Wright Brothers Mechanic Honored-- Part 1

From the July 22, 2014, Goldsboro  (NC) News-Argus.  AP.

CHARLES TAYLOR created the engine that made historic flight.

And, a guy most, including myself, have never heard of before.  Without him, no amount of Wright designing would have resulted in that historic flight.

DAYTON, OHIO.  "The man who built the engine for Orville and Wilbur Wright's first powered flight has finally gotten his due."

Charles Taylor, a mechanic in the Wright brothers' bicycle shop in Dayton, built the engine that took them on the flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, on December 17, 1903.

On Monday, a bronze bust of Mr. Taylor  was unveiled at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.  I went right by the place yesterday in my trip to North Carolina.

Something Else to See at the Museum.  --Cooter

A Big Piece of the JFK Assassination: Air Force One

From the November 10, 2013, Chicago Tribune "JFK's plane at museum"

With a photo of the plane and people coming out of it so evidently you can go inside which makes it even better. "As we approach the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, solemn observances obviously will be many in Washington and Dallas, where he was shot.

But for those looking for a relic integral to that day in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963, visit the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, six miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio.

There in the museum gallery is the Air Force One that carried Kennedy to Dallas that day, then carried his body back to Washington that night.

It's also where Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office in the presence of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, her clothes still stained with her husband's blood.

More at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil."

That oath of office is a very famous photograph. This is also where the Final Toast of the Doolittle Raiders took place last Saturday.

I am thinking of visiting the museum this coming Friday which not only is November 22nd, but also occurs on the same day of the week as the assassination fifty years ago. It will be a connection with that long-ago event.

OK, Not the Last Doolittle Reunion

A few days ago I posted that the 68th annual Reunion was to be the group's last one, but I now read that the 2011 one is planned for Omaha, Nebraska.

The April 17th Dayton (Oh) Daily News reported that four of the remaining eight members of the famous Doolittle's 1942 Raid attended the 68th Reunion:

Richard E. Cole, 94 of Comfort, Texas
Thomas C. Griffin, 92 of Cincinnati
Robert L. Hite, 90 of Nashville
David Thatcher, 88 of Missoula, Montana

The other four were not well enough to attend.

They spend two hours autographing books, photos and even the wings of World War II model airplanes. Hundreds of people waited in line to meet them.

Major Thomas Griffin said that one of the bombs his plane dropped missed the intended factory target, but hit the next door Tokyo Gas and Electric Company which he considered a fair trade-off.

Seventeen B-25 Mitchell bombers landed at the Air Force Museum airfield Saturday and remained until Sunday. That had to have been something to see.

Hopefully, I will get Out to Omaha Next April. --Cooter

Final Doolittle's Raiders Reunion This Weekend

Another era comes to an end this weekend when four of the eight remaining members of the April 18, 1942 Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo gather for one last time at the 68th Reunion at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Lt. col. Dick Cole, then 26, said, "I was scared to death." as he was co-pilot of the lead B-25 bomber taking off from the USS Hornet that day.

Also returning are Major Thomas Griffin, Lt. Col. Robert Hite and Master sergeant David Thatcher.

At least 17 B-25 Mitchell bombers will do a fly-in to the Air Force Museum's runway today, one of the largest gatherings of that or any World War planes since World War II ended.

The B-25s began flying into Urbana, Ohio's Grimes Field on Thursday and attracted aviation enthusiasts from all over the country. Today, they will leave from Grimes Field and fly to the Air Force Museum.


RITUAL

On April 16th, yesterday, a solemn ritual took place at an undisclosed location. The four survivors raised their goblets to drink a toast to the ones who have died and then they overturn those deceased goblets.

each goblet is engraved with each individual's name twice, once upside down so the name can be easily read.

When there are only two members remaining, a final toast to departed comrades will be made and the ritual will end. At one time the goblets were kept at the Air Force Academy in Colorado between reunions, but in 2005, the survivors decided they would be on permanent display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton.

I Had Considered Going, But It Slipped Up on Me. That Would Have Been Something to See. --Cooter