Tony Kazian walks all over Dave Dacy’s 500-hp Super Stearman. Photo by Aaron Lurth

The Dacy Family Airshow Team (Dave, Phil, Julia, and Susan Dacy and Tony Kazian) will receive the 2007 Bill Barber Award for Showmanship tonight at the Theater in the Woods. Presented annually by World Airshow News and friends and family of the late Bill Barber, the award annually recognizes an air show entertainer who has demonstrated superb showmanship ability.

The Dacy family has been involved in almost every aspect of the air show business for more than 30 years. Dave has performed in both the Super Stearman and the German Bücker biplane. He currently flies solo aerobatics in the Stearman and performs with wing-walker Tony Kazian, son of the famous wing-walker and movie stuntman Johnny Kazian.

Phil is the team’s announcer and along with his wife, Julia, functions as the organizational and booking division. In addition to their own acts, they offer air shows a wide variety of other performers, including civilian warbirds. Julia is also the director of the Southern Wisconsin Airfest in Janesville, Wisconsin.

"We are all very honored to receive this award," Julia said. "It takes you back, looking at the list of past recipients. We consider those people legends of this form of entertainment."

Phil was also caught off guard by his nomination. "My initial reaction was surprise and being really thrilled," he said. "As I read the names of the past winners, they are a real ‘who’s who’ of the air show industry, and coupled with the fact that they are also the ones who have voted for our inclusion on this list, I am sincerely humbled."

Susan, who has more than 20,000 hours of flying time, performs in Big Red, another Super Stearman. "I grew up on an airport strip in Northern Illinois with my parents who were very influential," she said. "As a small child, I remember attending EAA’s air show in Rockford before it moved to Oshkosh. I fell in love with all aspects of aviation, but the big, loud biplanes are what really sparked my interest."

In June 2006 at the Janesville air show, Dave flew his Stearman with three generations of Kazians on the wing—Johnny, Tony, and grandson Nish—as a testimony to their flair and showmanship.

The Barber Award was founded by World Airshow News in 1986 to recognize those who do more than their share to promote the air show industry. A committee made up of past award recipients reviews nominations made by committee members and the industry at large. Nominees are not advised that they were nominated, nor is anyone told who nominated whom. Past Winners include Bobby Younkin (2004), Pietsch Airshows (2005), and Danny Clisham (2006).