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Dayton Air Show 2019
By Mike Heilman
The Thunderbird diamond formation makes a tight pass in front of the Dayton Air Show crowd.Legendary airshow performer, Sean D. Tucker, decided to retire from his award-winning solo act in 2018 after 40 years of performing. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is going to display his one-of-kind Pitts bi-plane in the new “We All Fly” General Aviation Gallery at the National Mall in Washington D.C. Instead of sitting back and relaxing, Tucker has embarked on a new phase of his career; he formed an aerobatic team. Team Oracle has added veteran pilot,Jessy Panzer, in an Extra 300 monoplane to form the two-plane team.
Tucker commented that he had mixed emotions when the Smithsonian asked him for his plane, “I also wanted to do a team, and when the Smithsonian asked for my airplane, I really didn’t want to give it to them. I love that airplane, but it was a message to me, ok let’s start a transition to your next dream and let’s finish with that. We finish with this airplane at the end of this year, and we deliver it to the Smithsonian. It’s going into the “We all Fly” exhibit at the National Mall hanging upside down welcoming nine million people every year. It’s a huge honor for me, but it’s bittersweet because I love that bi-plane, and next year I’ll be flying a monoplane.”
The transition from solo act to a team lead has not been easy according to Tucker, “Physically its very demanding; you are exhausted at the end of the day, but I think more so the mental energy that it takes to put two airplanes in the sky; its really debilitating. I mean you have so much bandwidth. I have been doing this for 40 years, and I can fly upside down as a solo performer in my sleep, but this is hard. This is a really hard journey, and it’s a big sacrifice, but the reward is a job well done. We train every single day, and we are exhausted when we are done. We accept our failures in our training, and we are not ashamed of having a bad day.”
2017 Dayton Airshow Marred By Thunderbird Accident But Highlighted by Other Performers
By Mike Heilman
The Thunderbirds diamond practices upon arrival to 2017 Dayton Air Show. The Thunderbird arrived on Monday before the show but had to cancel their performances due to mishap with the team’s two-seat F-16D. (Mike Heilman)In 2106 the Dayton Air Show attendance suffered from a cancellation of the headline act two weeks before the show, when the U.S. Navy Blue Angels experienced a tragic accident at an air show in Tennessee. Once again in 2017, the show experienced another cancellation of the headlining act due to a near tragic accident of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. The mishap happened at the Dayton International Airport less than 24 hours before the show was scheduled to open.
Thunderbird number 8, the two-seat F-16D “Fighting Falcon,” was conducting a crew familiarization flight in the Dayton area when upon return to the airport the jet skidded off the runway and flipped over trapping the pilot Capt. Erik Gonsalvas and Tech Sgt. Kenneth Cordova for almost two hours. The Thunderbird crewmembers were transported to a local hospital in good condition. There was heavy rain at the time of the mishap from remnants of tropical storm Cindy.
On Friday Michael Emoff, Chairman U.S. Air & Trade Show Board of Trustees, held a press conference to discuss the weekend’s show after the mishap. “When you first hear about something like this you pray that everything is okay and for the health of those involved. Once you understand that everything is under control, you then start working on what I can do. My job as Chair of the air show is to ensure that we produce a safe and quality show for our community.”
First-Hand Account of Thunderbirds Mishap at Dayton
By Mike Heilman
Capt. Erik Gonsalvas and passenger Tech Sgt. Kenneth Cordova taxi out in Thunderbird number 8 on Friday 23rd at the Dayton International Airport. (Mike Heilman)The United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team experienced a near-tragic aircraft mishap at the Dayton International Airport a day before the 43rd annual air show. The Thunderbird’s mishap occurred in very rainy conditions as remnants of tropical storm Cindy pushed through the Dayton area.
Lt. Col. Jason Heard, Thunderbird Commander, explains what happened: “The United States Thunderbirds were conducting a single ship familiarization flight Friday, June 23, 2017. Upon landing there was a mishap at the Dayton International Airport with our F-16D “Fighting Falcon” at approximately 12:20 p.m. The plane sustained damage. The pilot and his passenger, a tactical aircraft maintainer, were taken to a local hospital where they are receiving care and are currently in good condition.”
2013 Dayton Air Show
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
The 2013 Dayton Ohio Air Show was the site of the fatal crash, which ended the lives of wing walker Jane Wicker and her pilot, Charlie Schwenker. Wicker and her pilot were making their first appearance at Dayton in their modified Stearman. The aircraft lost altitude when Schwenker inverted the Stearman for a low level pass with Wicker sitting on the bottom of the wing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it may take up to a year to find the cause of the accident.
The accident took place at the beginning of the airshow on Saturday, June 22. The airshow organizers cancelled the remainder of Saturday’s events. The spectators were informed that their tickets would be honored for admission on Sunday. This was the second accident in 39 years of the show. In 2007 Jim Leroy was killed when his Pitts crashed during the show.
Michael Goulian flying his state-of-the-art Extra 330SC over the Dayton Ohio Air Show. Goulian made is second straight appearance at the Dayton show. Goulian is the Air Show Industry 2012 ICAS Sword of Excellence. (Mike Heilman)The 2013 show went in the record books as the first all-civilian airshow in its 39 years of operation. The show organizers in 2012 moved the date to June to accommodate the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, but because of the federal sequester the Thunderbirds were removed from the show lineup. There were several large airshows that cancelled this year due to the military jet teams cancelling their participation in the 2013 season. The Dayton show officials decided to keep the date and to put on an all-civilian show.
Dayton 2012 Air Show
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
The Blue Angels diamond flies in tight formation. The four diamond pilots will fly only 18 inches apart during several of their maneuvers. (Mike Heilman)The Dayton Ohio Air Show organizers had a tough decision to make when planning the 2012 show. Should they continue with the traditional third weekend in July or move the show date up two weeks in order to have the United States Navy Blue Angels as the headline act. The organizers chose to move the date up. Little did they know that the July 7 - 8 show at the Dayton Ohio International Airport would be held in record-breaking heat.
The weather played a major factor in the attendance of this year’s show with the temperature at Saturday’s show reaching 102 degrees, and 91 degrees for Sunday’s show. The two-day event normally draws about 70,000 people and generates an estimated $3.5 million for the local Dayton area, but this year the crowd was estimated at just over 47,000 people. The Saturday show on average has the highest attendance, but this year only 19,000 spectators attended and the attendance Sunday was 28,000. The 2011 show drew an estimated 65,000 people.
Dayton Air Show Celebrates 100 Years of Air Shows
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
An F-18F “Super Hornet” makes a high speed pass creating a large cloud of vapor. The “Super Hornet” is part of the East Coast F-18F Demonstration Team based at NAS Oceana. (Mike Heilman)In 1910, the first major United States air show was held at Dominguez Field in Los Angeles, California, seven years after the Wright brothers from Dayton Ohio made their historic first powered flight in an airplane. Dayton proclaimed the birthplace of aviation, celebrated 100 years of air shows at the 36th annual Dayton Air Show. The show was held July 17th – 18th at the International Airport in Dayton.
The 1910 show drew a crowd of over 250,000 people for the ten-day event. The two-day 2010 event in Dayton drew an estimated crowd of almost 80,000. That was close to the 2009 show that featured the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. The weather was good for both days and the show organizers put together another world-class air show lineup.