Charles Lindbergh Visits Orville Wright in Dayton

Just one month after he made history by completing the first solo flight cross the Atlantic Ocean, Col. Charles Lindbergh touched down in the Buckeye State to meet fellow history-maker Orville Wright at his home in Dayton.

On June 22, 1927, the famed aviator arrived in a single-seat P-1B army pursuit plane, accompanied by two others piloted by Maj. T.G. Lamphier and Capt. Sinclair Street. They descended onto Wright Field (which is today part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) for a personal meeting with Orville and site officials, including Maj. John F. Curry, who was stationed there.

“Dayton sped preparations for welcoming the national hero when he wired he would arrive here in an army plane at 5 p.m.,” The Cleveland Press reported in its June 22, 1927, edition. “... He will inspect the field, will have luncheon with officers of Wright Field, and take off for Washington D.C. sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday.”

The group was also joined by Harry Hall Knight and Harold Bixby — two of Lindbergh’s advisers and backers — who had been flown in by army transport earlier that day.

In keeping with Lindbergh’s wishes, there was no planned public demonstration, but those eager to get a glimpse of the pilot could do so as he made his way to Hawthorn Hill, the home in Dayton where Orville lived between 1914 and 1948.

As The Cleveland Press stated in its June 22, 1927, edition, “Opportunity to greet the noted aviator will be afforded as he is taken through the city from Wright Field to the home of [Orville] Wright in Oakwood.”

A quiet moment with little fanfare and minimal press, the meeting still marked a momentous occasion, uniting two juggernauts in the world of aviation. 

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