BRIEFING NEWS Dayton to build 250-foot Wright memorial City wants its own icon DAYTON WANTS AN ICON for its city in the way St. Louis has its Gateway Arch. One is in the works and will firmly establish the town as the birthplace of aviation. Within three years a group in Dayton, Ohio, could start work on a 25-story monument at the north end of Dayton with a replica of a 1905 Wright Flyer atop it. The Wright Image Group needs to raise $12 million for the project. Walter Ohlman, president of the group, said it now has $1 million plus the land for the memorial. Since it is near the airport, the group also has permission of the FAA and the airport, and since it is near two busy interstate highways, it has the approval of the Ohio State Patrol. Engineering students at Ohio State University have completed analysis of aerodynamic forces that could exert tons of force on the wings of the Wright Flyer. The students built on earlier work done by the University of Dayton and used computer models and the OSU 3x5 foot wind tunnel to estimate the forces generated by wind velocities up to 220 mph. A final number for the amount of force on the model has not been calculated. The wingspan is 120 feet, the exact distance of the Wright’s first flight. The original restored 1905 Flyer is on display at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton. —AKMhttp://www.aopa.org/title http://www.aopa.org/title