Fly-in Festival, Flight Chop pilot help flying club mark 75th anniversary
The Flight Chops pilot whose Youtube channel has more than 34 million total views — and climbing — is coming for the Windsor Flying Club’s 75th anniversary Fly-in Festival.
Steve Thorne’s ride-along flying videos have made him an aviation celebrity and he’ll be one of the main attractions at the July 6 festival. “He started this Youtube channel as a self-learning kind of device and it’s now exploded to be come a Youtube sensation,” said Windsor Flying Club vice-president Henry Dupuis.
Thorne, from Toronto, is building a Van’s Aircraft from a kit at the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association museum at the Windsor Airport and is documenting it in some of his videos.
To celebrate its 75th year, the Windsor Flying Club is trying to raise $75,000 for scholarships to enable two people to earn their pilot’s licence. The club still needs to raise $50,000 and the festival is one of its fundraisers.
The club hasn’t held a fly-in since the mid-1980s, so it will be a special day, Dupuis said.
“Our goal is to get 75 aircraft on the field to take a photograph of 75 aircraft for our 75th anniversary.”
There’s lots for non-pilots to see. There will be historical aircraft on display, including a privately owned 1940 Tiger Moth biplane, the aircraft used to train Second World War pilots, and vintage planes from the museum, such as the yellow de Havilland Chipmunk and the Harvard. Vintage cars, motorcycles and antique military equipment will also be on display.
The festival will include flybys, discount scenic and historical flights, face painting for the kids, music, and local food trucks with food and ice cream for sale.
The festival’s career day speakers include an aircraft maintenance technician, an air traffic controller, airline pilots and Royal Canadian Air Force pilots, including a female Hercules pilot. “It’s difficult to describe to non-pilots how exciting this is going to be, but it really is going to be something pretty interesting,” Dupuis said.
In addition to being able to tour the historical aircraft museum, the public will be able to tour the huge AAR aircraft maintenance hangar and the airport’s maintenance building. There will be recruiters on site for AAR, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Windsor Police Service.
The Fly-in Festival is July 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entry fee is $10 per person and children 12 and under free. The pilots who land at the airport that day don’t have to pay an entrance fee.
The entrance fee includes all the tours, shuttles to and from the hangars and the chance to hear the aviation speakers.