Fly-in in upstate New York

[qbynewbie]

This is a cross-post from the Purple Board. Diana has encouraged me to post here, too, since I'm really looking for advice and opinions. Since all of your fly-in pictures have lots of people smiling in them, I figure that POA is comprised of the world's leading experts on organizing a fly-in.

Any and all comments and advice are welcome, including "Are you out of your mind???"



I've been threatening to organize a fly-in in Glens Falls since last summer. I'm in Oregon right now, so I can't talk to the FBO about this until next week. But I think it would be fun, so I decided to start a thread and solicit ideas.

I'm thinking that a weekend in September would be good, since the weather is usually pretty good and the Fall foliage may be in good form. The weekend of September 20th is no good, since that's the weekend of the Adirondack Balloon Festival, which is a really big deal that closes the airport for three days. There may be other reasons why particular weekends are bad but I'm thinking about the weekend of September 27th right now.

The obvious airport to use is Glens Falls. It's plenty large enough to accommodate more planes than we are likely to be able to attract, has good, long and wide crossing runways and a fairly small amount of commercial traffic. There is no scheduled service there at all and there is no active control tower. The FBO is pretty good and there's a decent restaurant in the terminal. 100LL is available on the field.

However, there are also a couple of grass strips nearby, especially Argyle, which is 8 miles away. It's much smaller, with one strip that is only 2600' long. It's a very friendly, very small airport. It can be slightly challenging to find unless you use the Glens Falls VOR. The approach is slightly challenging, because of trees and hills but not too hard. It might be fun to do something at both airports, since they're really just minutes apart by air. Autogas is likely to be available at Argyle (1C3) but not likely to be at Glens Falls (GFL).

Having never been to a fly-in, I have lots of questions.

First, do people tend to look at these as something to do on a single day and return home at the end of the day? Or do most people prefer to come on a Saturday and leave on a Sunday? If the latter, accommodations might be really easy, since this is a tourist area and September is off-season. Lots should be available, from camping to motels to hotels.

Second, what do people like to do on fly-ins? What types of activities have proven most successful or most fun at other places? Do most things occur right at the local airport? Or are offsite activities included? We're just a few miles from Lake George, which opens up a fair number of offsite possibilities.

As you can all see, I'm looking for any and all suggestions. Once I get some ideas, I'll talk to the FBO and see if they are interested in supporting this idea and go from there.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help can sign up here.

 

[Shipoke]

Well Brian GFL is doable about 2.5 from here (CXY).
Let me know when you get it all worked out .
Dave G

 

[qbynewbie]

I just found out that the Northeast Flyers has a fly-in at Reading, PA on the weekend of the 27th. It's not fair to compete with that so I'm now looking at the weekend of October 4th.

 

[TMetzinger]

One suggestion is to have a safety seminar at your fly-in - consult the FAASTeam directory and see who your local rep may be. (www.faasafety.gov)

If there's a local car club, you might have a joint Wings and Wheels weekend, with static displays of both cars and airplanes. A local EAA chapter might want to do young eagles flights.... There's no end to what you can accomplish.

Good coordination with the airport management (especially with food service and bathrooms) is critical.

Depending on how big this thing is going to be, you might want to consider volunteers for flightline safety/security, and other duties.

Good luck!

 

[Diana]

Diana has encouraged me to post here, too, since I'm really looking for advice and opinions. Since all of your fly-in pictures have lots of people smiling in them, I figure that POA is comprised of the world's leading experts on organizing a fly-in.

Brian, I like the part about smiling people.

I hope that Adam will give you some suggestions...he organizes a very successful fly-in back east:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36

Any and all comments and advice are welcome, including "Are you out of your mind???"

Are you out of your mind?!?!?!?!?

The FBO is pretty good and there's a decent restaurant in the terminal. 100LL is available on the field.

Food and fuel are significant factors. Since you have a restaurant there, you won't have to have the additional task of cooking for an undetermined number of people at your first fly-in. But, if you have volunteers to grill and bring in additional food, that might be fun.

