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The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) will celebrate its 75th anniversary Oct. 4 with a “Homecoming Fly-In” at its headquarters on the Frederick, Md., Municipal Airport, giving members and the public a chance to tour its facilities, view aircraft, take-part in aviation seminars and a Pilot Town Hall meeting with AOPA president Mark Baker.
The Frederick fly-in will be the sixth of seven AOPA regional fly-ins in 2014. It promises to be the largest, with hundreds of AOPA members, aircraft and aviation product exhibitors taking part.
The Homecoming Fly-in will also feature an aerobatic performance by Michael Goulian, a Red Bull Air Race pilot, winner of the U.S. Unlimited Aerobatic Championship and an AOPA ambassador.
And a flying piece of history will descend on FDK when the Experimental Aircraft Association’s gleamingly-restored Boeing B-17 ‘Aluminum Overcast’ arrives to offer rides during the fly-in weekend. EAA will also offer ground tours of the aircraft; flights can be booked online on the AOPA website.
Display aircraft will include everything from backcountry Aviat Huskies to an Aero L-39 Albatros jet. AOPA’s “Reimagined 152,” – a Cessna 152 that was completely rebuilt in a joint AOPA-Aviat project – will also be on hand to demonstrate just how affordable flying can be.
The Homecoming will launch with a $5 all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. Lunch will be served from a caravan of gourmet food trucks, among them: Fowl Play Food Truck, Curley’s Q barbecue, Sexy Vegie, Neat Meat, Greatest American Hot Dogs, Mighty Dog, DC Slices, Linda’s Luncheonette and Los Lobos. AOPA members get free lunch for free.
Pilot seminars include sessions on learning how to stay healthy for flying, communicating effectively on the radio, using an iPad in the cockpit and saving money on maintenance. Notable speakers include Rod Machado, the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Bruce Landsberg and AOPA editor-in-chief Tom Haines.
AOPA president Mark Baker will convene a Pilot Town Hall at 2:30 p.m. and take members inside important general aviation issues, including the improving prospects for 3rd class medical reform, general aviation’s part in ADS-B/NextGen and AOPA’s work to make flying safer, more fun and more affordable.
In addition, AOPA on Oct. 3 will host one of its popular and free Rusty Pilots seminars, which are designed to help lapsed pilots get back into the cockpit. This two-hour ground school reviews aviation knowledge and covers airspace issues and other changes. All attendees will receive their endorsement for completing the flight review ground training required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Oct. 4 AOPA Homecoming Fly-in is open to the public and press registration is not required. More information on maybe found at FDK Fly-in. For guests flying themselves to KFDK, a procedures NOTAM and pilot packet may be found at FDK Procedures.
