Aero Memorial
Aero Memorial is a historic site in Pennsylvania, at a modelled elevation of 10 m. Diamond Rock Hill stands 188 m to the west-northwest, 20 miles off. The nearest named place is Aviator Park, a park less than a tenth of a mile away. Blue Route passes 8.6 miles off. 29 named summits stand within 25 miles.
The story
The Aero Memorial is a gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship, commissioned by the Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association). Aero Memorial is located in Philadelphia's Aviator Park, across from The Franklin Institute at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The memorial is a tribute to those aviators who died in World War I, and it was initiated by the Aero Club of Pennsylvania in 1917 with the help of the Fairmount Park Art Association. The Aero Club donated modest funds into the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1917 for the creation of the memorial, and after years of fundraising, the Art Association was finally able to contact Paul Manship for the commission 1939. The idea for a celestial sphere was approved in 1944, and the sculpture was completed in 1948. Aero Memorial was dedicated on June 1, 1950. Aero Memorial is one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture. The inscription reads: (Sphere is inscribed with the Latin names of constellations and planets) (Base, front:) AERO MEMORIAL WORLD WAR I 1917–1918 (Base, front:) JULIAN BIDDLE HOWARD FOULKE DAY (...transcription illegible) ON DOWNS, JR. (...transcription illegible) CHRISTIAN CLANZ WILLIAM BESSE KOEN (...transcription illegible) TON WOODWARD (A plaque with the insignia of the Fairmount Park Art Association appears on the base.)
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1948.
Wikidata Q4688149, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Material
- bronze
What to expect
How to reach it
- 8.6 mi off the Blue Route
- 22.5 mi off the Exton Bypass
- 22.8 mi off the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway, National
- 25.3 mi off the Bayshore Heritage Byway, National
Overlooks nearby
- Hawk Point · 27 mi
- Scenic Overlook - Delaware River · 28 mi
- South Overlook · 29 mi
- Old Mill Overlook · 30 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Aviator Park: 0.0 mi
- Logan Square: 0.0 mi
- Rob Stuart Memorial Dog Park; Winter Street Greenway: 0.2 mi
- Basilica Green: 0.2 mi
- Kopernicus Triangle: 0.2 mi
- All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors: 0.0 mi
- Shakespeare Memorial: 0.1 mi
- Meriwether Lewis: 0.1 mi
- Central Library: 0.1 mi
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial: 0.1 mi
- Budd BB-1 Pioneer Aircraft: 0.0 mi
- Benjamin Franklin National Memorial: 0.0 mi
- Francisco de Miranda: 0.1 mi
- Joseph Leidy: 0.1 mi
- Deinonychus: 0.1 mi
- Franklin Institute: 0.0 mi
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University: 0.1 mi
- Barnes Foundation: 0.2 mi
- Calder Gardens: 0.2 mi
- Rodin Museum: 0.3 mi
- The Universal Sphere: 0.2 mi
- One Liberty Observation Deck: 0.4 mi
- Rocky Steps: 0.6 mi
- Reading Terminal: 0.8 mi
- Chinatown Friendship Gate: 0.9 mi
- Spring Garden Community Garden: 0.6 mi
- Corinthian Gardens: 0.7 mi
- Schuylkill River Park Community Garden: 0.8 mi
- Lemon Ridge Community Garden: 0.8 mi
- Anne d'Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden: 0.8 mi
- Centennial Arboretum: 2.8 mi
- Cadwalader Tract: 6.6 mi
- Upper Roxborough Reservoir Park: 7.7 mi
- Williamson Road Site: 8.0 mi
- Schuykill Center for Environmental Education: 8.0 mi
- Picnic Grove: 1.0 mi
- Bird Lake Picnic Area: 1.5 mi
- Van R. Thomas Memorial Picnic Area: 2.8 mi
- Picnic Area 5: 3.0 mi
- Picnic Area 6: 3.0 mi
- Fairmount: 0.7 mi
- Lemon Hill: 1.3 mi
- Georges Hill: 3.3 mi
- Chestnut Hill: 8.5 mi
- Sugarloaf Hill: 9.0 mi
- Historical "Ancient Indian Spring": 6.4 mi
- West Branch Trout Creek Spring: 14.6 mi
- Kerr Spring: 24.6 mi
- King of Prussia Service Plaza: 13.9 mi
- Wawa Truck Stop: 14.5 mi
- Deepwater Rest Area: 24.7 mi
- Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse: 8.4 mi
- Monkey Rock: 13.5 mi
- Washington Lake Beach: 15.6 mi
- Darling: 16.2 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Aero Memorial. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond Rock Hill | WNW 295° | 188 m | 19.7 mi |
| Mount Misery | WNW 300° | 176 m | 18.4 mi |
| Ebright Azimuth | WSW 245° | 137 m | 20.2 mi |
| Chestnut Hill | NNW 347° | 136 m | 8.5 mi |
| Hunting Hill | W 270° | 125 m | 14.7 mi |
| Osborne Hill | W 264° | 113 m | 23.2 mi |
| Militia Hill | NNW 344° | 104 m | 11.6 mi |
| Camp Hill | N 353° | 104 m | 11.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:05 | 18:37 | 19:13 |
| June solstice | 05:33 | 19:53 | 20:34 |
| September equinox | 06:49 | 18:24 | 19:00 |
| December solstice | 07:20 | 15:56 | 16:39 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Jun, Aug–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 35 | 37 | 45 | 56 | 66 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 72 | 60 | 49 | 40 |
| Precip in | 3.6 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 4.3 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Phila Franklin Inst, under a mile away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element node/5939920051
Day trips start here
- Philadelphia/Center City West · 0 mi
- Philadelphia · 1 mi
- Philadelphia/Center City East · 1 mi
- Philadelphia/Northwest · 2 mi
- Philadelphia/Old City · 2 mi
- Philadelphia/South · 2 mi
Take the scenic way to Aero Memorial.
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