By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - President Bush will spend part of the July Fourth holiday in Southwest Ohio, helping kick off Dayton's celebration of the centennial of flight.

"It is an honor for Dayton and Ohio for President Bush to visit the Inventing Flight Celebration on Independence Day," said former Sen. John Glenn, who is helping to lead the celebration.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced the visit Friday; it was the only public activity announced for the president for July Fourth.

"The July Fourth holiday is a time for all Americans to gather together to recognize the wisdom of our founding fathers and the achievements of this great nation," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Exact time and details of the visit were sketchy. In addition to taking part in the centennial celebration, Bush also planned to dedicate a new wing of the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

"His attendance gives even more significance to the Wright Brothers' invention and the international impact that resulted," said former Dayton mayor and now Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio.

The opening ceremonies for Inventing Flight are actually July 3 in downtown Dayton. The celebration includes hot-air balloon flights, the Dayton Air Show and "The Great Blimp Meet."

It was in their Dayton bicycle shop that Orville and Wilbur Wright built the first plane in 1903. They made their first flight - it lasted less than one minute - that December in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

The month-long Inventing Flight celebration has been planned since 1989; organizers first contacted the White House three years ago, said spokeswoman Natasha Baker. Turner said he personally invited the president during a visit to the White House in March.

Bush last stopped in the region April 24 on a swing through the state to promote tax cuts. This will be his 10th visit to Ohio, a state Bush won in 2000 and a key swing state in the 2004 elections.

E-mail cweiser@gns.gannett.com