LAA Rally Sywell 31st Aug – 2nd September

[Richard W]

I don’t know if anyone is going to the Light Aircraft Association Rally at Sywell aerodrome this weekend. On present estimates there are 1,000 light aircraft booked in over the weekend and the weather forecast is looking quite good. ChampChump and I will hopefully be flying in and tent* camping next to the aeroplanes. Do drop by and say Hi if you are wandering around the aircraft parking area. Our aircraft are G-TECC (Aeronca Champ) and G-BUWK (Rans S6)
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There’s a campsite for tents / caravans / Motorhome next to the airfield for those arriving by road. Info about the whole event can be found here: http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/2012/rally2012.html

* Tent because I’ve not worked out how to stow the MH in the aeroplane…

Happy Travels,
Richard W.

 

[Carol]

Enjoy your weekend Richard, sounds like a you will have a great time. :thumb:

 

[Richard W]

If anyone did come looking for us, sorry to have missed you. I did do a quick wander* around the parking/camping field next to the aircraft parking, but didn’t see any Funster stickers.

*While looking for the showers. Eventually found, or as Neil Armstrong might have said “One small step for Man, one giant leap for personal hygiene”

 

[hilldweller]

I don’t know if anyone is going to the Light Aircraft Association Rally at Sywell
Happy Travels,
Richard W.

Green with envy.

I remember the joy of flying in to the PFA rallies at Cranfield. Made Heathrow look a grass strip in terms of traffic.

 

[Richard W]

Hitch a ride to next year's

Hi Brian,

It was a good weekend, with estimates at around the 1,000 arrivals (not exactly equal to aircraft, as some will have visited each day). I remember the last couple of Cranfield rallies, as well as the financially disastrous Kemble events.

It’s now run by Sywell, with an LAA ‘badge’. It works well and is a great place to meet up with people you perhaps only see once a year.

There must be a farm strip or small airfield near you, see if you can hitch a ride in for a day to next year’s Rally. You might even come across your old aircraft in the park somewhere.

Happy Travels,
Richard W.

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[ChampChump]

I reckoned a departure rate of one every 20 seconds at peak times and I expect the arrivals rate wasn't dissimilar.

Rumours of over 1100...TBC.

If someone invented an inflatable MH, Richard would be able to have all the toys together. And so would I...

 

[hilldweller]

There must be a farm strip or small airfield near you, see if you can hitch a ride in for a day to next year’s Rally.
Richard W.

Now there's a thought. Son in law flies from a farm strip near Hexham, but he's not keen on the rally. Must find out why. He's currently flying a UK designed and built scaled down Cub ( Belgium flat fout fuel injected motor ) but has just bought a Europa which needs a bit of work on it. Maybe I should start negotiating.

Does it still have the masses of stands selling aero junk ?

 

[Richard W]

Hi Brian,

It sounds as if you already have an inside track for getting a ride in to next year’s Rally. Pity your SIL isn’t that keen on the event, particularly when he’s flying Permit Type aircraft. The perceived pressure and risk put off some people. In fact it’s way quieter than the old Cranfield Rallies.

The trade show side of things has been much reduced under the new structure. It’s now basically a social meeting for pilots and aeroplane owners, with a bit of a trade show on the side. There is a stand for selling your surplus items. Again even that’s been reduced to a small section of one marquee this year. The bigger aviation retailers are there, Harry Mendelsohn, Transair, LAS and such. There are a bunch of smaller operators, some specialists and some organisations like the Vintage Aeroplane Club and The British Women Pilots Association.

Definitely worth a day of your time, particularly if you can fly in. The landing fee was £10, which included access to all areas for as many people as you brought with you in the aeroplane.

Hope to see you there next year.
Richard W.