Ohio’s greatest free attraction is the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton. If you like airplanes, history, or people watching, this place is for you. The museum contains the world’s best collection of military aircraft – from the Wright 1909 Military Flyer to the YMQ-9 “Reaper” remotely-piloted aircraft currently flying in Afghanistan.
The museum includes an IMAX theater, a reasonably-priced gift shop, and a cafeteria, but the emphasis is clearly the aircraft and related exhibits.
The museum displays the aircraft in chronological order. The Early Years Gallery’s first exhibit is the 1909 Military Flyer. Just around the corner is the Wright Brother’s original wind tunnel. A Fokker Dr. I, similar to the one flown by the Red Baron in World War I, hangs upside down from the ceiling, forever frozen in a dive at a Sopwith Camel parked on the ground.
