Our hometown air show always brings excitement.
Dayton International Airport – June 21-22, 2025
Dayton, while not a traditional “warbird” air show, always manages to bring out some unique opportunities. The airport layout allows for photos from almost any direction on non-show days and the static display lineup draws uncommon airframes. Back in the golden era of this show, you would see plenty of warbirds. We hope that the trend to add more warbird representation over the last couple of years continues.
The flying display showcased B-29 “Doc” and their new paint scheme, representing how Doc appeared while serving as a radar calibration airframe in the US Air Force, and Randy Ball’s FIGHTERJETS, INC. three-ship MiG-17 Fresco demonstration. Static highlights included lots of vintage-age aircraft, such as Samaritan’s Purse’s DC-8-72 in its final year flying, the Ohio Air National Guard’s brand-new KC-135R flagship, “Flagship Detroit” DC-3, and the local Grimes Flying Lab Beechcraft 18. Jared and Darren Bond brought P-51D Mustang “Cavallino” they fly with Dream Flights, an organization that provides flights for veterans around the country. They’re probably the friendliest Mustang pilots out there, everyone who came up to chat got any questions answered and even got to sit in the cockpit if they wished.
One highlight of the weekend for Warbird Mafia was a media flight with the US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. Brian flew with them during their demonstration on Saturday with five other media guests, getting the opportunity to observe their pre-jump briefs, safety inspections, rehearsal for post-jump formation, and of course the actual flight itself. Media seating is the last six seats in their C-147 (Dash-8), so everyone is front and center as the team exits the aircraft. The camaraderie between the team members is second to none, which is to be expected for a group of people who hold each other’s lives in their hands every day.
Another exciting moment happened when the show’s media team graciously sent a few photographers and videographers from local news up in a UH-1H Huey. It was a last minute surprise of sorts for Drew and he was able to go up on a Living History Flight Experience (LHFE) over very familiar territory. Huge thanks to the amazing crew of veteran pilots and volunteers that keep the well-oiled Army Aviation Heritage Foundation‘s Huey and Cobra LHFE flights running at air shows.
We are extremely grateful to the CenterPoint Dayton Air Show media team for having Warbird Mafia back again in 2025 and especially for facilitating incredible experiences for Brian and Drew. We recently learned that the USAF Thunderbirds honored CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show representatives at ICAS with its 2025 ”best civilian show site of the year” award. It makes us proud of our hometown show and we can’t wait to welcome the USN Blue Angels the weekend of June 13-14, 2026.
