The 1905 Wright Flyer III is recognized as the world's first practical airplane because it could repeatedly take off, fly under the complete control of the pilot, and land without damage. It was also the first plane ever to carry a passenger. The airplane measures approximately 28' long x 40.5' wide x 9.5' high (8.53 m x 12.34 m x 2.9 m).

After their flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December 1903, the Wright brothers returned to Dayton and soon built the 1904 Wright Flyer II. A more efficient machine, the Wright Flyer III, was completed and tested in June of 1905. It made record-breaking flights in October of that year, over Huffman Prairie, a cow pasture just outside of Dayton. Orville Wright considered this flyer to be their most important airplane because it was their last experimental model, and it was the airplane on which their first production aircraft was based. At Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina on May 14, 1908, each of the Wright brothers made a flight with their mechanic, Charles W. Furnas of Dayton as a passenger.

The restoration of this original airplane was made possible through the friendship and collaboration of Orville Wright and Colonel Edward A. Deeds, then chairman of the board of The National Cash Register Company and the founder of Carillon Historical Park. In 1991, the 1905 Wright Flyer III became the first airplane to be designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.