A major GA fly-in planned for September this year is aimed at bringing all of general aviation togther in one place. AUSFLY, organised by the Sports Aircraft Association of Australia, is scheduled for Narromine from 14-16 September, and is targeting everything with wings from warbirds and private GA to helicopters, gliders, balloons and recreational aircraft.
This massive undertaking will involve maintenance seminars, workshops, flying displays and entertainment in the evening. At this time, the program is only tentative, but the SAAA is confident of having aerobatics by Paul Bennet (Pitts S1) and Tony Blair (Rebel 300), a warbird line-up including an Avenger, Mustang and Hawker Sea fury, and at the moment are talking to the RAAF about the Roulettes.
SAAA Vice President David Brown says the aim of AUSFLY is to give Australian pilots a world-class fly-in.
"We are aiming to build a smaller version of the EAA’s Oshkosh Air Venture. The purpose of this is to unite Australia’s private and sport aviation groups, their members and the suppliers to industry at one venue for several days of education, entertainment and the building of good will among all.
"General Aviation in Australia has lacked anything of this kind, we see the great event that RAAus put on for their members, and other air shows such as Avalon and Wide Bay which have a different focus, and nothing that is aimed squarely at private/Bbsiness and sport GA. Sport GA includes everything from heavy machines such as warbirds, to light machines such as those in the gyro and RAAus groups or gliders and hang gliders. The folk who have been missing out, though, have been the VH-registered privately operated fleet."
The idea for the event stemmed from the 2011 SAAA convention, when discussions that included CASA GA Task Force boss Peter John concluded that a closer working relationship between GA organisations was needed to breathe life back into the industry. A major Oshkosh-like event was considered a good step towards achieving this.
"So the SAAA council took the intiative," Brown recalls, "and contacted a few of the major GA organisations to rally support. We are proud to say that the Australian Warbirds Association and AOPA have jumped on board to help make this happen. We also have active participation from many of the sport organisations as well, so it has become a great success before we start!"
Ultimately, the SAAA is hoping AUSFLY will attract around 4000 people, but for the first one are expecting numbers around 800-1000. More information on AUSFLY including accommodation, displays and a convention dinner can be found on the AUSFLY website www.ausfly.com.au.