1945 Map of Army Air Forces Fair in Dayton, Ohio - the Future of Warfare

This is a 1945 United States Army Air Forces map of the Army Air Forces Fair at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, today's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Army officials called the fair 'the largest spectacle of its kind ever staged anywhere,' where many previously classified aircraft and other projects were presented.

A Closer Look

Printed on a single sheet, the bottom half provides attendees with a map of the grounds and labels refreshments tents, 'laboratories' where the newest inventions were displayed, and the restrooms and bandstand. The top half of the sheet welcomes visitors and provides the schedule for the day, which included a performance by Benny Goodman! The present example is accompanied by an example of the October 12, 1945, edition of The Post Script, Wright Field's official newspaper.

The Army Air Forces Fair

The fair took place on October 13 and 14, 1945, and was meant to promote continued support for the Army Air Forces. A flying display of a radio-controlled airplane used near the end of the war as target practice for anti-aircraft gunners and machine gunners on B-29s made headlines throughout the country. Seven Nazi rocket- and jet-propelled airplanes, one of which was captured shortly before the end of World War II, were publicly displayed for the first time.

Presented by the Air Technical Service Command, it was intended to argue for continued research and development funding to create the 'push-button' war of tomorrow. After visiting the fair, Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle, who led the famed Doolittle Raid over Tokyo in 1942, stated,

The experimental and developmental research in aeronautics shown in this mighty exhibit tells more vividly than any other one thing why such must be continued through the years ahead. We have the necessary funds to see such program[s] through.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for distribution at the Army Air Forces Fair in Dayton, Ohio, in October 1945. We know of only one other example, which we handled in 2020.