National Aviation Hall of Fame

Dayton, the hometown of Wilbur and Orville Wright, is home to the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which honours the people rather than the machines of American flight. Its enshrinees range from early pioneers such as the Wright brothers to figures like Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager and Neil Armstrong, along with less familiar engineers, designers and aviators.

The hall is housed within the National Museum of the United States Air Force, near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Its galleries present the enshrinees through portraits and accounts of their achievements, alongside exhibits on aviation and spaceflight. Founded by Dayton civic leaders in the early 1960s and later chartered by Congress, it continues to add new names at an annual enshrinement ceremony.

The hall is modest in size compared with the vast aircraft halls around it. It suits visitors interested in the personal stories behind aviation history and fits naturally into a longer day at the Air Force museum.