Rob Reider, left, visits with air show pilot R.T. Dickson during the recent CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show.R.T. Dickson
Photo credit: Mike Ullery
Rob Reider gives the play-by-play account of an aviation act at a private air show in Piqua, Ohio, in 2008. Reider, one of the most sought-after announcers in the air show business was for many years a regular on the Bob Braun show.
Photo credit: Mike Ullery
Rob Reider, left, with his Bob Braun Show co-stars, Colleen Sharp, Bob Braun, Nancy James and Gwen Conley. The Bob Braun Show ran on WLWT from 1967 until 1984.
Courtesy photo | WLWT-TV
By Mike Ullery
For Miami Valley Today
VANDALIA — Those in attendance at the 2024 CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show helped to celebrate not only the 50th anniversary of one of the most popular air shows on this continent but also end of an era.
Rob Reider, who along with announcing partner Danny Klisham, were the “voice of the Dayton Air Show,” is hanging up the microphone following this season’s circuit.
Reider has been one of the most sought-after air show announcers in the country for decades but was a well-known entertainer long before his air show career took flight.
The popular Bob Braun Show aired on WLWT-TV at noon each weekday beginning in 1967 when Braun took the reins following the retirement of Ruth Lyons and her 50-50 Club. The show featured Braun, The Cliff Lash Orchestra , Colleen Sharp, and a dashing young singer named Rob Reider.
Reider was introduced to air shows in 1978 when the Braun show traveled to Dayton to do a live show from the Dayton Air Fair. Reider said he enjoyed to air show but he also was a Ham Radio Operator. Reider was approached by then-Dayton Air Show organizer Jim Hagadon who asked if the young singer might volunteer his radio skills to assist in communications. (This was years before today’s small portable radios were available.) Reider spent the next couple of years shadowing WHIO weatherman Gil Whitney who was “in charge at the time.”
Reider continued to help out, meeting along the way, Bill Bordelo, who was the air shows announcer. Eventually, Reider was given “air-time” which blossomed into a full-time announcing job.
Reider made the jump as a career move when he joined the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) in 1995.
As Reider’s popularity grew, so did his list of air shows for each season.
“So, here I am,” said Reider in a recent interview, “starting with 2006 I was able to go through and look at all my shows. Counting Oshkosh and Sun-and-Fun I will come up just shy of 320 shows.”
During his career, Reider has flown with both the United States Air Force Thunderbirds and the United States Navy Blue Angels. In 2007 he earned the coveted ICAS Sword of Excellence Award.
Reider has been a familiar sight around the Piqua area. He had a close working relationship for many years with the Hartzell Propeller Company. He was also the voice of the Friends of Hartzell Air Show for many years and when he purchased his own airplane, he made sure to add one of Hartzell’s “Built On Honor” propellers.
With retirement looming at the end of this air show season, Reider is set to “re-invent” himself yet again.
“I hired a coach, Bill DeWees,” said Reider. “We have become good friends.”
DeWees’ advice was to “market broadly and let the business decide what your niche is.”
Somewhat to his surprise, Reider’s niche has fallen to audio books, “I’ve got 25 audio books out since 2020.”
He is also a spokesman for Sporty’s Pilot Shop and was cast in the film Shawshank Redemption.
Reider, and his wife Jill, reside in Cincinnati.
