Bath Township in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Greene County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

A School for Flyers

Photographed by Pete Skillman, June 27, 2025

1. A School for Flyers Marker

Inscription.
As soon as the Wrights solved the riddles of how to build a practical flying machine, they stopped test flying here. For the next five years, the world's first airport went back to being just a marshy pasture.

The brothers' next steps were the same as any other astute businessmen of their time. They secured patent rights, and began to promote their new product internationally. And in 1910, the Wrights began to charge eager adventurers a fee to learn how to do what the brothers had risked life and limb to master.

When their first student pilots soloed here, Orville and Wilbur themselves had flown full circle. In 1904, the Wrights had entered this pasture as fledgling flyers. Six years later, they returned as professors of the air.

...the instructor...is ever present and ready to take charge should the pupil make any serious mistake. By this method the usual dangers in learning to fly are eliminated and all wreckage of the machine is avoided....The company assumes responsibility for all damage to machines during training.
Wright School of Aviation brochure

In all, 119 young pilots — both civilian and military

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— learned to fly here. The stone outline on the ground ahead shows the location of the flying school's hangar, seen below.

A bronze tablet at the Wright Memorial on the tall bluff behind you records the student pilots' names.

(Captions):

Wright School paperwork

In taking these lessons...I do so of my own volition and hereby assume whatever risk of personal injury...
Training Agreement

Pupils usually learn to fly in two to three hours of actual practice in the air...
Brochure

I agree to pay to The Wright Field Company the sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($750.00)...
Application

Erected by Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Education • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 39° 48.4′ N, 84° 3.76′ W. Marker is in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in Greene County. It is in Bath Township. It can be reached from Marl Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Marl Rd, Dayton OH 45433, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally,

Photographed by Pete Skillman, June 27, 2025

2. A School for Flyers Marker

this marker is in Ohio’s Dayton Metro

and in the Miami Valley.

It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Later Test Flights (a few steps from this marker); Those Daring Young Men (a few steps from this marker); Flying Field to Air Force Base (within shouting distance of this marker); Trials in an Old Swamp (within shouting distance of this marker); The First Airport (within shouting distance of this marker); Huffman Prairie Flying Field (within shouting distance of this marker); Corner Boundary No. 6 (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Huffman Prairie Flying Field (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 24, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 30, 2025, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware. This page has been viewed 119 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 30, 2025, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware.