ICAS Fast Facts -- April 21, 2010

EARLY INDICATIONS: ATTENDANCE STRONG AGAIN IN 2010


Although the early reports this year are not quite as dramatic as they were at the beginning of the 2009 season, it does appear that last year’s trend toward higher attendance is continuing into the early part of the 2010 North American air show season.

For example, representatives from the NAF El Centro Air Show held March 13 and 14 reported a 14 percent increase vs. 2009. Air Fiesta 2010 in Brownsville, Texas (March 13 and 14) estimated that attendance was twice as large as their last show. The last open house at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson was held in 2007. Organizers estimated that their crowd this year (March 19-21) was more than 50 percent larger than the last show held there. MacDill AFB (March 20 and 21) reported that they were well on their way to breaking previous attendance records before bad weather kept people away on a gloomy Sunday in Tampa. And ICAS has heard similar reports from shows in Georgia, California, Texas, and Alabama.

These reports of increased crowd size are not universal. And, just like last year, these reports of large crowds are offset in many cases by decreased sponsor revenue. But it is encouraging that, in many markets, air shows continue to be seen as a source of cost-effective, world-class, family entertainment.


ROOKIE RED BULL RACE PILOT SURVIVES CRASH IN AUSTRALIA

Red Bull Air Race pilot Adilson Kindlemann survived an accident during a Thursday practice session on April 15 in Perth, Australia. (Click here to see video of the accident.) Although Kindlemann’s MXS aircraft impacted the water in an upright, nearly wings level orientation, the plane immediately flipped on its back with the pilot upside down strapped in his seat underwater. Members of the Red Bull Air Race water rescue team reached the aircraft and Kindlemann in less than a minute and were there to help pull him free.


Coincidentally, Red Bull Air Race officials had held a training session on emergency underwater extraction procedures in the morning on the day of Kindlemann’s accident.


CALENDAR REMINDER


A quick reminder for all ICAS event organizer members: You recently received an e-mail from ICAS headquarters asking that you update your air show information.

In addition to being the single most visited spot on the ICAS website, the ICAS Air Show Calendar also is widely recognized as the source document for dozens of other air show schedules that are published or posted on line. So, it is vitally important that you use our website to ensure that your schedule has the very most up to date information available about your 2010 air show. Please take a few minutes to confirm that your information is complete and accurate.


ICAS SCHEDULES ACADEMY PROGAMS FOR PORTLAND, FORT WORTH

Once again this year, ICAS will offer two different hands-on learning programs held in conjunction with annual air shows. The traditional ICAS Air Show Academy program will be held on August 19, 20 and 21 in conjunction with the Oregon International Air Show in Hillsboro, Oregon. The ICAS Air Boss Academy will be held on October 28, 29 and 30 in conjunction with the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show. Widely recognized to be among the most effective, efficient and enjoyable continuing education programs that ICAS offers, both Academy programs focus on providing air show professionals with practical, hands-on information in a format and environment that is extremely conducive to learning and retention.


Since 1999, ICAS has been offering the Air Show Academy program to a small (not more than 25) group of ICAS members interested in getting a look at how one particular show organizes and manages its event. After an orientation meeting on Thursday evening, participants will spend Friday and Saturday talking with organizers and getting an up-close look at how the Oregon International Air Show runs their event. During the lecture portion of the program, directors with specific expertise about different aspects of the show will provide briefings, followed by the opportunity for questions and discussion.


The ICAS Air Boss Academy is a shameless knock-off of the successful and popular ICAS Air Show Academy program. Developed using the same basic formula and offered for the first time in 2009, the 2010 ICAS Air Boss Academy will use the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show as an opportunity to pass along important air boss-related information to current and prospective air bosses. Response to last year’s inaugural ICAS Air Boss Academy held at MCAS Miramar in San Diego was overwhelmingly positive. We have made a few minor adjustments to last year’s program based on feedback and experience, and the 2010 session promises to be even better than last year’s.


The fee to participate in either one of these unique educational programs is $300 per individual. Because there is limited space available and the programs are very popular, they are both expected to sell out this year. To learn more about or register for the 2010 ICAS Air Show Academy at the Oregon International Air Show in August, click here. To learn more about or register for the 2010 ICAS Air Boss Academy in Fort Worth, Texas click here.

NOT TOO EARLY TO MAKE 2010 CONVENTION PLANS


ICAS members can now register for the 2010 ICAS Convention. For preliminary information on the convention and the registration process, click here. To actually register for the convention, click here.


We’ve made some small changes to the ICAS Marketing Competition this year. The dividing line between small shows and large shows has been moved to 50,000 spectators to better balance out the categories. We added a new category: Best Overall Air Show Marketing Plan. And we eliminated several others: event brochure, performer press kit, souvenir programs, and sponsor solicitation package. To get additional details about the 2010 ICAS Marketing Competition, click here.

The 2010 ICAS Convention will once again be held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. As it did last year, the hotel is once again offering an early bird discount rate. To learn more about the host hotel for the 2010 ICAS Convention, click here. To make your hotel room reservation at this discounted rate, click here.

In addition, for ICAS Convention delegates who show their badge at the hotel during the convention, ICAS has negotiated a ten percent discount at all Paris restaurants and a rate of $15 per day for access to the hotel’s fitness center (standard rate: $25).


SPRING BRINGS FLURRY OF MILITARY TEAM ACCIDENTS AROUND THE WORLD


In just the last seven weeks, four military aerial demonstration teams from outside of North America have suffered accidents, two of them involving fatalities.

On March 3 (as previously reported in Fast Facts), a two-seat, single-engine jet trainer flying with India’s Safar Pawan navy flight demonstration team crashed into a small apartment building, killing the two naval aviators on board and injuring several people in the building.

Three weeks later, on March 23, during a training flight in Crete, two aircraft from the British Royal Air Force Red Arrows aerobatic team were involved in a mid-air collision. One of the two Hawk jet trainers was able to land after the incident. The pilot of the second aircraft ejected, receiving minor injuries.


Less than two weeks after that, on April 2, a pilot with the Brazilian Smoke Squadron military demonstration team was killed when his T-27 Tucano aircraft crashed for unknown reasons during a Friday afternoon performance commemorating the anniversary of a local flying club in the Brazilian city of Lages in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Most recently, on April 13, an Alpha jet performing with the French Air Force’s Patrouille de France crashed during a practice session at a civilian airport in the town of Plan-de-Dieu in the Vaucluse region of southeast France. The pilot ejected, suffering only minor injuries.


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