The brothers returned to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field in 1910. This time the field served as home to the Wright Company School of Aviation, the Wright’s flight exhibition company, and a test range for their aircraft company. Among the graduates were Army Lieutenant Henry “Hap” Arnold, who was sent to the school in 1911 to earn his wings, and A. Roy Brown, the Canadian Ace who received the aerial credit for downing Baron von Richthofen, the Red Baron. The Wright brothers operations on the Huffman Prairie ended in 1916 when the aviation school closed its doors. During these years, the Wrights had used the Huffman Prairie as a research and development facility, flight test center, logistics depot, and training field. These functions became precedents for operations around the Huffman Prairie site for the rest of the century. Even more important, the “can-do” spirit that Wilbur and Orville brought to the flying field would inspire their heirs to push aeronautical engineering to its technological limits.

   The transfer of equipment and operations from McCook Field to Wright Field begun in March 1927 was essentially completed by June, although the last of the equipment was not moved until May 1929. The formal dedication of Wright Field was held on October 12, 1927 with Orville Wright raising the first flag over the new engineering center. The dedication established three precedents. It was the first time that an Army installation was named for two civilians who had never been in military service. It was the first time an installation was named for a living individual. And, in all likelihood, it was the first time that an individual so honored by the military service was present at his own memorialization.
     As the nation’s foremost aeronautical engineering center, Wright Field became involved in every aspect of aircraft design and production. During the 1930s, the engineering trend at the field was toward diversification, expansion, and modernization of aircraft design. Engineers and scientists worked to improve aircraft structure and aerodynamics. They developed a wide range of experimental and production aircraft categorized by mission: attack, pursuit, transport, bombardment, observation, photographic, training, and rotary wing. Each innovation served as a stepping stone to the next. Thus, the Boeing B?9 and Martin B?10 bombers paved the way for the B?17 and became progenitors of the B?29 as Wright Field engineers tried to develop a true long-range bombardment aircraft. Wright Field was also instrumental in marketing aircraft to foreign nations. The work performed in the 1930s would soon provide America with a decisive edge. The aircraft that won World War II were either in development or production when the conflict began.

   Patterson Field was a logistics center throughout the pre-war period. The Fairfield Air Depot retained its title and operated as the major organization on the installation. The depot had support responsibilities in 28 states and serviced 28 of the Air Corps’ 50 stations in the United States. In 1931 it had 15 officers and 550 civilians and generated a monthly payroll of $67,000. Its headquarters moved from Building 1 (the installation’s original depot structure) to the newly completed Building 11 in 1933. Several acres of Patterson Field were set aside in 1934 to house a Transient Camp for temporary workers employed under Depression-era programs. During 1934 and 1935, these men labored on a number of projects such as the renovation of buildings and landscaping. Young men residing in the Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was set up on the field helped landscape the installation in 1935 and 1936.
      The workers also contributed to the construction of Wright-Patterson’s Brick Quarters. Built in an area described as “an unsightly weed patch,” the 92 housing units were erected to house all the officers assigned to Wright and Patterson Fields. Designers arranged the $1,722,000 complex in the shape of a horseshoe with the Turtle Pond centered along its main axis and the Officers’ Open Mess situated at the crown of the curve. Large, private back yards enhanced the neighborhood and created an atmosphere of informal tranquility in these junior executive style homes. The jewel of the complex was Quarters 1, since memorialized as “The Robins House” for its first occupant, Brigadier General Augustine Warner Robins. It was the residence of the installation’s senior officer.
     As a depot, Patterson Field supported Air Corps operations throughout the nation. It also played a key role in several operations. In 1933, it hosted the Air Corps Anti-Aircraft Exercises and the next year it modified and supported military aircraft assigned to carry the U. S. Mail. When Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Hap” Arnold (a former depot commander) initiated the long-distance Alaskan flight of 1934, Patterson Field prepared the aircraft and supported the operation. The field was also the scene of the world’s first entirely automatic landing which took place in 1937. New additions to the Patterson Field community included the Air Corps Weather School in 1937 and the first military Autogiro School in the United States. It opened in 1938.
     Another landmark, the Wright Memorial, was dedicated on August 19, 1940. This tribute to the Wright brothers was constructed by the Dayton community on a 27-acre site owned by the Miami Conservancy District. The Olmsted Brothers architectural firm designed the memorial which sits atop a 100-foot bluff adjacent to Wright Field overlooking the Huffman Prairie Flying Field. Funds raised by the Dayton Air Service Committee in 1924 as part of its campaign to keep the Engineering Division helped finance the monument. Six native American burial mounds are also nestled about the memorial.