Ohio's Aviation Heritage Audio Tour

Next to the Hawker Hurricane is the Eagle Squadrons exhibit. In front is a glass case that contains information on another Ohio aviator. Piqua native Dominic “Don” Gentile learned to fly in high school. He tried to enlist in the Air Corps after graduation but was refused because he lacked the required two years of college. Desperate to fly, he turned to the Royal Air Force in England and by December 1941 became a pilot officer, flying with various Royal Air Force squadrons. He was assigned to combat in 1942 as a member of Number 133 Eagle Squadron and on August 1, 1942, during the Dieppe raid, he destroyed his first German planes, an Fw 190 and a Ju 88, within 10 minutes of each other. In September 1942, when the three Eagle Squadrons were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces, or AAF, as the 4th Fighter Group, Gentile was commissioned as a second lieutenant and began a remarkable combat career flying Spitfires, P-47s and P-51s. By April 1944, he was the Army Air Force’s leading ace with 27.8* enemy pla