The Ohio Aviation Trail Welcomes the Armstrong Gallery of Flight

Donna Summers, Armstrong Gallery Curator

The Armstrong Gallery of Flight is now a part of the Ohio Aviation trail. When visiting the Armstrong Gallery of Flight, one of the first things guests notice is the mural that dominates the north wall.  Created by Carol Ann Newsome, it depicts early Warren County aviators Clifford Harmon and Lincoln Beachey around 1909.

Lebanon residents William and Clifford Harmon were fourth cousins to the Wright Brothers.  Clifford achieved a number of aviation firsts, including being the first person to fly across Long Island Sound and the first aviator to carry a female passenger (his wife).  In 1910, he became the sixth person in the U.S. to receive a pilot’s license.  In 1926, Clifford sponsored the Harmon Trophy for outstanding aviators, aviatrix, and aeronauts (balloons or dirigibles).  In 1969, a category for astronauts was added.  Neil Armstrong received the prestigious award.

Daredevil, stunt pilot and “America’s greatest aerial exhibitionist”, Lincoln Beachy, also grew up in Lebanon, Ohio.  In 1900, when Beachy was 13, like the Wright Brothers, Lincoln and his brother Hillary opened a bicycle shop.  Beachy earned his pilot’s license when he was 24; he was the 26th person to do so.  He virtually invented aerobatics and was known as “The Man Who Owns the Sky.”  Beachy often teamed up with race car driver, Barney Oldfield, and staged races. The two thrilled audiences around the country as Beachey’s bi-plane roared around a track in hot pursuit of Oldfield in his car.  In one year alone, an estimated 17 million people, one-sixth of the U.S. population, saw Lincoln Beachey fly.

In Warren County, new airports came from an unexpected source: farmers.  Farmers nationwide saw the airplane as a new farm implement necessary to farm operations.  Landings strips began to appear on farms nationwide.  Aided by the Flying Farmers Association, local farmers changed the face of Warren County. 
 

Warren County Airport/John Lane Field began as a grass strip. John, an avid pilot, had courted his wife, Joann by flying her to a pasture near her home in Waynesville.  After the two were married, they purchased a farm near Lebanon.  They created an airstrip by mowing a north-south runway between their fields.  As members of the Flying Farmers Association, the Lanes welcomed pilots from all over the United States to Warren County.  In 1964, Ohio Governor James Rhodes decreed that there should be a paved runway in every county in the state.  John Lane worked with Warren County officials to pave and light his airstrip.

A second grass airstrip, the Red Stewart Airfield, was started in the 1950s.  Red Stewart would fly his Piper Cub to work and land in the parking lot of Frigidaire Appliance factory in Dayton, Ohio.  Eventually, when the Frigidaire plant manager told Stewart to stop flying his plane to work, Stewart quit his job and created an airfield on a 108-acre farm two-miles south of Waynesville, Ohio.  It continues operations under the guidance of fourth generation family members.

In 1960, a third farm airstrip was created south of Lebanon, Ohio.  Brownies Airport, named after one of its owners, hosted a skydiving club and offered flying lessons.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, engineer, fighter pilot, test pilot, and Gemini and Apollo astronaut, stepped onto the moon’s surface.  Armstrong’s moon walk lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes.  Upon his return to earth, Armstrong stayed with NASA until 1971.  Then he joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati, School of Engineering and moved to Warren County.  For 23 years, Warren County’s most famous resident, Neil Armstrong, and his wife, Jan, lived and raised their family on a farm less than two miles from downtown Lebanon.  He was active in the community, serving on several boards, including the YMCA and United Way.  Upon his passing, the Harmon Museum received many items from his estate including a gold plated frisbee from Whamo and a bronze bust of Armstrong.

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