03 December 2006
Thunderbirds coming to Dayton
Saturday, December 09, 2006 Categories: Air Shows
and aerobatics
The Vectren Dayton Air
Show in Ohio has booked the U.S. Air Force
Thunderbirds
for its headline act in 2007 — a critical development
after organizers changed the weekend show’s date for
the second year in a row.
The air show’s management team made the announcement from Las Vegas earlier this week where they were attending the International Council of Air Shows’ annual convention and trade show. They were there to line up their top acts for the 34th annual air show but didn’t immediately announce any other bookings.
The 2007 show is scheduled for July 28-29 at Dayton International Airport — the same weekend the Experimental Aircraft Association wraps up its annual AirVenture fly-in and air show in Oshkosh, WI. AirVenture is America’s biggest fly-in and draws top performers, warbirds, and hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts — including many from the Dayton area.
Dayton traditionally holds its air show on the third weekend in July, just before AirVenture. Putting it on the same weekend forces performers, exhibitors and fans to choose. Many choose Oshkosh. It also separates it by a week from Dayton’s other premiere aviation event, the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s annual enshrinement ceremony.
Organizers faced the same problem this year when they moved the show’s date. NAHF had to scratch the heritage invitational it co-sponsored with Rolls Royce, a restoration contest that added museum-quality airplanes to the air show’s static display. The Dayton-based Aviation Heritage Foundation Inc. skipped its hometown show to exhibit at AirVenture.
Organizers said Dayton had to switch its 2006 date in order to book the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. It got them, and Terry Grevious, whose team Grevious and Associates manages Dayton’s air show, said the show’s attendance didn’t appear to suffer because of AirVenture.
Still, Mike Emoff, chairman of the United States Air and Trade Show Inc., the nonprofit group responsible for the air show, vowed to return the event to its traditional date. He had to reverse himself later when the Air Force offered to make Dayton an official “Heritage to Horizons” 60th anniversary event in 2007 — but only if it moved the show date to the end of July.
USATS had no choice. The birthplace of aviation and home of the first military airplane — not to mention Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — simply couldn’t afford not to be a part of the Air Force's anniversary.
But these two years show how much the Dayton Air Show has come to depend on one of two military jet teams to draw crowds and stay in the black. What happens if an accident grounds the Thunderbirds, as has happened to other shows? What happens if the Blue Angels skip Dayton in 2008, as history suggests they might well do?
How can Dayton build an air show that will draw people regardless of a jet team? What would draw you to the show?
The air show’s management team made the announcement from Las Vegas earlier this week where they were attending the International Council of Air Shows’ annual convention and trade show. They were there to line up their top acts for the 34th annual air show but didn’t immediately announce any other bookings.
The 2007 show is scheduled for July 28-29 at Dayton International Airport — the same weekend the Experimental Aircraft Association wraps up its annual AirVenture fly-in and air show in Oshkosh, WI. AirVenture is America’s biggest fly-in and draws top performers, warbirds, and hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts — including many from the Dayton area.
Dayton traditionally holds its air show on the third weekend in July, just before AirVenture. Putting it on the same weekend forces performers, exhibitors and fans to choose. Many choose Oshkosh. It also separates it by a week from Dayton’s other premiere aviation event, the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s annual enshrinement ceremony.
Organizers faced the same problem this year when they moved the show’s date. NAHF had to scratch the heritage invitational it co-sponsored with Rolls Royce, a restoration contest that added museum-quality airplanes to the air show’s static display. The Dayton-based Aviation Heritage Foundation Inc. skipped its hometown show to exhibit at AirVenture.
Organizers said Dayton had to switch its 2006 date in order to book the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. It got them, and Terry Grevious, whose team Grevious and Associates manages Dayton’s air show, said the show’s attendance didn’t appear to suffer because of AirVenture.
Still, Mike Emoff, chairman of the United States Air and Trade Show Inc., the nonprofit group responsible for the air show, vowed to return the event to its traditional date. He had to reverse himself later when the Air Force offered to make Dayton an official “Heritage to Horizons” 60th anniversary event in 2007 — but only if it moved the show date to the end of July.
USATS had no choice. The birthplace of aviation and home of the first military airplane — not to mention Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — simply couldn’t afford not to be a part of the Air Force's anniversary.
But these two years show how much the Dayton Air Show has come to depend on one of two military jet teams to draw crowds and stay in the black. What happens if an accident grounds the Thunderbirds, as has happened to other shows? What happens if the Blue Angels skip Dayton in 2008, as history suggests they might well do?
How can Dayton build an air show that will draw people regardless of a jet team? What would draw you to the show?
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