WWII era fighter buzzes Wright Memorial

A wreath laying commemorating the 113th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Powered Flight took place at Wright Memorial Hill on Friday.

Most of the ceremony took place inside of the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center due to the bitter cold, but participants got outside to place the wreath just in time for a flying salute to the Wrights.

Wright family members Amanda Wright-Lane, Iris Lane and her father Stephen Wright placed a wreath at the Wright Brothers Memorial with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 88th Air Base Wing Commander Col. Bradley M. McDonald. Within seconds, the roar of a perfectly timed flyover by a WWII era P-51D Mustang followed, marking the hour and minute of the first flight: 10:35 a.m.

"It's a snowy, cloudy backdrop for a beautiful flyover," said Amanda Wight-Lane, Great Grandniece of the Wright Brothers. The P-51D is part of the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Cincinnati.

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