USAF Thunderbirds arrive in Miami Valley ahead of CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show

DAYTON — With the sounds of roaring jet engines, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds arrived in Dayton Thursday afternoon, less than 48 hours ahead of the start of the 2021 CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show.

As the show returns this year after being canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19, the Thunderbirds will serve as headlining act for the second straight Dayton Air Show – the team was here in 2019.

Among the performers on the six-aircraft stunt team is 2006 Beavercreek High School graduate, and Thunderbirds plane number six opposing solo pilot, Maj. Kyle Oliver.

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The son of an Air Force veteran, Oliver said a career as a fighter pilot was always on his mind, but that dream cemented during a 2005 trip to the Dayton Air Show with his family.

“I looked up and I saw the team fly that day and that was kind of the turning point where I said, ‘Being a fighter pilot isn’t some phase I’m going to grow out of.,’ That’s something I want to go do,” Oliver said while standing on the Dayton International Airport tarmac Thursday evening, a couple hours after the team arrived.

For the Thunderbirds, 2021 represents a more normal return to the skies after the pandemic led to canceled shows in 2020.

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USAF Thunderbirds arrive in Miami Valley ahead of CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show (Jarod Thrush/Staff)

“It just canceled…. and then it went from being canceled to, ‘You’re all going home and don’t know when you’re going to fly again, and you’re quarantining,’” Maj. Michelle Curran, Thunderbirds plane number five, lead solo pilot.

The team did fly last year, though, performing a series of flights past hospitals and U.S. cities – in concert, at times, with the Blue Angels – as a showing of support for front line health care workers during the pandemic.

“It was really challenging flying, but it was super rewarding,” Curran said.

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As for 2021?

Maj. Zane Taylor, Thunderbirds plane number three, right wing, said fans attending the Dayton Air Show will notice some changes, after the Thunderbirds “went to the drawing board” on their show.

“They’re going to be left with a sense of wanting more,” Taylor said. “We wanted (the show) to be impactful and we didn’t want (fans) to see anything twice.”

Gates open at the Dayton Air Show Saturday and Sunday at 9:00am, with the feature show taking places from 12pm to 4:15pm both days.

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Count Oliver’s family and friends among those who will be in the crowd. As he performs in his hometown, Oliver said he’s expecting 30 to 45 loved ones to be in attendance.

He hopes to provide the same inspiration for another young person he felt while attending this show, 16 years ago.

To be back here now – as hopefully that same part of another kid’s story is an absolute honor,” Oliver said. “I could not be more thrilled to be back in the hometown to show other kids that they can do everything that I did.”

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