DAYTON Air Show
The Wrights Would Be Proud
It should come as a surprise to no one that the birthplace of aviation, Dayton, Ohio, is home to one of the country’s landmark airshows each and every year. Of course there are the usual qualities of a big show – a ramp covered in static displays, a full day’s worth of big name performers, etc. Yet the Dayton airshow is more than large, it’s special.
Dayton has gained this reputation largely because it brings some of the rarest and most unique acts together in one place. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003, all three North American jet teams returned to the home of the Wright brothers for four full days. The Marine Corps Harrier, which only flies at perhaps a dozen shows a year, has performed in Dayton numerous times in the past few years.
In 2004, two of only four P-38 Lightnings left flying in the world were brought together in one formation. The SkySoldiers Cobra demonstration team made its debut performance at Dayton in 2006. The Brazilian Smoke Squadron display team came all the way to the US for a weekend in Dayton, their only US appearance last year. The Air Force provided Dayton with a two-ship B-1B Lancer bomber flyby and a demonstration of the brand new CV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. A Russian AN-124 ‘Ruslan’ cargo plane was on static display for the weekend, another first. This year the tradition of rare performances continues with the USAF F-22 Raptor demonstration, a three ship US Army AH-64 Apache demonstration, and the Starfighters demonstration team which is a civilian group with the only three flying F-104 Starfighters in the world. I will be there right along with them, taking photos and videos to share the show with those unfortunate enough to miss it.
By Ryan Sundheimer