Having just returned from organising another successful ‘Fly Out’ (in initially atrocious weather!) to Overnighter_Chartres_pdf and having also ploughed through all the entries in this forum page(!) perhaps a few simple comments might help:
- The venue must, I believe, be a ‘Tour In’ as well as a ‘Fly In’. This is particularly to attract partners.
- The distance must be reasonably flyable for low-hour pilots to attract.
- The field need not necessarily be Instrument rated but doable.
- The date must be announced well in advance.
- Hotels must be booked by the people themselves who are coming. We used a chain/system that allowed cancellation/change without penalty. This proved a life-saver this time.
- A group meal should be attempted but people must recognise that a successful attendance creates problems: I booked a restaurant for 25 – only to have to cancel it because weather meant most people didn’t get there until the second day – when getting a table for 17 on the Saturday night was impossible. Hence they ate in groups; but we had pre & post meal drinks together.
- I use a WhatsApp page for those who say they are coming. This proved invaluable when dealing with delays, weather reports and gathering people together at short notice in Chartres.
- Useful to have an ‘attraction’ – this case a talk on the cathedral – which is ‘optional’, so in the end everyone comes!
Although we had 12 planes/25 people initially booked, we ended up with 9 planes/17 people. Not bad in the circumstances.
Last Edited by Peter_G at 02 May 16:40
