Fly n' Buy a success
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Close to 150 people came out for the first Fly n’ Buy event at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport on Saturday.
Owners were invited to detail and showcase aircraft they had for sale, while members of the public interested in purchasing a plane came out and took in the wide selection of aircraft available.
“This is the first time we’ve done this, currently we have 20 aircraft that are for sale,” said Jeremy Stockmans, chief pilot for Tillsonburg COPA Flight 181. “Today gives people an opportunity to look at the planes, see what shape they’re in, what planes they’re interested in, and what features they like about different aircraft. They can get in contact with the owner to arrange for flights,” he added noting that no test flights were done Saturday.
The event, organized by the Tillsonburg COPA Flight 181, had several different types of private aircraft available for sale on Saturday, including Cessna’s, Moonies and Pipers noted Stockmans. “There’s a bunch of different planes,” he said.
The event began about 9 a.m. on Saturday and continued until approximately 3 p.m. and despite the cool and overcast weather as well as the cancellation of the outdoor barbecue, Stockmans said he was pleased with the turnout and overall success of the event.
“You always want more buyers, but we have enough sellers that word will be out so that next year this might be even bigger,” he added. “It’s not about the actual person who buys here today - there’s people here that are going to see a plane and say I know my friend needs one of those. It’s networking.”
Similar to cars and trucks, small private airplanes can vary in price from as low as $15,000 dollars all the way up to $45,000 - $80,000 and some of the more expensive ones even sell for over the $100,000 dollar mark.
In addition to the Fly ‘n Buy, Transport Canada was also on hand at Tillsonburg Regional Airport Saturday, and held a seminar in the morning from 10 a.m. – 12 noon, providing pilots with important information such as runway incursion prevention and a focused safety presentation on landings and reflections.
The Tillsonburg Fly n’ Buy event also helped raised money for a good cause, as all of the proceeds Saturday went to support a local COPA program.
“We’re trying to raise some money for our COPA Kids Flight,” said Stockmans. “We take children flying in June and we have a donation jar inside where people can donate to help pay for us to take kids flying this summer. We took 78 kids last year and we’re hoping to break 100 this year,” he said.
With the first Fly n’ Buy now complete, Stockmans said he is looking forward to building on this year’s event.
“It’s been very successful. We’re hoping to put something together better for next year, with more people and more buyers and some activities for the kids.”