On this day in 1871, aviation pioneer Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio. Sixty-eight years later, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a proclamation making this day National Aviation Day—a day dedicated to educating American citizens about aviation and promoting an interest in the subject.
The plane above, crafted of cast aluminum, was inspired by a piece of World War II trench art. It depicts a 1936 British “Spitfire”—the high speed, super maneuverable fighting plane that helped repel the German Luftwaffe during the Nazi attack on England in the summer and autumn of 1940. Please come into the shop to see it in person ($95)—or call for further information.