DAYTON — Organizers of the aerospace trade and technology show planned in conjunction with the 2009 Dayton Air Show are refining the proposed schedule and figuring out what to charge participating companies.

And, they are thinking big about what the show could potentially look like in the future if it grows to achieve the international scope that a federally funded study suggested is possible.

But, the first order of business is ensuring that the 2009 show goes well enough that defense contractors, other vendors and Air Force officials the event is designed to attract will want to return to the next planned show in 2011, said John McCance of the Air Force Association, one of the entities organizing it.

"You want to make a good first impression," said McCance, state president of the association of current and former Air Force officers. "We're only going to get one first shot at this."

Last year, the Air Force Association joined with the Dayton Area Defense Contractors Association and the United States Air & Trade Show board of trustees, which puts on the Dayton Air Show, to announce plans to develop the aerospace trade and technology show for July 2009. It is to take place during the week leading up to next year's Dayton Air Show at the Dayton International Airport.

The organizers are trying to refine the details in time to reveal them to companies attending this year's Dayton Air Show in July, McCance said.

Preliminary plans are to charge companies $300 to $500 for representatives who would attend the 2009 event, or $1,800 to $2,500 to have a booth at the trade show, two exhibit staffers and two attendees for the event's technology conference portion, McCance said.

Tentative plans are to have defense sector and aerospace technology displays from Tuesday, July 14, 2009, through Thursday, July 16, then have those be changed over for Friday and Saturday to displays oriented for business and general aviation as the Dayton Air Show starts up, McCance said.

The organizers have met with Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, to keep him informed of preparations for the technology show.

Carlson supports the show because of its potential benefit to the Air Force and the region, spokesman Rob Ely said. Carlson cannot commit to providing Air Force resources, but will emphasize the potential benefits to the business community and fellow Air Force leaders, Ely said.

The 2009 trade show will be located at the Exposition Center on the airport grounds and at the Hope Hotel and Conference Center on the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Dayton Area Defense Contractors Association has said its annual Wright Dialogue with Industry, a meeting each July with Air Force Research Laboratory officials to discuss their needs from the business community, will become part of the 2009 trade show.

A former trade show affiliated with the Dayton Air Show, called the United States Air and Trade Show, started in 1992 at the Expo Center with similar goals for long-term existence, but it fizzled out by the late 1990s.

The background

A consultant's study that was federally funded, commissioned by the air show's board and made public in 2007 concluded that Dayton could support an aerospace trade show, and that it could attract millions of dollars in contractors' spending. There is a need in the United States for an aerospace technology exposition similar to Europe's established Paris and Farnborough (England) air shows, particularly for smaller U.S. aerospace companies which lack the money to attend the European events, according to the consultant, Arthur D. Little Inc., of Boston.

But the consultant cautioned that the trade-technology show's success and longevity will depend on financing, continuing institutional support and private partnerships. Private partnerships and support would reduce reliance on government funding, but it still could take five years for the show to become a premier event, Little concluded.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or

jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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