Sky's the limit...
Race to Dayton's aviation places!
A list of the trail sites, and their status regarding COVID-19 closures is posted on the AVIATION BLOG page on this website. The list is current as of March 18, 2020. Status is subject to change on a day-to-day basis. Before traveling to a site on the Aviation Trail, please verify that site’s status by calling the number shown in the site’s listing on the "Trail Sites" page on this website, and by checking the site’s own website or calling them. For sites that are open, refer to their individual websites for days and hours.
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, a five-unit park is located in and around Dayton, Ohio.
Download and print a passport brochure & map using the button above, or pick one up at one of the participating sites
View our Events and Projects page for details on upcoming events.
Tour a minimum of eight of the amazing aviation sites listed in the brochure.
Aviation Trail Inc. Parachute Museum
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum was established to honor David Gold, whose parachute collection is considered one of the most comprehensive private parachute collections in the world and to tell the story of the local development of the freefall parachute at McCook Field.
David Gold passed away on February 4, 1985, at the age of 67. In 1986, his estate donated his collection to Aviation Trail, Inc. The books, papers, reports, photographs, and films were sent to nearby Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. The rest of the collection was retained by Aviation Trail, Inc. at the Aviation Trail Visitor Center and is available for research. The materials at Wright State University are available for research in the Special Collections and Archives section of the University’s Paul Laurence Dunbar Library.
Access to those materials is available at this link - click here for WSU archives materials
CLICK HERE for much more on the Parachute Museum page, and see the story of the Parachute Museum interviews, and video links to the interviews.