Cole Center's Wright Flyer III at Huffman Prairie Centennial

In 2005, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park celebrated the 100th anniversary of Wilbur Wright's 39-minute flight over Huffman Prairie in the Wright Flyer III. The flight marked the culmination of the Wright brothers' flying experiments and the beginning of the age of practical flight. The centennial celebration featured a reenactment flight by Mark Dusenberry in his reproduction Wright Flyer III and an address by Historian Tom D. Crouch.

On Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, Ron Cole and Erin Cole, representing their non-profit collection, Cole Center Zanesville, acquired this remarkable - and now very famous historic - aircraft for public display and demonstration in Downtown Zanesville, Ohio.

Our Flyer returned to Huffman Prairie in 2007

Read About Cole Center Zanesville

The Last Letter Home

This work of art and poetry was created on fragile rice paper by a young Japanese named Yasuto Nitta on November 3, 1944. He was an experienced pilot in the Navy; the wingman of his unit's commander - the 321st Kokutai, equipped with the 'Gekko' night fighter. It was sent from his base to his parents in Japan the day before his final Shimpu (Kamikaze) flight against the American carrier fleet. All of the writing and imagery was drawn using the tiny characters for 'Namu Ami Da Butsu' (May my spirit be accepted into heaven). His thumbprints and handprints signify the importance and reverence he was bestowing upon the document - the last correspondence of his life.

Of particular significance is his poem (far right), which reads:

"To my parents far away in the homeland, I leave this final message: The cherry blossoms that fall, and those that do not fall - are all cherry blossoms."

It was a somewhat rebellious thing for the young airman to leave as his last words. He was saying that, in a war where one's duty was to die for his country (to fall like a cherry blossom), one did not have to fall to be of equal value and beauty. One did not have to die in order to be a hero.

Yasuto Nitta was killed in action on November 4, 1944. The results of the mission remain unknown.