Fly-in
A fly-in, also called an aviation meet, is a pre-arranged gathering of aircraft, pilots and passengers for recreational and social purposes.[1]
Fly-ins may be formally or informally organised, members of the public may or may not be invited, the gathering may be at an airport or in a farmer's field.
Fly-ins can be aimed at specific aircraft classes, such as
The term "fly-in" is not formally defined in the aviation legislation of many countries and it may refer to a range of events, while in others it has a specific legal meaning. For example, in Canada fly-ins may not legally include air displays or competitive flying.[2][3]
History
Both fly-ins and
Although there were some minor aviation meets in France earlier in 1909, at Port-Aviation south of Paris, in
The first person to actually fly into an aviation meeting was Hubert Latham, who flew to the 1909 Konkurrenz-Fliegen Berlin at Johannisthal Air Field from the Tempelhof field on 27 September 1909, a distance of 10.5 km (6.5 mi). This was one of the several meetings inspired by the Reims meeting. Latham's flight was the first cross-country flight in Germany.[5]
Flying to aviation meetings was sometimes discouraged. For example, Robert Martinet wanted to fly his plane to the June 1910 Angers aviation meeting, but was refused by the organizers, on the grounds that this potentially dangerous flight would put his appearance at the meeting at risk.[6] The expression in English most commonly used for similar events in the pre-World War I era was "aviation meeting" (in Europe) or "aviation meet" (in the USA).
The first aviation meet located in the United Kingdom was held at Doncaster between 15 and 23 October 1909. It preceded the second UK event held at Blackpool by only three days. Both events competed for the honour of being the first of their type in the country and as a result neither drew the expected public interest. The Doncaster event attracted a dozen aircraft and pilots, but bad weather prevented much of the planned flying and many of the trophies were not awarded. The event lost a considerable amount of money.[5]
The first major competitive aviation meet held in the United States was the Los Angeles Aviation Meet, held 10–20 January 1910 at Dominguez Field. Again this was a competition-style meet with almost all the aircraft from France. Louis Paulhan set a height record of just under one mile (1.6 km) and also took the prize for endurance with a flight of 1:49:40 that covered 61 mi (98 km).[5]
The first
The
Switzerland's fly-ins include the one from La Côte, near Prangins, which was held each every 2 years since 2007, organized by the local air-club "Club Aéronautique Swissair Genève" (CASG).[9]
References
- ISBN 9780850451634.
- ^ Transport Canada (August 2008). "Glossary for Pilots and Air Traffic Services Personnel". Retrieved 2008-09-21. [dead link]
- ^ Transport Canada (June 2006). "Canadian Aviation Regulations Part VI - General Operating and Flight Rules Standard 623 - Special Flight Operations". Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "The First Air Races - The meetings". thefirstairraces.net. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-9670076-2-3
- ^ Le Petit Courrier (1 June 1910, page 2)
- ^ Niles, Russ (August 2011). "China To Hold First GA Fly-In". AVweb. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ Grady, Mary (September 2011). "China's First GA Fly-In Postponed". AVweb. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ "La Côte International Fly-In 2015".