What should a soaring club do at an airshow

Here are some thoughts from the performer side:

Absolutely have a glider on display with brochures
about your club. Make sure to include the relatively
low price and social aspect of club flying. Be sure
to mention that your club offers instruction and that
kids can solo at 14.

Don't bring your rusty old 2-33, 1-26 or Blanik. Bring
any modern class glider (the average person doesn't
recognize the difference between a Libelle and a supership,
but they do recognize a junker).

Mna your booth with enthusiastic pilots, and rotate
duty throughout the day.

Let people touch the aircraft, and sit in it under
supervision. Yes, some people's children are idiots,
but I've never experienced any damage. Just keep an
eye out and polish off the grubby fingerprints when
you get home.

Don't offer a free demonstration. A glider flyby without
smoke is nearly invisible from the distances required
for crowd clearance during an airshow waiver, and you
can't do aerobatics without a waiver card. Without
an experienced crew, gliders require a lot of time
to setup for launch and retrieve, often upsetting the
airboss. Airshow schedules are TIGHT! Please don't
take offense at these statements, but airshows are
not the same as the local club environment. The airboss
invariably schedules the glider right after a bunch
of warbirds, then wants you launched in 1 minute.
The free demo also really hurts my chances of ever
performing at that show. I hear a lot of 'We had a
glider at our show once, and nobody liked it' comments
from show producers.

(OK, here comes the blatant sales pitch.) Try to convince
the show to hire a professional sailplane act, and
work with him to help promote your club. I often fly
the whole weekend and never realize the local club
had a sailplane on static display. Any of us (Manfred,
Brett, Steve or I) would be happy to help out.

Don't expect people to line up at your club the following
weekend. Keep your club visible as often as possible.
(You don't see Coca Cola advertising only once a year,
then sitting back and expecting huge sales.)

And most importantly, don't underestimate the effect
you have on the kids! These are the people who will
keep us flying 20 years from now. Convince them they
can fly before the naysayers brainwash them into thinking
flying is too dangerous. I often do school presentations.
They are fun and I really believe some of these kids
will become pilots one day partly as a result of this
influence.

Just my $.02 worth.

Bob Carlton
Silent Wings Airshows
Albuquerque, NM USA
www.silentwingsairshows.com



At 12:30 13 January 2005, Dave Martin wrote:
Our club tried this several times at local events.

It required high time investment and a glider out of
use for several days loss of flying time/income. Lots
of poeple sat in gliders, loss of photocalls and brochures
handed out

The returns were very small if anything and for a small
club I would suggest the input return/comparison made
it impracticable.

Dave Martin


At 12:00 13 January 2005, Ray Lovinggood wrote:
The one time we did it, nothing came of it.

Back in the early 90's, the Raleigh-Durham Intl. Airport
(RDU) held a 'static display' airshow. It included
military, air carrier, and GA aircraft. Plus one LS-4,
'J7.'

We roped it off and manned it with, I think, four people,
including one young, pretty, blonde lady.

I had a poster made with all the specifications for
the glider and supported it on an easle.

We had informational packages to hand out to tell about
learning to fly and where they could learn to fly.

I think we would let small groups of people into the
roped off area for a closer look. We might have let
some sit in it, but I don't remember.

We also gave them a chance to enter their name into
a drawing that would give the winner a free flight
in a glider (a 2-33, because that was the only two-seater
the commercial operation had. The 2-33 was not at
the show nor were photos of it.)

While hundreds came by, the commercial gliding business
who set this up realized no new customers.

I still wonder what we did wrong.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA




At 06:30 13 January 2005, Dnewill wrote:
OK Gang - the airshow season is about to start - so
what are the 'ten things
to do / not to do' if our club gets involved in a summer
airshow?
What is the best thing your club or commercial operation
did? Worst?

Thanks
dave newill