up... up… and away! the mission inn, riverside, and aviation history
TRANSCRIPT
Up... Up… And Away! The Mission Inn, Riverside, and
Aviation History
December 17, 1903First Powered Flight Orville and Wilbur
Wright
*Telegram image courtesy of the Library of Congress
What advantages could the military have gained from flight in
1908?
*Document courtesy of the Library of Congress
Mission Inn founder Frank A. Miller recognized the importance of flight, and in 1917 he successfully lobbied to have a new Army Air Corps base in Riverside.
March Field as it appeared in 1920, just a few years after
Frank Miller and other Riverside citizens helped get
War Department approval for a new base in Riverside.
Left: Two WWI-era bi-planes.
*Photos courtesy of the March Field Air Museum
Planes flying over March Field with major landmarks notedCirca 1930
Military Training Planes, 1935 Military training planes, 1937
The popularity of flight continued to grow during the 1930s and 1940s.
Frank Miller’s daughter and son-in-law, Allis and DeWitt Hutchings, created the Fliers’ Wall at the Mission Inn in 1932.
Far left: DeWitt Hutchings, Allis Hutchings.
The Mission Inn Fliers WallPresent day, currently home to 157 copper wings representing notable aviators and aviation groups
The Mission Inn Fliers Wall, the Flying Hutchings, and “Air
Mindedness”
Buzz aldrin affixed his wings to the wall in 2009
*Photo courtesy of the National Archives, document courtesy of the Eisenhower Presidential Library
The Women Air Service Pilots (WASPs) were honored with wings in 2001
The Tuskegee Airmen had their wings affixed to the Fliers Wall in
2012.*Photo courtesy of UC Riverside Special Collections,
document courtesy of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
Amelia Earhart had her wings affixed during a ceremony in 1936
Charles Lindbergh had his wings applied posthumously in 1994
Other notable aviators include:• Orville Wright• Chuck Yeager• John Glenn• Eddie Rickenbacker• Michael Coates• Neil Armstrong
Can you match the aviator with their name and explain what they did to earn wings on
the Mission Inn Fliers’ Wall?