“We said, we just can’t do this any more,” he said Wednesday. “We need to go back to our July dates.”
The Vectren Dayton Air Show made it official this week, with a show spokeswoman announcing that the event is returning to its traditional mid-July slot, starting in 2021.
“We’ve had much worse weather, rain and mud in June, than we had when the show was in July, therefore the change,” air show spokeswoman Shiela Wallace said via email.
The show traditionally has been held in mid-July, but in 2013, the event was moved to late June to accommodate jet demonstration teams, Grevious said.
Weather is sometimes a factor, but the show has been going strong for 45 years, Grevious said. “For the most part, it has been pretty decent,” he said of the weather.
But weather seems to have been more of a headache lately, with visitor parking lots failing to dry in time for June shows, requiring the use of expensive shuttles.
“What we’ve found in the past four or five years, it seems the weather has changed,” he said. “There has been a lot of rain in June.”
“It has been very costly,” the executive director added. “We just decided, let’s just go back.”
The next show, the 2020 event, will be June 27-28, at the airport.
Grevious said the show itself remains in good shape. “We’re financially solvent. There’s no risk of the show going out of business or anything like that.”
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic demonstration team is scheduled to perform at the show July 10-11, 2021, at Dayton International.
2006 Beavercreek High School graduate, Air Force Capt. Kyle “Gumbo” Oliver, has been added to the Thunderbirds team. Oliver will fly as the lead solo in the Thunderbird No. 5 aircraft when the team performs above Dayton in 2021.
Oliver was inspired to join the Air Force while watching the Thunderbirds as a teen visitor to the Dayton show.
“We’re beyond excited and proud,” the captain’s father, Geoff Oliver said in an air show announcement. “This is a dream come true for sure.”
Oliver was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center while his father was stationed at the base. He is an Ohio State University graduate.
In other show news, the show also announced that the Air Force has selected Dayton for an A-10 flight demonstration at the 2020 show.
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