DAYTON, Ohio — As Ohio rolls out its latest license plate design, the National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) is urging motorists to show their pride in Ohio’s aerospace industry and support aviation heritage by ordering specialty “Leader in Flight” license plates.
The plate shows an image of a Wright Flyer, the world’s first successful powered airplane, and a space shuttle, the first airplane to fly into orbit, accompanied by the slogan “The Leader in Flight.”
The specialty plate can be ordered with the newest license plate design, which the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has said is available now. The new design is dubbed “Ohio Pride.”
“Everywhere you travel, your ‘Leader in Flight’ license plates will remind others that Ohio is the birthplace of aviation — the state where the Wright brothers lived and invented the airplane,” said Tony Sculimbrene, NAHA executive director. “The plate also reminds others that Ohio remains the leader in flight as an aerospace powerhouse. NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton played critical roles in developing technology used in the space shuttle.
“And, of course, the first American in orbit and the first man to walk on the moon were both Buckeyes,” Sculimbrene said.
The “Leader in Flight” slogan also provides a polite counterpoint to the “first in flight” claim on North Carolina’s license plates, he noted.
Ohio approved the “Leader in Flight” license plate several years ago as a fundraiser for Wright “B” Flyer Inc., a 50c(3) nonprofit that flies and displays lookalikes of the Wright brothers’ Model B Flyer. Ohio donates $15 of every registration to Wright “B” Flyer, which is based on Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport south of Dayton. NAHA is collaborating with Wright “B” Flyer to promote the license plate statewide.
Visit LeaderInflight.org for more information about the license plate and a downloadable order form.
The National Aviation Heritage Alliance is a private, not-for-profit corporation designated by Congress as the management entity for the National Aviation Heritage Area. It’s one of 49 National Heritage Areas under a program administered by the National Park Service. NAHA’s vision is to sustain the legacy of the Wright brothers and make the Dayton region the recognized global center of aviation heritage and premier destination for aviation heritage tourism. Wright “B” Flyer is one of 15 NAHA partner organizations.