Transpo was the idea of L. Mendel Rivers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Rivers had visited the Paris Air Show on occasion; at the time, there were a "ring" of three major air shows in Europe that took turns hosting, Farnborough, Paris and Hanover. Visitors from around the world could come to the show where sales teams from the aviation firms were ready to sign deals for their latest products. Rivers lamented the fact that there was no similar industry-based show in the U.S. Rivers started planning a U.S. version of the air/trade show, and selected Washington as a natural location due to the density of military contacts and the presence of the recently expanded Dulles Airport. Rivers went to Congress with a request for $750,000 in funding.