| 1/11/2005 The Mid-Atlantic Fly-In & Sport Aviation Convention May 12, 13, 14, 15, 2005 Http://www.midatlanticflyin.com Friends: I hope the holidays were as pleasant and joyous for you as they were for me. I took a few days away from work to relax and spend time with my family here in Florida. Thanks to all of you who shared their Christmas and New Year's wishes with me. This is the time of year we all seem to get rejuvenated and now it's time to apply some of that new found energy. I have been working on a number of projects for the event. Most notably, we have completed the Exhibitor and Sponsor Packages. Do you know someone who would be interested in Sponsoring or Exhibiting? Let me know and we'll get the appropriate package out to them. We have been working on the logistics of the 2005 event too and we will try to post an overhead depiction of the layout on the website very soon. We will begin having weekend work parties at the site beginning in February. We are anticipating SIGNIFICANT growth this year. We are going to need SIGNIFICANTLY more volunteers. Let me know if you can help us out and what area or areas you have an interest in. We have an "opportunity" just for you or your group! Also, new to the website is our Fly-In Gift Shop Online. Take a moment and look around there and see if there is anything there you just can't resist. We will be adding new items as time goes on, so visit often. I often get calls and emails from various groups, and from individuals as well, requesting we sponsor them to come to our event. I've also been asked more than once; "Why should I have to pay to come to this fly-in since if I didn't come, you wouldn't have a show." These are good questions but the answer to them both is that it takes a great deal of volunteer time and considerable financial expenditure to produce the quality event we hope to provide, one that will make you want to come and participate. All the things you see once parked, don't just happen. We are a melting pot and we all have to share the load and contribute to the recipe the makes our "stew" so appealing. I wrote the following in response to one such recent inquiry and I thought I'd excerpt some of it to explain more about what I feel is our "reason to be." Last year was the inaugural event for the Mid-Atlantic Fly-In. Our goal was to create an old-time style grassroots fly-in like those that attracted us to join such groups as the EAA, the CAF, the SAA or other such groups in the first place. Our focus is on people who have fun flying and fly for fun -- sport aviation in other words, and with less emphasis on the trade show aspects. That is not to say we won't have commercial exhibits, but the ones we will have will be focused on things folks making considerably less than $100,000 a year (and who make difficult choices on what to sacrifice in order just to fly) can afford. We welcome all aspects of aviation, but our focus is sport aviation. With that as background, last years attendance was approximately 53,000 with roughly a third being kids 12 and under (a very important group to get interested) since they were free admission. And since we were creating this thing "on the fly," and also since the event grew out of an airshow, the crowd was primarily an airshow crowd. We will continue the airshow as we feel they are and should always be an integral part of the event, but the focus will begin to emphasize more the fly-in. The airshow portion draws the general public in and our goal is to recruit at least a small percentage of those folks into long term involvement with some aspect of aviation, hopefully sport aviation. Big powerful noisy warbirds and military jets are always a hit, but hardly something the average sport aviator can afford. We are most grateful that the people who do own the warbirds also have the substantial wherewithal to restore and fly them for the rest of us to enjoy, for without them, a piece of history is lost and generations to come will not learn of the wicked history that made them necessary to begin with. The same goes for the military presence at the event, for without them we would likely not have the freedom of hosting or attend such shows. We have 5 goals with this event. 1. It will be safe, 2. It will be fun, 3. It will be affordable, 4. It will be family friendly, and 5. It will be educational. Some of the bigger events have moved away from some of those goals. Ticket prices have skyrocketed and many families can't afford to attend. At some events, many of those that can afford to attend are offended buy the assault of beer and other alcoholic beverages being available all over the site starting as early as 10AM. At many events they have difficulty relating to the event since they can hardly find an aircraft they could possibly afford among the dazzling million dollar business and military aircraft. We want average folks to see that aviation can be affordable, and that the majority of us are average people just like them, we just like different toys. I know I'm getting long winded, but bare with me just a few seconds more. What I'm trying to explain is that since we aren't gouging the folks coming through the gate and we aren't raking in the mega bucks from mega exhibitors, and since there is but one paid staff member, all the rest is volunteer effort. We don't ever expect to, nor are we trying to get rich, merely self-sustaining. We have very limited resources to work with is the bottom line. If it weren't for some VERY generous donations and local sponsorships, we wouldn't even exist. We are even working toward an all-volunteer airshow. Even the future superstars of tomorrow's airshows need a leg up to get started and we at the Mid-Atlantic want to give them that shot. We would hope you and your group feel this event is worth supporting on it merits. We'd like to see you come and help us grow not into the biggest event, but the best of it's kind. Best Regards, Dale Faux That's what I think. How do you feel? I want to wish you all a joyful and prosperous New Year. I hope to see each and everyone of you at the Mid-Atlantic Fly-In & Sport Aviation Convention in 2005. In the meantime, please help us spread the word about our event. Blue Skies and Tailwinds! Dale Faux |