I had to cancel a fly-in at our farm in May because the local airport didn't have 100LL fuel. But that was more of an issue because they were planning to do aerobatics and would have to refuel.

However, there are also a couple of grass strips nearby, especially Argyle, which is 8 miles away. It's much smaller, with one strip that is only 2600' long. It's a very friendly, very small airport. It can be slightly challenging to find unless you use the Glens Falls VOR. The approach is slightly challenging, because of trees and hills but not too hard. It might be fun to do something at both airports, since they're really just minutes apart by air. Autogas is likely to be available at Argyle (1C3) but not likely to be at Glens Falls (GFL).

Well, if your fly-in is just for a meal and a few hours of meeting people, then that might be too much messing around. And some people might not be able to do the grass thing d/t lack of experience or their insurance issues. Just something to keep in mind.

First, do people tend to look at these as something to do on a single day and return home at the end of the day? Or do most people prefer to come on a Saturday and leave on a Sunday? If the latter, accommodations might be really easy, since this is a tourist area and September is off-season. Lots should be available, from camping to motels to hotels.

You need to decide what your goals are, and if you want your very first fly-in to be over a two-day period and complicated.

Second, what do people like to do on fly-ins? What types of activities have proven most successful or most fun at other places? Do most things occur right at the local airport? Or are offsite activities included? We're just a few miles from Lake George, which opens up a fair number of offsite possibilities.

Activities off-site might be good if you are having an all-day or two day event, especially for spouses and SO's who aren't interested in hanging out at the airport for hours.

As you can all see, I'm looking for any and all suggestions. Once I get some ideas, I'll talk to the FBO and see if they are interested in supporting this idea and go from there.

Good idea. They like it when you bring in more business. And they may need to plan for a possible increase in fuel sales. When I talked to the airport near Gaston's and at Gaston's I suggested that they check their fuel level and plan for us to need fuel from them.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help can sign up here.

This is a GREAT idea. People like to be helpful and be a part of it, so be sure to give them the chance to do so.

It helps to have a fly-in web site or a forum like this one where people can get more information and connect.

Good luck with your fly-in and let us know how we can help.

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

If I was closer I would attend. I LOVE BALLOON RALLEYS!!!!!

 

[AdamZ]

Ok Brian here I am chimminng in. Diana gives some great advice. First thing is you need to figure out the following:

1) what type of fly in do you want to have? ie? a full weekend, a one day affair, who is your target?

Gastons which Diana does, The Wings FlyBQ which I do and 6Y9er which EdFred does are all sucessful but are different type of flyins.

Gastons is a resort with a runway on it most all the services you could want are there so a lot of stuff takes care of itself as do the folks that attend. Its location and fact that it is easy to stay with motel rooms right on the runway make it a well attended event. The Kicker for Gastons is that folks get to fly with lots of different folks in lots of different types of planes.

The FlyBQ started as a one day fly in Lunch BBQ and has grown a lot over the years to be a hybrid one day / Weekend fly in our kicker is supreme slow cooked memphis style BBQ. Unlike Gastons we buy EVERY thing for the event. We also have contests and some but not near as many as Gastons give rides

6Y9er is in the Upper Pinnusla of Michigan and started by EdFred one of our long time members here. It is a weekend event over Labor day weekend and is more of a flyin with camping and out door activites. One of the kickers is that it is held at Grass strip that was reopened by Ed Frederick and his dad.

The one thing that ALL three flyins have is that while lots of new folks come they are also gathering of old friends and folks who try to meet up every year at one or more of the flyins. I should say that eventhough they are gatherings for old friends New folks fit right in as if they had been there for years.

Be prepared to start small if the first year you only get 20 folks thats ok it will grow.

If its going to be an overnight or multiday even you need to get a good deal on lodging for folks. Regardless of the number of days you should arrange for fuel discounts and waiver of all fees ie parking, ramp etc.

make sure you have enough parking.

make sure you or the airport have enough qualified folks on hand to help marshall or park airplanes.

