AOPA Fly-Ins top 90K attendees

Our 2018 fly-ins spanned the country from the Northwest Mountain region to the Desert Southwest, Midwest, and Gulf Coast

We kicked off the fly-in season in June in Missoula, Montana, with more than 6,500 attendees, many of whom came early or stayed longer to take in fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities in the beautiful western part of the state. During the fly-in, attendees watched a Texas STOL Demo and fire bomber demonstration drop. The desert mountains and laid-back vibe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, delighted attendees in September, while a Special Olympics Plane Pull at the Carbondale, Illinois, event in early October brought droves of community members to the airport for a taste of aviation. In Gulf shores, Alabama, pilots flew in for one more beach weekend as the end of October neared—many stayed longer to take in the warm, calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"At our Missoula and Santa Fe Fly-Ins, an extremely high number of pilots traveled great distances across the United States to attend," said AOPA Senior Director of Outreach and Events Chris Eads. "Attendees flew general aviation aircraft from as far away as Florida and New York, citing the bucket-list opportunity to visit these popular western locations."

In addition to taking in the local scene at these events, pilots participated in in-depth half-day seminars covering topics such as aircraft maintenance, IFR refresher training, mountain flying, and more.

"We have really enjoyed our first five years of bringing AOPA Fly-Ins to regions all across the country," Eads said. "It has been so rewarding to see the passion of our members, pilots, and aviation enthusiasts gather and celebrate their shared love of flying. We’re looking forward to telling everyone about our exciting fly-in locations for 2019 and some of the new dynamics we are planning to add."

We’ve hosted 24 fly-ins in 20 states since 2014, and we’ll announce our locations and dates for our 2019 events in January. You won’t want to miss these Fly-Ins as we celebrate AOPA’s eightieth anniversary throughout the year!