Your Chance to Design a Fly-In

Hehe...Jay in a tie...now, that *is* funny. I'm sure that there are
shorts and sandals below the jacket and tie. Holy cow Jay, it looks like
a picture of a law firm ...er, something. "The Eastern Iowa Big Kids Toy
Show, brought to you by the law firm of Yeomans, Young, Honeck, Clay,
Floyd, and Sigafoose". :-)

Yeah, that picture does look like something from "The Firm", no?

Hard to believe we're mostly just a bunch of beer swilling hangar bums -- we
dress up good, no?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"With this donation, the joy and wonder of flight will be passed on to
our youth, ensuring a place for them in the sky!"

That's funny, I thought kids or some people are naturally disposed to
the 'joy and wonder of flight...' You can't really 'pass it on' with a
museum in my opinion. Unless there are a lot of hands on things that
are somewhat dangerous most kids don't give a hoot.

I think a flight simulator that looks like an airplane, with a stick and
throttle and moving control surfaces, ought to capture the imagination of
the kids, don't you?

I would bet an endowment for a bunch of 'first flight' fuel purchases
and Young eagle volunteers would be a better way to keep a steady stream
of kids interested in flight.

Ah, now you're jumping ahead a couple of years. This will be the second
annual show, and we hope it will (1) raise public awareness of the airport,
and (2) raise money for an great aviation-related charity.

In future years, we would like to fund a flight training scholarship(s) for
worthy youth, among other things! THEN we will really be helping GA, IMHO.

It seems to me that today the airports and planes are just not as
accessible as they once were - due to cost, perception of danger,
security concerns, etc. Anything we can do to make it easier for kids
to hang around an airport and watch planes would be a great thing. I am
not necessarily against static displays in museums, but kids usually
want to 'do' stuff.

The Childrens Museum is located at our local (quite large) shopping mall,
and it is literally mobbed with kids from age 2 - 12 every day. THIS is the
place to capture their imagination, IMHO.

If we catch 'em there, we'll clean 'em and fry 'em later on out at the
airfield!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

EAA is going to be an integral part of this show, for sure.

Fine, but have you asked the national organization for advice on the matter of
getting a military flyby or visits from warbirds? They seem to be able to do it
pretty well, so maybe they can give you some tips.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

"Jay Honeck" wrote

EAA is going to be an integral part of this show, for sure.

How about seeing if anyone in the chapter has a partially built airplane
that they would be able to bring and display. Most people have no idea that
people can actually build an airplane that you can really fly in!
--
Jim in NC

Jay -

Some thoughts, in no particular order....

The DNR water bombers are usually popular with both the kids and the
adults. Besides a static display, a demo during the "air show" portion
could be arranged. Be prepared for a quick exit by these folks, if they
get called out. May is already fire season (depending on weather of
course) up here in Minnesota, don't know about Iowa.

For cool fly bys of military arcft - When I was Technical Director our
local Independance Day Celebration (the largest in the state, and
continues to this day, by the way) about a hundred years ago, it took a
few phone calls to get the right general on the phone, but I started
with the National Guard at Camp Ripley, which is our local base. Within
a couple of days, I had a call back and it was all arranged. Arrived
within 20 seconds of scheduled time, too! Those guys are good. (The
first (or second, don't recall now,) they sent a ground crew up with a
radio (Mil UHF, had to use theirs) that we patched into the PA system.
Crowd thought it was very cool to listen to the pilots as they made
their passes - even got a few words directed to the crowd from the lead
plane.

The Duluth MN airshow a few years ago (its scheduled again for 2006, I
understand) had a large turn out of the Military recruiters (Duluth
being a NG air base) who had all kinds of very cool activities for the
kids. My son spent much time in the Marines (inflatable) obsticale
course. This thing was hugh, complete with ropes to climb and things to
crawl under/thru. It even included genuine Marine Drill Sargents with
the "smokey-bear" hat and LOUD voices.

Local flight school/ FBO offering 15-20 minute plane rides, helicopter
rides...

Don't forget to involve at least one local radio station as a sponsor.

Send posters to airports and such in a large radius - what better
reason to get in the plane and fly somewhere?

Randy

And be very careful of what you call the "contests" (i.e. "flour bombing
contest"). Most aircraft insurance policies have clauses regarding
"contests" and I don't think you want to run afoul of this little glitch.

Jim

One thing we did as a community service during one of our EAA Young
Eagle events was to have the local police come in a photo/fingerprint
children. All of the information was given to the parents if needed for
future use. It was free.

Any CAF squadrons around the area?


-------------
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


Jim Burns wrote:
I'm hoping we can get a bunch
of World War II aircraft on display, and maybe some military fly-overs
during the show -- who should one contact for stuff like that?


http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/index.shtml

The STE pilots association hired the Minnesota Wing to fly in their B25 a
couple years ago. I don't remember the cost, but it's not cheap.

