Vryheid business to benefit from hosting National AGM of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
'This event is not open to the public, simply because this is our annual gathering and not an air show.'
IN order to clear up the confusion surrounding the upcoming Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) National Convention for 2018, which will be hosted by Vryheid Wings Club at the airfield from April 27 to 29, we would like to confirm that, according to Vryheid Wings Club Chairman, Mornè Strauss, the event is not, in fact, open to the public.Initial reports stated that the event was open to members of EAA only, and would be closed to the public. More recently, however, indications on the Aviation Direct website stated that “All are welcome” to attend the EAA National Convention and Fly In event at the airfield.
ALSO READ: ‘He died doing what he loved’
AND: Solar Impulse 2: Flying the flag for solar power
It has now been confirmed that the event will be closed to the public and only members of EAA and their families will be permitted access to the convention.
EAA Secretary, Marie Reddy, writes: “We love that Vryheid wants to get involved and publicise this, but it is not an air show nor open to the public. The simple reason is that there are strict regulations and lots of paperwork that needs to be done through the CAA for any aviation event to be open to the public. We are a non-profit organisation that selects a town to visit annually for our Convention – much the same as a corporate would do for their annual conference. We are not allowed by law to allow visitors as we have not, and do not plan on applying, for the required permission for this. It would have stringent restrictions on, be very costly and frankly Vryheid would not really be suitable for this. We are simply an aviation organisation that wants to gather for our annual AGM, where people travel from far to get together.
We will support the airfield with the basic requirements that need to be in place to accommodate the visiting aviators’ needs. We will support Vryheid as a town and use local suppliers as far as possible (for all services at this stage). In fact, accommodation is becoming more difficult to find now as our members all start making their bookings.
“It is a lovely convention to host and we are truly thankful to be able to meet in Vryheid this year. However, this event is… not open to the public – simply because this is our annual gathering and not an air show, where we charge people to enter and make a profit. Of course, there would be liabilities and a lot of money would need to be outlaid to do this type of event and we simply do not have the time or funds and this is not what the EAA does.
“The Vryheid Airfield would also not conform to the requirements as there is a big difference between a Fly In and an Air show in terms of regulations. As much as we would love to see the whole town participating, it is simply not possible and we do not have the resources for this.
“We are thrilled that Vryheid is looking forward to hosting this event and we know that there will be spectators from the boundaries but we are not allowed to grant permission without fulfilling a number of CAA requirements in order to allow the ‘public’ and then this event would not be able to take place in Vryheid as the Airfield will need some work done to it, which will be costly for Vryheid as a town…”
