect the flying machine and flying techniques. It also includes the years that they operated their School of Aviation and Exhibition Company. The landscape is significant for its association with engineering and invention in the field of air transportation, as well as for its relationship to the historically-important Wright Brothers. Although the celebrated first flight may have occurred in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the brothers themselves said they really learned how to fly on Huffman field. At this location, they perfected the techniques and equipment to develop aviation into a practical and marketable field. The Wrights added a hanger to the flying field in 1904, which was later converted into a livestock shed and then demolished. A second, larger hanger was constructed in 1905 that was used for company planes as well as the Wright School of Aviation. The Wrights also developed a derrick and weight launching system, which launched planes using a system of weights, ropes, and pulleys. No buildings dating to the historic period of significance remain. The School of Aviation operated here from 1910 through 1916, training many pilots for World War I. The Huffman Flying Field also was used as an experimental ground for the Wright Company’s products, and nearly every model of plane was test flown there. In November of 1910, Huffman Prairie was the site of America’s first commercial freight shipment by air when a company pilot departed for a sixty-two mile flight to Columbus, Ohio to make a delivery to a local department store. Although designed as a promotion, the flight represented the future potential for air transportation and commerce. Orville Wright sold the Wright Company in 1915, and the flight school closed a year later. The terrain of the flying field, originally open and flat pastureland, retains much of its original character although it is less swampy due to the construction of the Huffman Dam in 1922. The Huffman Prairie Flying Field has evolved over time as aviation practices have developed, and the field has been incorporated as part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, allowing it to maintain its open quality and associations to flight. The site is currently owned by the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, administered in consultation with the National Park Service. This Cultural Landscape Inventory is based on the Cultural Landscape Report for the Huffman Prairie Flying Field and site visits for condition confirmation.

Huffman Prairie Flying Field: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, National Park Service

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