Etiquite. we all pretty much know when Gastons, the FlyBQ and 6Y9er are every year so we try not to schedual around them. Its bad form to dilute anothers fly in ( IMHO)

Learn from your mistakes and have fun. Ask all the questions you want.

 

[qbynewbie]

Thanks, everyone (at both POA and the PB )!

The way I see it right now:

1. It seems like the weekend of 10/04 is free of conflicts with most fly-ins, at least the ones I'm familiar with. It's also a good time to be flying in the northeast, if the weather is good, because of the foliage.

2. I need to talk to the FBO and restaurant at GFL and see if they are interested in helping. I suspect they will be but need to find out for sure. They may have experience with other fly-ins that will be helpful. I also need to check on fees and fuel and whether or not there are discounts that might be available to us. I don't think parking would be an issue at GFL until we got dozens of planes, at least, but I need to determine that as well. Also, the restaurant is small but they might be willing to do something outside or in one of the hangars if it looked like we were getting enough people to make that worthwhile.

3. I need to determine if this should be a one-day event or a weekend event. I'm open to either but need to find out what people would prefer. If overnight, I need to determine how easy it would be to get people to and from lodging. There is nothing right at the airport but plenty of options within about ten minutes by car. I might be able to convince some of the motels or hotels to offer discounts for people who come in, depending on numbers. Feedback on whether people would prefer to fly in for the day or for an overnight would be greatly appreciated.

4. I need to figure out what kind of activities would be most attractive to people flying in. If we got a variety of planes, sharing rides would be a lot of fun. The grass strip at Argyle is fun and very close by but, as Diana says, it might be too much for a one-day affair. However, if we did an overnight, it might be possible to do some sort of cookout at Argyle, with ground transportation for those people who can't fly into a grass strip and don't have an aerial ride. The only issue there would be making certain that we're done well before dark because 1C3 has no lighting at all. It would be fun if we could come up with some sort of signature activity that people would enjoy. If it's an overnight event and the weather is good, a dinner cruise on Lake George is a pretty nice way for a large group of people to come together... much more fun than just a restaurant. Lake George Village also offers things to do after a cruise if that turned out to be of interest. It's 9 miles from GFL, so transportation isn't likely to be a big deal... I think.

A safety seminar might also be a great idea, especially if it's an overnight trip. Hmmm... I wonder if anyone has ever had a safety seminar on a boat?

I don't know if there is an EAA chapter at GFL. I don't think so. Dave Bahnson pointed out that they have a Leafpeeper's breakfast scheduled for morning of 10/04 at Rutland, VT, which is 25 miles away. That might be a problem but perhaps not at all. Since that event ends at noon, people may want to go there and then head over to GFL. If there is an EAA chapter at GFL, it would be great to somehow make it possible for local kids to benefit from the fly-in, even if it wasn't a formal young eagles event.

If enough people come (heck, if even 20 or 30 planes show up!), I can probably get one of the two local newspapers to cover it. It would be nice if it could result in some positive GA coverage.

Any feedback on the kinds of things people would like to see or do is also welcome!

5. Having volunteers to help will be key to making it a success. At least as importantly, it will let various people take ownership in having a successful event.

It sounds like I have my work cut out for me. I'll get started when I get home this week and report back what I find out from the FBO, restaurant and any others I contact.

I'm going to cross-post this at POA and the Purple Board.

 

[AdamZ]

Brian my advice is don't bit off too much. Start with a one day event'. If its meant to grow it will.

 

[flyersfan31]

Brian my advice is don't bit off too much. Start with a one day event'. If its meant to grow it will.

Second that.

Keep it simple, learn from mistakes, don't make too much work for yourself.

As for me, I'm booked that weekend but maybe next year

 

[flyingcheesehead]

1) what type of fly in do you want to have? ie? a full weekend, a one day affair, who is your target?

And remember that a one-day event will attract people from fairly close by while a weekend event is likely to attract folks from further away.

Be prepared to start small if the first year you only get 20 folks thats ok it will grow.

I think that's about all that were at Gaston's the first year, and it was also pretty much just Sunday brunch IIRC, though a few people might have stayed over. Now, it's about a four-day event!