DAYTON, Ohio — The AeroShell Aerobatic Team, Shockwave jet truck and the A-4B Skyhawk jet warbird will join National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee Patty Wagstaff as featured performers in the 2014 Vectren Dayton Air Show Presented by Kroger. The 40th annual airshow is slated for June 28-29 at Dayton International Airport.
The AeroShell team, led by Mark Henley, flies four North American AT-6G Texans in precision aerobatic maneuvers, including the bomb burst, avalanche and “Switch Blade.”
The Shockwave jet truck will include Dayton in its 30th anniversary tour. Created by Les Shockley and recently acquired by Darnell Racing Enterprises, Shockwave is a radically modified freighter truck that shoots fireballs, billows smoke and hurtles down the runway at speeds exceeding 300 miles per hour. Its three Westinghouse J34-48 jet engines produce 36,000 horsepower.
The Warbird Heritage Foundation’s A-4B Skyhawk is a light bomber/attack aircraft that was flown by both Navy Vice Adm. James Stockdale and Lt. Cdr. John McCain (now Senator McCain) during the Vietnam War. This Skyhawk is painted to represent an A-4C flown by Navy Lt. Cdr. Ted Swartz, who shot down a MiG-17 over North Vietnam — the only air-to-air kill by a Skyhawk during the entire conflict.
Wagstaff will fly in the air show for the first time since 2009. A 2004 National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee, she has flown airshows and competitions around the world and is considered one of the top aerobatic pilots on the air show circuit.
Dayton is scheduled for an appearance by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, but the federal budget sequestration that began this year caused the military to cancel all air show participation. It isn’t clear whether the military will restore air show support for the 2014 season, organizers noted.
“We’ve booked some of the best civilian air show acts in the world and there will be more to come,” said Michael Emoff, chairman of the United States Air & Trade Show Board of Trustees, the show’s governing organization. “We will keep the option open for military participation, but either way our 2014 air show will be one of the best in the nation.”
More details about the lineup will be made available when finalized on the show’s website
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