Dayton Air Show introduces new executive, looks ahead to 2022 event

Kevin Franklin, president of Wright Brothers Aero Inc., was formally introduced Wednesday as the new executive director of the CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show.

Scott Buchanan, chair of the United States Air and Trade Show board of trustees, thanked the show’s former executive director, Terry Grevious, for his years of service. He left the show last September after serving as executive director since November 2003.

But Buchanan mostly looked ahead in a press conference Wednesday at Wright Brothers Aero offices at Dayton International Airport.

He reminded listeners that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team will headline the 2022 event, set for July 30 and 31 at the airport, with a lineup that will also feature the U.S. Army Golden Knight parachute team, the Tora!Tora!Tora! Pearl Harbor reenactment, a C-17 demonstration, aerobatic flyer Kevin Coleman and other crowd favorites.

The pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 air show and light rain dampened the event a bit last year, although attendance was seen as solid.

But Buchanan noted that this year’s show has been shifted to late July, with the hope that weather will be hotter, but drier, letting the show “get back to the family fun we’re all used to.”

“The nice thing for us is previous associates have kind of left us with a great show,” Franklin said. “So we’re just going to continue that.”

Tickets for the 2022 show are on sale now at www.daytonairshow.com. Customers may print the tickets at home or download an e-ticket to their smart phones.

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