The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Displays, performances dazzle as crowd sizzles at Air Show

111 heat-related distress cases reported, including 10 sent to hospitals.

Third injured firefighter remains at burn unit
3:51 p.m.
Lebanon Police Officer of year inspired by grandfather
2:21 p.m.
Sheriff to target drug trafficking on highways
11:59 a.m.
Ohio can finally collect $2.3M in fines
10:22 a.m.
Top grads plan challenging careers
10:17 a.m.
> More headlines

By John Nolan and Tristan Navera
Staff Writers Updated 12:02 PM Sunday, July 24, 2011

DAYTON — The heat sent 10 people to hospitals from the Vectren Dayton Air Show on Saturday, but that didn’t stop aviation enthusiasts from enjoying close-up interactions with pilots and aircraft.

Lisa and Todd Harlan, of Kettering, marveled after emerging from the interior of a parked C-5 Galaxy, the Air Force’s largest plane, which can transport multiple tanks or helicopters, military personnel or munitions to the warfront. Chatting with the pilots gave them a personal appreciation of the massive planes they see flying over Kettering, they said.

“To really see their hugeness, it’s just amazing,” Lisa Harlan said.

Their son, aviation buff Grant Harlan, 15, has expressed interest in a career as a pilot or an aeronautical engineer. After Saturday’s experience, he was considering both.

“I’ll design, fly and build my own planes,” Grant said.

Ten people were transported from the air show site at Dayton International Airport to four hospitals to be treated for heat exhaustion or similar distress, event managers said. An 11th person was transported to receive treatment for an ankle injury, said Terry Grevious, the air show’s executive director.

All told, 111 people were treated on-site for some sort of heat-related distress, he said.

The number of people transported compared with a total of 11 for the two-day air show last year, Grevious said. All told, 106 show visitors received some type of treatment for heat-related distress during the 2010 show, Grevious said.

Brenda Kerfoot, the air show’s general manager, estimated the show’s opening-day turnout Saturday at 35,000 people, including all people on site, not just the public. She said that was based on visual estimates, rather than actual head count. Turnout figures are typically revised after the two-day show, which ends today.

The hot, humid weather Saturday, with high temperatures in the mid-90s, and the direct sun exposure on the airfield prompted extra warnings to spectators about drinking water and seeking rest or shelter when fatigued. Temperatures on the stretches of blacktop where military and civilian aircraft were parked for public visits topped 120 degrees.

Dozens of spectators sat or stood under wings of the aircraft to get out of the sun.

Because the historic average ambient temperature on the Dayton Air Show dates each July is 88 degrees, the air show’s staff is prepared for handling medical emergencies, Grevious said. A total of 200 medical personnel were on site Saturday, staff in medic tents handed out bottles of water and Gatorade and three medical centers operated on site to treat people, said Roger Doctor, the air show’s director of public safety and security.

“We deal with this every year,” Grevious said. “This isn’t unique.”

Spectators saw performances including aerobatics displays by Oracle biplane pilot Sean D. Tucker, Red Bull helicopter pilot Chuck Aaron, fly-overs by the Air Force’s B-1B and B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter, along with the featured performance by the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration flight team pilots in their F-16 fighter aircraft.

Share this article