Will

Will Hoffine, N8HDM

Huffman Prairie “Huffman Prairie” was an 84 acre field of pasture owned by Dayton banker Torrence Huffman. In 1904, brothers Wilber and Orville Wright obtained permission to use the field for experimentation and development of their Wright Flyer III, considered to be the first practical airplane. Many aviation “firsts” were accomplished at Huffman Prairie, including the first banked turn, first complete circle and first figure eight. In 1910, the Wright Company moved it testing operations to “Huffman Flying Field”, where it also operated Wright Flying School. Henry “Hap” Arnold, 5 star Army General and 5 star Air Force General studied there. Arnold is the only 5 star General of the Air Force and the only General to obtain 5 stars in two branches of the U.S. military services. Thomas DeWitt Milling, who was the first “rated” pilot of the U.S. Air Force and later a Brigadier General, also studied there. In 1917, the field, along with an adjoining 2,000 acres were purchased by the U.S. Army Signal Corps and renamed Wilbur Wright Field. In 1948, Wright Field merged with nearby Patterson Field and became Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Ref: Wikipedia National Park Service Dayton Daily News CNN