5 Ways to Celebrate National Aviation Day
For some people, it’s National Donut Day or National Take Your Dog to Work Day that gets them pumped up. Around here, as much as we love both donuts and dogs, what revs our engines is National Aviation Day!
If you’re not familiar, National Aviation Day is observed every August 19. It was established in 1939 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who issued a proclamation that designated the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birthday as National Aviation Day. It is a day for aviators and aviation enthusiasts to celebrate the industry that so many of us are passionate about.
Looking for ways to celebrate? Even if you can’t do it exactly on August 19, take the spirit of National Aviation Day with you when you decide to salute the day. Here are five ideas, ranging from trips to things you can do wright at home.
- Check out The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. There’s never a wrong time to visit the Smithsonian, a national treasure, but National Aviation Day is the perfect day to immerse yourself in the story behind the invention of the world’s first successful airplane. Other museums that we think are pretty fly include:
- National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH
- EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, WI
- Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL
- Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, GA
- CR Smith Museum in Dallas, TX
- Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA
- Go to an airshow! There are many wonderful airshows around the U.S. One of our favorites just happened last month—EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This past weekend another fantastic airshow took place—the Chicago Air and Water Show. Check out the top 15 airshows in the U.S. and find one that works for you.
- Watch an aviation documentary at home. This website lists five recommended movies about aviation that are available on Netflix or Amazon.
- Go fly a kite! When was the last time you flew a kite? It’s a wonderful, free feeling to launch a kite and watch it soar. But before you hit the park, learn a little about how kites fly. It’s all about aerodynamics, and there are similarities between what keeps kites and planes in the air.
- Come visit LIFT! We love to show people what it’s like to attend LIFT Academy. Schedule a hangar tour and see our Diamond aircraft, flight simulators and more.
However you choose to celebrate National Aviation Day, we hope you learn something you didn’t know about this exciting field. It’s been fascinating people for decades and is something we get excited about every day, because we’re proud to be #avgeeks!
