Aviation Heritage on parade today at Fort Sam Houston

Wright "B" Flyer Inc. volunteers from Dayton, Ohio, put aviation heritage on parade today at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas -- both on the ground and in the air. One Wright Model B lookalike was taxied on the Army fort's parade field where Lt. Benjamin Foulois made the first military solo flight 100 years ago today, while another Model B lookalike cruised overhead. Both airplanes made two appearances during a ceremony to honor the beginnings of military aircraft operations. Foulois airplane, Army Signal Corps No. 1, was a 1909 Wright flyer built in Dayton.

Wing walkers John Kennedy (left) and Richard Holt help guide a replica Wright Model B as Don Gum taxies it on the Fort Sam Houston parade field in San Antonio, Texas. Alll three are members of Dayton, Ohio-based Wright "B" Flyer Inc., which brought two Wright Model B lookalikes to San Antonio to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Army Lt. Benjamin Foulois' first flight from the same field. It was the first solo military flight. Foulois' plane, Army Signal Corps No. 1, was a 1909 "A" model, which had canards and no wheels. The B Model came out in 1910. But Foulois made extensive modifications that essentially turned the airlane into a Model B. His airplane, restored to original configuration, hangs in the National Air and Space Museum. Gum only taxied this airplane on the parade field; WBF's flying lookalike made two passes overhead during the ceremony.Photo by Timothy R. Gaffney.

Amanda Wright Lane, great-grand niece of the Wright brothers, rides on a replica Wright Model B with pilot Don Gum on the Fort Sam Houston parade field in San Antonio, Texas. Both Lane and Gum are members of Dayton, Ohio-based Wright "B" Flyer Inc., which brought two Wright Model B lookalikes to San Antonio to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Army Lt. Benjamin Foulois' first flight from the same field. It was the first solo military flight. Foulois' plane, Army Signal Corps No. 1, was a 1909 "A" model, which had canards and no wheels. The B Model came out in 1910. But Foulois made extensive modifications that essentially turned the airplane into a Model B. His airplane, restored to original configuration, hangs in the National Air and Space Museum. Gum only taxied this airplane on the parade field; WBF's flying lookalike made two passes overhead during the ceremony. Photo by Timothy R. Gaffney.

Dayton, Ohio-based Wright "B" Flyer Inc. volunteer Richard Stepler waves from Wright "B" Flyer No. 001, a Wright Model B lookalike, as he and WBF pilot Don Stroud fly over the Fort Sam Houston parade field in San Antonio, TX, during the Military Flight Centennial ceremony. The ceremony observed the 100th anniversary of Lt. Benjamin Foulois' first flight from the parade field, the first solo flight by a military pilot. Stepler is a retired Navy Commander (but was not a military pilot) and Stroud is a retired Air Force Lt. Col. Photo by Timothy R. Gaffney.

Wright "B" Flyer Inc. is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization based on Dayton Wright Brothers Airport in Miami Twp., Montgomery County, Ohio. Its mission is to promote the Dayton area's aviation heritage by operating and displaying lookalikes of Wright Model B aircraft, the Wright brothers' first production airplanes.

For media inquiries, contact Timothy R. Gaffney, Wright "B" Flyer trustee, at (937) 219-8277 ortgaffney@timothyrgaffney.com (alternate timothyrgaffney@gmail.com).