Vectren/Dayton 2016 Air Show

By Michael Benolkin

The Vectron/Dayton 2016 Air Show was held on June 18/19, 2016 at Dayton International Airport. If you're in the region and have not attended, this is a nice show with a great cross-section of military, warbird, commercial, law enforcement, and civilian aircraft. This was my first time attending the show and it is one of the better shows to see.

There were a number of excellent performances including Patty Wagstaff in her new mount, the Shorts Tucano in RAF colors, Sean Tucker doing awesome aerobatics in his custom Oracle biplane, Melissa Pemberton in her Edge 540, the Redline team with their Van's RV-8 aircraft, and a replica Wright B Flyer.

This year featured the 'Tora Tora Tora' show which reenacted the attack on Pearl Harbor. A group of eight warbirds modified to replicate Imperial Japanese Navy fighter and attack aircraft for the movie 'Tora Tora Tora' swooped across the airfield and lots of pyrotechnics exploded to imerse you into what it felt like that morning. A lone P-40 dove into the mix to honor the USAAC fighters that did get off the ground to engage the overwhelming attack waves. The Commemorative Air Force narrator described the events unfolding as the attack begun through Admiral Nagumo's withdrawal of the fleet upon learning that the American aircraft carriers were not in port.

The big finale show was scheduled to be the Blue Angels this year, but due to the tragic loss of Blue Angel 6 flown by US Marine Captain Jeff 'Kuch' Kuss earlier this month, the team has cancelled the remainder of their season. The Navy Leapfrogs flew a blue flag with Gold 6 in honor of Capt. Kuss and the VFA-122 F/A-18F Super Hornet carried 'Kuss' and '6' on the upper wing surfaces in his honor during their respective performances. Instead, the finale featured the F-22A and P-51D Heritage Flight performance after each performed their own displays.