VANDALIA — The CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show is just days away, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the Miami Valley every year.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00 p.m., the organizers of the Dayton Air Show said that the annual aviation show has a big impact on the Miami Valley.
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Scott Buchanan, the board chairman for the US Air & Trade Show, has been a part of making the CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show happen for the last 15 years.
“I’m like a kid, I can’t wait,” Buchanan said. “It’s a blur. It’s just so much fun, you don’t really keep track of time.”
But they do keep track of the Air Show’s impact.
Bringing tens of thousands of people to the show each year means big business for the area.
“It’s a little over $4 million economic impact for a two-day event. So that’s a pretty good splash in a couple of days,” Buchanan said.
This year, you don’t need a press pass to get up close to the planes. Many of them will be on display on the ground for you to check out and even take a picture with.
“That is to allow the public to have access to the military and the acts that we have in the air show, but also the military to have access to the public and really share what they do and generate that interest,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan said one impact they aren’t able to track is just how many kids whose interest in Aviation is sparked at the Air Show.
“We’ve had folks that came through as Thunderbirds, that grew up and lived here and came to the air show and said, Hey, I want to do that. So that’s what we want to spark,” Buchanan said.
With hundreds of thousands of visitors spanning more than five decades, you can’t track just how many have had their aviation dreams sparked here.
“We just wanna keep spurring that interest,” Buchanan said.
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