PHOTO COURTESY U-FLY-IT
No license required — This ultralight aircraft is made by U-FLY-IT, a manufacturer at the DeLand Municipal Airport that will be displaying its wares at the Sport Aviation Showcase in early November. Flying an ultralight doesn’t require a pilot license, and ultralights are much less expensive than conventional airplanes.
As part of its mission to make the DeLand Municipal Airport the center for sport aviation in the southeastern United States, airport management is putting on the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase Nov. 3-5.
The manufacturers alone are expected to bring 600 to 800 people into town, and the showcase is likely to generate 2,000 to 3,000 attendees a day, said Sport Aviation Administrator Jana Filip.
And organizers say more volunteers are needed to pull the whole thing off. Up to 150 volunteers can help with admissions, parking cars, driving golf carts, or setting up and tearing down festival tents and such, Filip said.
“People can sign up online for whatever shifts they want, and no aviation experience is required,” she said. “All shifts are four hours each, and they can sign up for as many as they want.”
Volunteers receive free admission to the three-day events and get to meet aviation enthusiasts from all over the world. To sign up or get more information, go to www.sportaviationshowcase.com/volunteer-opportunities.
The showcase, which will be set up on the airport’s abandoned north-south runway between runways 05/23 and 12/30, aims to promote and support recreational flying, highlight the latest in sport-aviation products, and provide buyers and sellers with opportunities to connect, according to a promotional flier.
The key market is the aviator who wants to fly a light aircraft built at home or at the airport, Filip said.
This year’s inaugural edition of the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase will welcome about 100 outdoor and indoor exhibitors.
“With light-sport aircraft, ultralights, microlights, powered parachutes, trikes, weight-shift control, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing amphibians, gliders, motorglides [motorized gliders], and a special display of the up-and-coming electric aircraft, the Showcase will be a one-stop recreational flying shopping center.” according to a promotional flier.
The DeLand Showcase will feature demonstration flights all day on each day of the event.
Also planned are educational forums, guest speakers and workshops, an indoor Presentation Stage for indoor exhibitors to promote their products, under-wing camping, and a display of home-built aircraft.
“Our goal for the showcase is to bring together buyers and sellers of recreational aircraft, provide an opportunity to share knowledge and information, and create an atmosphere that highlights the fun of recreational flying,” the flier states.
For more details about the showcase, go to www.sportaviationshowcase.com.
- Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com