QLD Fly-in Targets Big Dollars for RFDS

The 4th annual Wings of Life Fly-in in October is hoping to raise serious money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Held at Archerfalls near Mount Archer in QLD, the event attracted about 1000 people and raised $10,000 for the RFDS last year. This year's fly-in is over the weekend of 5-6 October.

Airfield owner Ron Field, whilst happy with last year's turn-out, would like to see more planes take advantage of his runway.

"I hope more aircraft visit, we have room for more, even with about 50-odd in and out at last year's event," he told Australian Flying.

"And more cars and bikes, as the more aircraft, cars and bikes on display the more visitors have got to see and experience. This will all help us raise more money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and we are serious about exceeding last year's $10,000, so the more flyers who come the more likely we'll achieve the target. And mostly, we want everyone to have a great time, flying for the pure enjoyment of flying.

"Judging by our visitors to date, most enjoy the flying conditions around our region, the views through Somerset and the Glasshouse Mountains can be spectacular. Once on the ground here, meeting new people, catching up with old friends is pretty well the order of the day, of course interspersed with talk about engines, props and everything else aviation. Camping means everyone can kick back and relax without racing last light for home, so it turns a fly into an adventure for a day or so I guess."

Field owns a scale Spitfire and a Murphy Renegade radial biplane, and encourages visiting pilots to make use of his pictureseque airfield for the fly-in every year.

Displays include aerobatics, with the event last year attracting Paul Bennett and his Pitts, helicopter joy flights and TIFs for the uninitiated.

As well as the expected aviation turn-out, the fly-in also hosts classic cars and motorcycles over the weekend, and stages a gala dinner on the Saturday evening. There is also a licensed bar and live music for revelers.

Campers are welcome, and are well catered for with a BBQ and cafe run by the Kilcoy Lions Club.

Wings of Life is a club of students from Griffith University, which was founded in 2010.

"When my son Douglas started aviation studies at Griffith University, he founded Wings of Life in 2010," Field says. "I was struck, and still am, by the number of young ones following a dream to fly and enter the world of aviation, who have not had opportunity to get up close to aircraft, much less get advice from flyers about the journey.

"It seemed natural to hold a fly in, and help the Royal Flying Doctor Service, who need it. Since then it's become an annual event, we try to add something new each year, to attract more people and enhance the appeal of the event to a broader audience, hence the addition of Show'n'Shine, cars, bikes, model planes and other things. It all helps raise more money for RFDS."

Full details including an excellent image gallery can be found on the Archerfalls Airfield website here.