Do you have any WWII or military hardware collectors near by? We have
several groups around here that collect trucks and heavy ground equipment.
Usually they are happy to bring their collections to local events.

What about the fire department? A couple big fire trucks, especially the
hook and ladders, are always popular with the kids.

Any hospital air lift helicopters available or willing to be on display?
They always seem to be at the fly-ins around Central Wis. Very willing to
help educate the public about what they do.

Local Police have a bomb squad? I've seen those guys at a few flyins
showing off their equipment.

Do you have a local crane rental company? I've been to a couple shows that
will have a big (well not tooo tall) crane, with a big flag flying from the
hook. Kids think anything huge is cool.

Local farm implement dealer willing to give tractor rides?


Jim

Oh, we also had the Aviation Department from a local college bring some
airplanes and instructors to set up a booth on the ramp. The only
instructors that they could find were females. There was a line at the
booth!


-------------
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


George Patterson wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

I'm hoping we can get a bunch of World War II aircraft on display, and
maybe some military fly-overs during the show -- who should one
contact for stuff like that?


Contact all war museums with flyable aircraft within about 600 miles;
most of the best birds displayed at flyins in this area come from
museums in New York or New England. Also call up the CAF; Iowa isn't
that far from one of their main bases. Many of their planes are
privately owned, and some warbird owners are happy to have an excuse to
fly their plane to an exhibit. It helps a lot if you can provide some
gas at your end. Also talk around locally. There's bound to be at least
a T-6 or two not far away.

For flyovers, you might try the nearest Air National Guard, or go for
broke -- contact the PR department of the USAF and ask if something
impressive will be in the air that day and might be able to divert a bit
and fly over. Who knows? Maybe they'll display a modern fighter if you
let them set up a recruiting table.

Lastly (or maybe firstly) contact EAA and see if they can help. I expect
they're likely to want some bread, but maybe not.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your
neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

Let me rain on your parade a minute to be sure you have considered
insurance. We have tried to do things and run into insurance problems.
The city wants to be named on all policies. Everybody want to me named
on each others policy. It just seems to go on and on. There never seems
to be a blanket solution.

Just be sure you consider this. It may be a full time position for someone.


-------------
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


Jay Honeck wrote:
Okay, so I've been "volunteered" to be on the board of directors of the
biggest fly-in event in Iowa City's history, the Eastern Iowa Big Kids Toy
Show, scheduled for May 20 - 21, 2006.

See us at www.BigKidToyShow.com (Yes, they made me wear a -- *sob* -- TIE
for the photos... It was awful! ;-)

This will be the second annual show, so we've got a basic template of events
that looks like this:

Saturday, 7 A-2P
- Fly-In/Drive-In Pancake Breakfast
- Static displays of aircraft (and all sorts of other "Big Kid Toys" like
exotic sports cars, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, motorhomes, boats, etc.
Many car dealers participated last year, naturally)
- Fly-overs by yet-to-be-named aircraft...
- Lunch served by (of course) the Johnson County Pork Producers
- Custom car show
- Lots of stuff for kids (inflatable thingies, etc.)
- Hangar Dance, 8P- ??

Sunday, 7 A-2P
- Fly-In/Drive-In Pancake Breakfast
- Static displays of aircraft (and all sorts of other "Big Kid Toys" like
exotic sports cars, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, motorhomes, boats, etc.)
- Fly-overs by yet-to-be-named aircraft...
- Lunch served by (of course) Johnson County Pork Producers

Show sponsorships are sold to anyone who wants to display their "big kid
toy." So, for example, if a Ferrari dealer wants to put one of his cars on
display, he will have to cough up a few bucks. All proceeds from the show
will go to the Iowa Children's Museum for the construction of an aviation
display! (Isn't that awesome? :-)

We were thinking our local EAA chapter could help construct a nice flight
simulator for the kids, but the museum has given us a HUGE area to fill, so
we could even display a full-sized aircraft along with it!

I'm looking for ideas! I've been to a zillion fly-ins, some terrific,
others lame, and I would sure like to hear from those who have done this
before, so I don't have to learn from my mistakes. What makes a great
fly-in? (Besides good weather, of course) I'm hoping we can get a bunch
of World War II aircraft on display, and maybe some military fly-overs
during the show -- who should one contact for stuff like that?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

("Ross Richardson" wrote)
[snip]
Let me rain on your parade a minute to be sure you have considered
insurance.


Don't forget to ask yourself - "What will happed if we get two straight days
of 45 degrees and drizzle?"

That happened two years ago for our (May 20th) Discover Aviation Days at
(ANE) Anoka County-Blaine, MN

It was a financial disaster! Car parking had supported about 50% of the
event costs over the years ($2 per car). No cars to park in 2004 - I know
this because I was out in the field for those two days, getting wet and not
parking any cars.

On top of that, a few key supporters pulled out so D.A.D suspended
operations. Last year we had a loosely organized open house instead of
Discover Aviation Days. 2005 was a dud.


Montblack