Every year on August 19, we celebrate National Aviation Day: a day established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to recognize the birthday of aviation pioneer Orville Wright and to encourage Americans to take an interest in the past, present, and future of flight.
And here in Oklahoma, aviation history has some pretty deep roots.
One of our state’s most famous aviation pioneers, Wiley Post, first became fascinated with flight after seeing an airplane at a county fair in Lawton in 1913. He would go on to become internationally known for record-setting around-the-world flights, pioneering high-altitude aviation, and helping develop early pressure-suit technology.
Oklahoma’s connection to aviation didn’t stop with the early pioneers. From pilots and engineers to military aviation, aerospace, and generations of Oklahomans who have looked toward the sky and wondered what’s next, flight has remained an important part of our state’s story.
So today, we celebrate the dreamers, the pilots, the mechanics, the engineers, the innovators — and every kid who has ever looked up at an airplane and thought, “I want to do that someday.” 
Happy National Aviation Day from the Town of Jones!
Dream big. Fly high. 
