EAA Ultralight fly-in..By invitation only

[1600vw]

I guess the EAA believes we have so many ultralights that if they do not make this by invitation only, the air venture grounds will be overwhelmed with ultralights and no place for them all?

Just a question as to why by..Invitation only.

Tony

[rwanttaja]

I guess the EAA believes we have so many ultralights that if they do not make this by invitation only, the air venture grounds will be overwhelmed with ultralights and no place for them all?

Just a question as to why by..Invitation only.

Tony
Could be because it's in Class D airspace, and they have to use special procedures to allow a large number of NORDO aircraft in. According to the news release from EAA, the invited ultralight pilots receive special briefings and arrive en masse. Hard to do with ad hoc visitors.

Ron Wanttaja

[martymayes]

Does EAA have to pay for those additional ATC services as well?

[Hal Bryan]

We're not using the AirVenture grounds per se, just Pioneer Airport. The need for the invitation is primarily because of the special procedures that have to be followed that allow us to operate a non-towered airport that is all but surrounded by Wittman Field. As Ron said, we can't really provide the briefings if we don't know who to brief.

To Marty's question, no - there really are no additional ATC services.

[1600vw]

Could be because it's in Class D airspace, and they have to use special procedures to allow a large number of NORDO aircraft in. According to the news release from EAA, the invited ultralight pilots receive special briefings and arrive en masse. Hard to do with ad hoc visitors.

Ron Wanttaja

So why hold the event somewhere that the aircraft asking to attend can not even fly into without an invitation. Maybe I am missing something here.

How did you get this magic list of people who was able to attend this gathering by invitation?

Tony

[Hal Bryan]

So why hold the event somewhere that the aircraft asking to attend can not even fly into.

Tony

I don't understand your question, Tony. Obviously they can fly-in, or there'd be no event. Pioneer isn't normally open to the public at all, but we're able to open it occasionally for events just like this.

[1600vw]

I don't understand your question, Tony. Obviously they can fly-in, or there'd be no event. Pioneer isn't normally open to the public at all, but we're able to open it occasionally for events just like this.

They can fly in but not Joe Public. I get an notice to an event but on the notice it says only by invitation. How does one get this invitation? To me its says...we are having an event but if you are not invited please refrain from coming.

Tony

[1600vw]

Did I miss the announcement that stated....We are having an event by invitation only. If you want to attained you had better get your invitation turned back in so we can put you on the list.

This is the list I speak of. Did I miss this or was this list made behind closed doors. This is what I am asking, How did these people on this list get on this list. This is all I am asking, so next time maybe someone who wanted to be on the list can be. Seems simple enough. maybe I missed something is all I am asking. What did I miss, if I missed nothing why was this event handled this way. Simple.

Tony

[krw920]

Did I miss the announcement that stated....We are having an event by invitation only. If you want to attained you had better get your invitation turned back in so we can put you on the list.

This is the list I speak of. Did I miss this or was this list made behind closed doors. This is what I am asking, How did these people on this list get on this list. This is all I am asking, so next time maybe someone who wanted to be on the list can be. Seems simple enough. maybe I missed something is all I am asking. What did I miss, if I missed nothing why was this event handled this way. Simple.

Tony

Hal,

Simply stated, how should one have gone about getting "invited" to this event? :rollseyes:

[rwanttaja]

So why hold the event somewhere that the aircraft asking to attend can not even fly into without an invitation. Maybe I am missing something here.

How did you get this magic list of people who was able to attend this gathering by invitation?
Well, the invitation said that members of two EAA Ultralight chapters had received the special briefing, so I expect people who had been a member of those chapters were on a fly-in invitation list. I don't know anything about the chapters, but I suspect they're local to Oshkosh, which makes the briefing relatively easy to arrange.

In any case, I was in Oshkosh last week (on my three-times-a-year trip to sneak in and mess up the settings on Hal's office chair while he's out to lunch) and notice there was tons of automobile parking. If one is interested in the event, I expect one can drive in an attend everything. I once went to a Fly Baby fly-in where I drove in....no one treated me any lower (not that that would be possible...:-).

Ron Wanttaja

[1600vw]

Well, the invitation said that members of two EAA Ultralight chapters had received the special briefing, so I expect people who had been a member of those chapters were on a fly-in invitation list. I don't know anything about the chapters, but I suspect they're local to Oshkosh, which makes the briefing relatively easy to arrange.

In any case, I was in Oshkosh last week (on my three-times-a-year trip to sneak in and mess up the settings on Hal's office chair while he's out to lunch) and notice there was tons of automobile parking. If one is interested in the event, I expect one can drive in an attend everything. I once went to a Fly Baby fly-in where I drove in....no one treated me any lower (not that that would be possible...:-).

Ron Wanttaja

Maybe everyone should drive in and then they can call it a car show.

Just me, if I was planning an event like this the first thing I would do is look for a field that ultralights can fly into with out needing approval from the FAA. We all know the state of the ultralight today in America so why not have a fly-in that others just might want to attend in their own Ultralight.

Tony

[Hal Bryan]

Maybe everyone should drive in and then they can call it a car show.

Just me, if I was planning an event like this the first thing I would do is look for a field that ultralights can fly into with out needing approval from the FAA. We all know the state of the ultralight today in America so why not have a fly-in that others just might want to attend in their own Ultralight.

Tony

Tony -

I think the disconnect here is that you think this event was supposed to be an ultralight fly-in, which it wasn't.

The goal of this event was to introduce and showcase ultralight flying to the public, not to introduce ultralight pilots to each other. If we were looking to host a major fly-in with as many ultralights as possible, yes, absolutely, a private special-procedures airport that is surrounded by a larger Class D field, wasn't ideal.

But that's not what we set out to do with this particular event. We wanted the local community, our museum and Pioneer Airport visitors in particular, to see what this branch of aviation was all about, so people on our staff worked hard to arrange it so that we could get about 30 ultralights to come in from two local chapters for a day of both static and flying displays.

Regardless, it's a moot point now; you'll notice that I'm speaking in the past tense. Late yesterday, the winds here in Oshkosh were forecast at 25+ knots today, so the event was canceled.

Hal

[1600vw]

Tony -

I think the disconnect here is that you think this event was supposed to be an ultralight fly-in, which it wasn't.

The goal of this event was to introduce and showcase ultralight flying to the public, not to introduce ultralight pilots to each other. If we were looking to host a major fly-in with as many ultralights as possible, yes, absolutely, a private special-procedures airport that is surrounded by a larger Class D field, wasn't ideal.

But that's not what we set out to do with this particular event. We wanted the local community, our museum and Pioneer Airport visitors in particular, to see what this branch of aviation was all about, so people on our staff worked hard to arrange it so that we could get about 30 ultralights to come in from two local chapters for a day of both static and flying displays.

Regardless, it's a moot point now; you'll notice that I'm speaking in the past tense. Late yesterday, the winds here in Oshkosh were forecast at 25+ knots today, so the event was canceled.

Hal

This is what I was seeking or the info lacking on my part. I was missing something here. This has a purpose other then just being an Ultralight fly-in. Now we are getting somewhere.

Very good....

Tony

[Hal Bryan]

Sorry I didn't clue in to the misunderstanding faster, Tony... If I'd actually read the subject line when you started the thread, for instance... ;)

It's really disappointing that we had to scrub it this year, but we may try to revisit it in the fall. Otherwise, we'll try again next year and hopefully have backup "wind/rain day" in place.

[1600vw]

There has been a lot of rain this year. Please keep us posted on dates and all Hal.

I knew we would work this out.

Tony