Didn't Dee Grimm say that he was going to bring back the airshow? I think that I saw that in the announcement that he is the new Copperstate VP.Originally Posted by flibmeister
Didn't Dee Grimm say that he was going to bring back the airshow? I think that I saw that in the announcement that he is the new Copperstate VP.
Bill
We're always looking at the idea, especially as a way to increase attendance by the general public, but the restrictions of the waiver make it difficult at our current locale. Among other things, we have two air ambulance helicopter operators on the field, widely separated, that each has to be surrounded with it's own sterile zone-- which eats up a ton of ramp space. Plus, development on the north and east sides of the airport would probably limit us to a Category III show line. Things (including the airport where the event is held) can change, though.
Last edited by flibmeister; 08-10-2013 at 12:02 PM.
I have been at just about every CopperState Fly-In since I started attending in Prescott. Personally, I was glad to see the Air Show go away. I would much rather see the parade of planes coming and going all day. The tower at CopperState offers very little as the Cactus Fly In at the same airport in the spring operates without a tower. Cactus isn't quite as big as CopperState, but the lack of tower doesn't seem to impede traffic flow at all. The only advantage I've seen to having the tower at CopperState is that it keeps the training schools from flying practice IFR approaches through the airshow traffic, which is sometimes an issue during the Cactus Fly In. I'll be there in October.
-CubBuilder
The experience that Cactus has operating without a tower is what gives us confidence that Copperstate can do the same, without compromising the safety of the event. It's a loss in some ways, though: with the tower, we could run the Showcase pattern, special passenger ride and factory demo patterns, FuelVenture and any other "off the wall" stuff we wanted to, because the tower would both control it AND (most importantly) accept the liability if anything went wrong. Without the tower, we have to pretty much stick to normal ops and let the operation run on it's own, lest we get saddled with liability. It won't affect most attendees, but some of the exhibitors will be negatively affected.
As for the air show, it's definitely a mixed blessing: most pilots couldn't care less, so were glad to see it go. A lot of the public, though, come to the event primarily to SEE the air show, so we lose a lot of the revenue that used to come through the gate. IMHO, with the entire air show industry in a state of flux right now, it's hard to see it coming back anytime soon.
See you in October!
Denny
I don't see the lack of a tower at Copperstate will keep the vendors from putting their planes up in the pattern for a fly by or two or for a ride out of the pattern. Many do the same during Cactus. FWIW, the confines of the showcase were way too tight when I flew it with my fast plane. It was some serious cranking and banking to stay within the confines as briefed. It makes more sense to join the pattern and do a missed approach fly by. See you in Oct.
Sorry for high-jacking the thread to comment only on CopperState. Back to the regularly scheduled thread.
-CubBuilder
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