I was just on a business trip to Columbus, Ohio and noticed that most of the new Ohio license plates stated that Ohio was ‘the birthplace of aviation’.
I remember 3rd grade history which indicated that the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, NC which seems to qualify in my mind as the true birthplace.
I also vaguely know that hot air ballooning (if we count that as aviation) was done in 18th Century France.
What exactly is the state of Ohio laying claim to…were the WB’s born there or something?
The Wright Brother’s lived in Ohio and had their Bicycle Shop there.
Can’t remember why they went to NC to fly the plane
I think the only reason for Kitty Hawk, NC was the better wind conditions, IIRC. They lived in worked in Ohio, and designed the plane there.
In my mind, Ohio has more of a right to the title, since they were from Ohio, and did the design work there. If they had gone to Mexico to fly it, would we (we Americans, that is) still consider it a US invention?
Arjuna34
Yes, Ohio is the “Birth Place of Aviation.” But a more accurate statement would be “Dayton, OH: Birth Place of Aviation.”
The Wright Brothers not only built their plane in Dayton, they also did all the R&D work here. They only flew it in NC because the conditions were better there.
BTW: Dayton is home to the largest Air Force museum in the free world. Stop on by if you’re ever out this way.
Michael Craft
Electrical Engineer
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH
magcraft@ernet.com
Ohio goes for “Birthplace of Aviation” while North Carolina just uses “First in Flight”.
Both are accurate, if you support the Wright Brothers’ claim to being the first to achieve controlled, powered air travel.
I suppose when NC was deciding what to put on their plates they had to pick something to be proud of. I guess their only other choice was “North Carolina: Now with indoor plumbing!”
J Carroll
Buckeye by birth.
Shouldn’t Paris, France be given the honour ofbeing the “Birthplace of Aviation”? It seems to me the freres Montgolfier were flying there in 1783, 120 years before the Wright Brothers went aloft at Kitty Hawk.
France doesn’t put mottos on their license plates, though. If they did, I would suggest something to the effect of “Ne tirer pas, Monsieur l’Allemande! Je suis un collaborateur!”
(Don’t shoot, Mr. German! I’m a collaborator!)
I believe another claim of the Birthplace of Aviation thing in Ohio is that Neil Armstrong is from Ohio.
And, remember, it’s the Birthplace of Aviation.
Most of the definitions of “flying” I find indicate not only moving throught the air, but doing so quickly. Balloons hardly do that, unless the wind is with them. (Admittedly, one of the definitions is “floating, fluttering, waving, hanging, or moving freely in the air”.)
Maybe they could say: “First in Float”. 
I’ve vacationed on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s a great place to fly a kite, learn to hang glide, or test your design for a heavier-than-air craft.
Not no but hell no,
We are not giving the French one bit of credit for something as important as the invention of aviation. The most they can do is make knockoffs of U.S. fighter planes and call themselves “France: The other world power”. Anyway, I don’t think that lighter than air ships are commonly associated with the term “aviation” even though they might slip through under some broad definitions. Aviation commonly means manned heavier than air craft operating with the atmosphere (e.g. airplanes, helicopters, and maybe even hangliders and sailplanes but not some crappy French inflated sack from the 1700’s). Imagine what airport delays would be like if we had to wait for favorable wind conditions before United was willing to launch the balloon bound from Boston to D.C. That is what French ingenuity would have gotten us if the Ohio boys wouldn’t have stepped in.
No, France can’t really claim aviation. And in reply to the Bob T, I can’t name anyone who doesn’t believe that the Wrights were the first to achieve “controlled, powered, air travel.” Orville spent a lot of time in court deending his and Wilbur’s patented designs. Name one who doesn’t buy the Wright’s claim, and I’ll show you a kook. The Wrights were the first aeronautical engineers, meaning they were the first to successfully apply engineering, modeling, scaling, etc. to the study of powered flight.
The Wrights did virtually all of their R&D in Dayton. They tested most of their craft in this area, following the initial Kitty Hawk tests. They were the first to design a plane that could fly a controlled circle and stay aloft for over 30 minutes. Huffman Prairie, where they tested, is now a National Historic Site on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Other reasons Ohio can lay claim to this (actually, mostly Dayton).
The first military aircraft purchased by the U.S. Army was a Wright “B” Flyer.
The Wright Bros. manufactured airplanes in Dayton.
I believe that McCook Field, in Dayton, was the first airport.
The first parachute was designed and tested in Dayton.
Wright-Patterson has been, and currently is, the largest concentration of military management next to the Pentagon, and houses the Project Offices for the F-22. It has previously housed the Program Offices for most aircraft flown by the Air Force.
Much of the initial astronaut training in the 60s was at Wright-Patt.
Columbus has been involved in the production of military aircraft.
Cleveland has NASA Lewis, one of the research arms of NASA.
Neil Armstrong is from Wapakoneta, OH.
The first director of NASA was T. Kieth Glennan, who was then the President of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland.
I got more if you need it.
Tank
I was just covering myself in case there were kooks. Those Langley supporters can get strident sometimes.
Don’t forget that John Glenn guy used to be a Senator from Ohio.
Dayton has a nice little national park dedicated to the Wright brothers. it’s at their bicycle shop. I got a whole lecture on it when I was there last year. I don’t really remember too much of it but I do remember that it cost a lot to take the plane to NC.
Also acording to James Burke in either The Day the Universe Changed or Connections 2 he was talking about another guy from Austria who made a plane about 20 years before the Wrights did. he had a plane that was supposed to take off from water. the given reason for his failure to fly is because the motor he ordered from Mercedes was twice as big as he wanted and he ended up crashing and dieing.
IIRC the Wrights made their own engine.
For Bob T.
I was in Benton Harbor michigan a couple years ago doing some research for a project, and ran into a file on a local guy some still claim was “first.” I asked the librarian about this, because the guy basically just propelled himself out into the water - no control. She told me, “Oh, well if you are referring to controlled, sustainable flight…”
Geez, I’m a homer (I’m from Dayton) but that was a little ridiculous. And yeah, you gotta watch those Langleyites 
Tank
I think that most people credited with a famous invention always have to fight off the claims of someone else. There aren’t many cut and dried claims to any aspect of technology.
and
Tell that to a balloon pilot, whose license was issued but the Federal Aviation Administration! Aviating is flying, and balloons fly.
Although I personally haven’t done it, ballooning is certainly a part of flying. Was everyone asleep when we had the “200th Aniversary of Flight” all over the airwaves back in '83?
Like it or not, the French were the first to fly (unless you count the myth of Icarus and Deadalus, which can’t be verified). The Wrights were the first to fly a heavier-than-air, powered aircraft (i.e., controlled flight).
Not to discount Ohio’s or North Carolina’s claims, but this article in the Dallas Morning News, Texas can also claim to be both the birthplace of aviation and first in flight.
That is if you believe this story is true.