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Construction on the overrun area at the north end of the longest runway at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport and the lack of a prominent jet team to perform has grounded the 2010 Kansas City Aviation Expo and Airshow.

The airshow, which benefits the Mid-America Youth Aviation Association, will take flight again in 2011, according to Airshow Director Ed Noyallis.

He said the runway work, which was originally scheduled to be done by early August, may not be completed now until the end of the year.

Similar work has already been done on the south end of that runway, said Joe McBride, marketing manager for the Kansas City Aviation Department.

That leaves a runway too short to handle for the many of the aircraft traditionally brought in for the airshow, Noyallis said.

“We need to have a 7,000 foot runway, not one that’s 5,000 or 6,000 feet,” he said.

Noyallis said there are aircraft that still could be brought in, but not the ones critical for the airshow’s success.

He specifically cited the need for a prominent jet performance team, noting the 2009 airshow, which drew some 30,000 fewer visitors than the year before without performances by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

He said a featured attraction is a key in drawing enough people and generating enough revenue to cover the costs of staging the event.

Noyallis did say an associated event that will return this year is the Aviation Adventure Day on Saturday, Aug. 7.

That event features the Young Eagle Flight Program, which provides area youth an opportunity to take to the sky with local pilots, according to the youth aviation association, which hosts the event.

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