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THE DAYTON AIRSHOW AND THE CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
The Dayton Airshow has always been a place for people to go to every year the 3rd weekend in July, and see some of the best aviation acts, performers, and aircraft in the world. The people have always had the interest in aviation here in the Miami Valley and surrounding area’s. The Dayton Air Show has always been the stopping place for people and aircraft on the way to Oshkosh to visit with friends and see what was new. Over the years the Dayton Air Show has changed, and in the past few years the air show has even gotten smaller. I have even noticed the last couple of years that the managers where bringing in Ferris Wheels and Bumper Boats. I have heard a lot of comments the past few years and some people have even made the comment about is the air show becoming a Carnival or Circus Act. This is supposed to be an Air Show, and ferris wheels and bumper boats do not belong here, and there are a lot better things out there for kids and adults to be involved with that rel ate to aviation. We need to bring back the old school, the way it used to be. I remember as a kid walking thru the gate in 1976 and seeing all of the aircraft that was parked on the ramp. Military Fighters, Trainers, Bombers, Cargo planes, Foreign Military aircraft that we usually only see on TV or in the news. I took my first flight in a B-17 Flying Fortress right here during the Dayton Air Show in 1980. I had a pilot and friend tell me the other day that another thing that was missing from the show was the Experimental, or Home Built aircraft on display, that is the reason he said he had stopped coming to the air show. There have been a lot of complaints and upset people here in the area about the way the Dayton Air Show has changed. The management changed the date this year, and it had a bad effect on 3 other aviation related programs that go on during the air show. The air show messed with The Aviation Hall of Fame Ceremonies. They bring out Celebrities and Hall of Fame member s to the show every year. The Celebration of Flight and Nick Engler decided to do something new a different as their schedule had been changed, they decided not to be a part of the air show this year. The Rolls Royce Heritage Trophy Competition pulled from the air show, they helped the Hall of Fame people, and brought in more aircraft for the public to view and even take part in the judging. This is wrong, this should be a Team Effort, there is no “I” in team.
This is supposed to be one big airplane, no wheels the plane does not roll,
no fuel the plane has no power, no engine the plane will not move, and no propeller… No Flight.
It is now that time to make a change.
The Vectren Dayton Air Show needs to be put back into the hands of Local Aviation Enthusiast, and Aviation Historian and returned to the way it used to be, Not Ferris Wheels, or Bumper Boats. The Dayton Air Show has missed out on a lot of aircraft that have been there the past 31years. The ramp as you first walk in has been “Empty”. Where are the local aviation personalities, and how come they are not performing in the air show. For Example, Brett Hunter, and Emerson Stewart, the local aviators from Moraine Air Park, the Trojan Horsemen T-28 Team, Wings of Valor Airshows WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Aircraft, the new Tri-State Aviation Museum. These are a few to mention right here in the Dayton area that have not been able to get into the show the past several years. The Dayton Air Show used to be the greatest thing in the United States of America, and it should not be looked upon as a business, the show should be looked upon as the History of the Past, the Present, and the Future of aviation which was started right here in the Miami Valley.
A lot of acts, and performers, and aircraft are going to Oshkosh this year, as every year and it makes getting warbirds and other aviation related things to come to the Dayton Air show hard. The Dayton Air Show has always been the 3rd weekend in July since 1975, and it should have never had came down to changing the weekend because of a Military Jet Team could not be secured. There should never be a problem in getting a Military Jet Team, as the Thunderbirds, Blue Angles, or Snowbirds. It is about the Heritage and Legacy of the Dayton Air Show and the Birth Place of Aviation. An agreement with the Military Jet Teams should be made 10 years in advance to rotate or even have 2 Teams at the air show from time to time, this should never be a problem or concern. There are a lot of Business’s right here in the area that should be involved with the Vectren Dayton Air Show, especially the one’s that have never been involved before, the air show should be trying to get them in volved with a positive attitude.
The ICAS people took a survey in 2004 of what people would like to see at air shows, and the #2 rated act behind the Jet Teams where Warbirds. This is one thing that has been missing from the Vectren Dayton Air Show, WWII Aircraft and Personalities to sign autographs and visit with. They have a lot of History to pass on to the younger generations, and the stories they tell are great. Robert Conrad the TV Actor was here, Pappy Boyington was here, but not one other Original VMF-214 Blacksheep has ever been to the Dayton Air Show. There are Bomber Pilots around here, there are a few P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots living right here, and for years there was a P-38 Lightning Ace living right here in Kettering, and alot of people did not even know this. These Pilots and Crew members will not be with us very much longer, you will only be able to read about them or see them on the History Channel. In the past 4 years I have been to a lot of air shows, and the people are in love with the old WWI I Fighters , Bombers, Trainers. You need to watch a start up of a 2000 horse powered radial engine on the front of a F4U Corsair and just watch the people go looking for where the noise is coming from. Have you ever watched someone as they watch a P-51 Mustang take to the sky, and then they say “you can not mistake that sound” the sound of a V-12 Rolls Royce engine, or watch as one of the Big Bombers takes to the runway, the B-17 Flying Fortress rolls down for that Historic flight, the B-25 Mitchell as they fly by with the bomb bay doors open on the “Doolittle Raid“, and you can not mistake the image of the CAF B-29 “FIFI” on the bomb run with Rich’s Incredible Pyro. The air show should also have the Korean, and Vietnam aircraft represented as well. Do not get me wrong, the WWII days are getting shorter, and the living figures of history will be gone, then there will be the days of the Korean and Vietnam Veterans to be honored as well. This is where the Aviation Hall of Fame comes into presenting the Honors to these fine people in Aviation History and their accomplished task..
A lot of testing has gone on right here at Wright Patterson Field, and the surrounding Miami Valley and will and should continue for many years to come. One thing that I saw started last year at the beginning of air show season was “DUGGY A Smile In The Sky” by Bob Odegaard, Mitch Carley and The Aviation Hall of Fame, this is absolutely, hands down The Best Kids Promotional Tool that has ever been invented. We must remember that the Past Teaches the Present, the Present Preserves and Documents the Future, and without the Kids, there is No Future. I’ve heard people being called “Experts”,… there are no experts. Every time a Individual or a Company Designs, Builds, or Fly’s anything aviation related, we learn something new and different every time. We all are Inventors of Flight in some way or another.
We Keep History In The Air.
FLY SAFE ---- FLY FAST
Mint Moore III
Private Pilot
F4U Corsair Historian
Warbird Aircraft Coordinator
Air Show Organizer
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FLY SAFE--FLY FAST
F4U Corsair Historian
Mint Moore III
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