I listen to many podcasts and YouTube documentaries or interviews. Nearly all my selections are about US History, Presidents and First Ladies, The White House, The Wright Brothers, Dayton history, and The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. To be honest, unless the presentations are by American Presidents: Totalus Rankium, History That Doesn’t Suck, Ken Burns, or David McCullough, I tend to get bored easily.

One of my favorite interviews has been David McCullough’s Library of Congress’ “David McCullough on John Adams” where Mr. McCullough describes his research and writing on John Adams. What I find most intriguing about this interview is not so much about his work on his biography for Mr. Adams, but where Mr. McCullough inserts a hint of his new work on The Wright Brothers. In this brief discussion of the Wright Brothers, McCullough focuses on their younger sister, Katharine. This moment, to me, is so invigorating and you can feel his passion for the Wright family. He also demonstrated his passion when he visited Dayton for research and for the eventual book signing in 2016.

Today, I listened to a podcast featuring Alex Heckman, vice-president of museum operations at Carillon Historical Park, that eclipsed my enchantment with David McCullough’s assessment of the Wright Brothers. Alex’s enthusiasm and passion for Wright Brothers’ history and Dayton’s legacy shine and his excitement to share their story was infectious enough for me to listen to it a second time.

I am also impressed with the interviewer who knew and shared her own research but without fanfare to interfere with what Alex presented. In fact, she allowed him ample time to invest more into telling the Wright Brothers’ story.

Please take time to listen to the interview with Alex Heckman on this historical day in aviation history.

ABOUT THIS DATE: October 5, 1905, was a monumental day in the history of aviation history. While their Thursday morning “skips” at Kitty Hawk, December 17, 1903, were crucial to man releasing his bonds to earth, it was that afternoon at Huffman Prairie, seven miles east of Dayton, Ohio, on October 5th that Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved practical flight where they flew for nearly forty minutes and over twenty-four miles. Their average speed was thirty-eight miles an hour. This day’s accomplishment would be longer than the total of all their 1903 and 1904 flights which totaled 109 flights.