8 Aviation forWomen N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7
W A I
C O N N E C T
D A Y T O N
WAI provided a unique opportuni-
ty for members and friends to gath-
er in Dayton, Ohio, for a two-day
WAI Connect Dayton event that in-
cluded a number of local aviation
tou rs, a book sig n i ng recept ion,
and a full-day of speakers, in ad-
dition to drone flying and robotics
team demonstrations.
L ea r n i n g about t he h istor y of
f light and
the Wright
b r ot he r s'
family, the group toured Hawthorn
Hill, Carillon Historical Park, the
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center
and the Wright Cycle Company, and
the Huffman Prairie Flying Field,
where Orville and Wilbur conducted
their test flights. The afternoon tours
included the National Museum of the
U.S. Air Force, as well as GE Aviation
EPISCenter.
Sharing some archive items from
the Wright State University Libraries,
Dawne Dewey, head of Special Col-
lections and Archives, explained that
the vast collection of books, photos,
journals, and other items at the Day-
ton, Ohio, archives covers all aspects
of aviation history from kites to the
space age. "It's important to preserve
the millions and millions of stories,"
Dawne said, and encouraged every-
one to "discover your story, and save
your story."
Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, com-
mander, Air Force Materiel Com-
mand, Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, provided details of a long his-
tory of women at Wright-Patterson
and their significant contributions to
by Kelly Murphy
WAI Connect Dayton
September 29-30, 2017
Sharon Rossmark
Dawne Dewey
Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski
Patty Wagner
Margaret Soda
Kristie West
Kim Players of
Digital Drone
Dynamics helps
Jill Johnson with
the controls,
while Jill's niece
Madeline Ann
Prindle looks on.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE ULLERY