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FunFlight only works because of the involvement of local communities which provide the infrastructure and individual volunteers needed to successfully run a FunFlight event.
Organisations
FunFlight 2009 was a great success, providing events in all of Australia's major cities and the committee has started planning for the next FunFlight which is scheduled to take place on 14 November 2010. To do this, we will once again need the assistance not only from Aero Clubs, but from other local organisations such as Lions and Rotary which are committed to taking ownership of a local event to make it happen. FunFlight will provide the support needed to link these organisations with the children's charities involved and will take care of things like national media, sponsorship etc, but ultimately we need your commitment to get each event off the ground.
In 2008, more than 900 kids and their families had the flight of their lives. They took to the skies in Sydney, Melbourne, Launceston, Perth, Rockhampton and Amberley, in over 250 separate flights in aircraft ranging from historic two seaters and a DC3 to VIP aircraft like the Super King Air and PC12.
In addition, teams of volunteers provided entertainment and activities across the country: demonstrations by the RAAF guard dogs, Santa arriving by police helicopter, and flyby's and aerobatic displays by high performance aircraft. Over 250 volunteer pilots and ground staff helped make this day possible.
This year, on Sunday, 8 November, also saw flights leaving from Goolwa in SA and from Darwin and once again, local involvement helped make the day. The Lions Club in Goolwa, for instance, was out in force with a lovely barbecue and its cool drinks and icy poles were most welcome on this sizzler of a day.
In addition, the children's charities with which FunFlight is closely linked, have offered to assist with the coordination of ground activities and because of their connections and networks, they are ideally placed to source, e.g. food and entertainment.
So, what do we want from you? If you represent an organisation able and willing to assist with a FunFlight event in your part of the world, then please click here to register your interest. FunFlight will endeavour to work with you and other interested organisations in your area to decide upon the general format of your FunFlight 2010 event and then provide you with support while you work towards putting on your day.
To give you an idea of what you and friends could organise, here are some examples from last year's FunFlight Day:
Melbourne
At the second FunFlight event held in Melbourne, the decision was made to include more airports than in 2007. The ‘core' event consisted of pilots and participants meeting at Moorabbin airport for a briefing and then taking a flight from Moorabbin around the outside of Port Phillip Bay to Tyabb on the Mornington Peninsula. At the same time, smaller fleets of aircraft and participants departed from Lilydale and the Latrobe Valley via their own scenic routes and also landed at Tyabb.
The Tyabb aero club put on lunch for all and had also arranged for some aerobatic displays, jumping castles and cardboard aircraft races. At the conclusion of the afternoon, participants reboarded their aircraft for the flight back to their airport of origin.
This type of event requires significant organisation both within and between local clubs, as well as a proportionately higher number of aircraft as each plane/pilot can only carry one group of passengers. It was tailored to suit the Melbourne conditions where the two major airports (Essendon and Moorabbin) have space and security limitations and Tyabb is a significant drive from Melbourne. Rockhampton The success of this event, which made the day much bigger than just a joy flight, was based upon the use of contacts and local knowledge and a good resource base within the aero club. Launceston This event, by far the smallest across Australia, was none the less fully within the FunFlight range of expectations as it matched the abilities and limitations of the local aero club.
The Rockhampton Aero Club undertook to organise the 2008 event and as well as involving their local pilots and aircraft, made good use of their local contacts to organise plenty of ancillary activities, such as a display by both a local jet aerobatic aircraft and the Singapore Defence Force F16 jets which happened to be in town. They also organised for the local Harley Davidson club to come out to the airport and for some military helicopters to be on display.
Using local contacts, the aero club also engaged in most of the liaison with the participant charities.
The joy flights took place on a set route from Rockhampton over to the coast and back. The nature of these round trip flights ensured that fewer pilots were needed to carry all the participants.
Launceston is home to a very small aero club with only limited space available in and around the club rooms. That aside, the club successfully hosted a FunFlight event which involved making good use of the limited facilities. There was a BBQ lunch, slide and picture show and the airport fire engine put on a show for the kids. Several participants were also ferried to Launceston from Burnie on the north coast so as to help increase numbers. The participant coordination was handled by FunFlight volunteers with little or no contact beforehand between the host aero club and participant charities.
Following lunch, the participants and pilots undertook a massed departure and a scenic trip up the Tamar Valley before returning to Launceston (and Burnie as required).
Individuals
If you are able to contribute to FunFlight by volunteering your time, service or aircraft - please get involved! We are always on the lookout for both volunteers as well as groups who could benefit from a FunFlight.
If you have a suggestion for a FunFlight location, are involved with or know of an organisation that would be interested in organising a FunFlight event for their members or would just like to know more about FunFlight, just enter your details in our contact form or call one of our directors