A circle of Hawthorn trees recalls the Hawthorn Street home in Dayton, Ohio, where the Wright family lived while the brothers were building their flyer, and also recalls Hawthorn Hill Mansion, which Wilbur helped design but never lived in because he died unexpectedly at age 45 on May 30, 1912. The Wright Flyer was constructed in 1903. A replica Flyer was purchased by the Birthplace Society from Buford Gross of Peru, Indiana, for $85,000, and Gross built the plane from Wright Brothers plans from the Smithsonian Institution. An F-84-F Jet was placed here by the state in September 1971. The first production of the F-84-F began in quantity in the latter part of 1953, the last plane was delivered in 1957, and they were used in the Berlin airlift. This F-84-F was built in 1955. Fifty years made a difference: the Wright Flyer weighed 600-700 lbs., had a top speed of 35 mph, and was funded by $1,000 from proceeds of the brothers' bicycle shop, while the F-84-F weighed 25,226 lbs., cruised at 600 mph, and was funded by more than $200,000 from the government. In 2003, with support from Muncle's Academy of Model Aeronautics, the monument honoring the 50th anniversary of flight was cleaned, engraved, and fitted with a plaque to commemorate the 100th year of flight, and bricks engraved with the names of a friend, loved one, or oneself form a walkway at its base.