Greetings,
We're excited to announce we'll be attending the Buckeye Air Fair on February 17-19 and setting up shop in the AOPA tent right up front. The city of Buckeye and their leadership has embraced general aviation and I love seeing them reap the rewards.
The Buckeye Air Fair is a family event that serves as an airport open house, family fun day and an air show, all in one. What a great excuse to get kids out to an airport and to actually be able to be on the air-side of the fence unescorted like many of us were able to do growing up. Those bounce houses and funnel cakes attracted them and their parents to the airport and that should make us smile. Smile at the kids. Greet them. Offer to show them your plane. Be friendly and approachable. Let's help them become future pilots!
For us pilots, we look past those bounce houses. We are more interested in forums and vendors. Need new tires? There's a good chance you can pick up a set. Want to poke buttons on a new glass display? There will be plenty of options for that. Want to learn how to best maintain an older engine? Learn from the experts. The pre-Covid AOPA regional fly-ins were a lot of fun and this looks to be a refinement on that model.
We are optimistic that we will meet hundreds of our members over the three-day event. We'll have our booth staffed with much of our volunteer board of directors. We can answer membership questions, renew memberships, get you outfitted in the latest merch, and learn about what you'd like to get out of APA. Come out and join us, we'll see you there!
Blue Skies,
Brian