AL KHOR: The 4th annual Al Khor light aircraft show "Open Fly-In Day to Al Khor Airfield" got underway here yesterday and the event's officials are upbeat that this year's event will top last year's show which has become a signature early year event for Al Khor.
"The show is becoming bigger and bigger every year," said Mohammed Al Mohannadi, the event's Organising Committee's Manager. "Last year's show attracted over 1,000 people and we expect more this year."
Al Mohannadi said he is confident the show will be as successful as last year's, particularly because there are more participants and more visitors are expected since the event is taking place for two days unlike last year.
"This year we plan to make it two days until tomorrow (Saturday) in order to give more chance to the public to come and visit us here and we hope to see more people in this edition," he said.
The Open Fly-In to Al Khor Airfield is an event organised by owners of light aircraft with the intention to introduce general aviation to the public.
Every year since 2008 this event has been taking place in Al Khor airfield and is intended to motivate and promote aviation as a sport and hobby to the youth and general aviation buffs. "The event provides the opportunity to pilots from GCC countries to get together to exchange views and enjoy their hobby of flying their planes," said Al Mohannadi.
"The main objective is to educate the youth about the aviation industry in general and also give them the chance to have a close-up look at the aircraft and assist them to plan their future, especially those who are willing to join the air transport and aviation industry, whether in engineering, technical or operations fields," he said.
The organisers have managed to attract an impressive line up of participants, including local with some 20 aircrafts, from the UAE with 10 aircraft and two from Saudi Arabia.
Al Mohannadi said that he expected 30 planes to join the current edition of the show, more than the 20 participating aircraft last year. This is because some of the aircraft have not yet reached Al Khor. "Unfortunately the weather was very bad and UAE pilots could not get here on time. Only four planes managed to make it to Al Khor airfield and the rest are expected in mid-day," he said.
Among the participants, the Qatar Aeronautical College which uses the Al Khor airfield as its training ground is showcasing its newest aircraft, a US-made Piper Seneca 5. "We will get four of the twin engines and 10 single engine aircraft for the College this year," said Dr Saeed Al Sulaiman, Director of Academics at Qatar Aeronautical College. "To date we have received four multi engine planes and single engine ones are coming as we are renewing our fleet."
Al Sulaiman also hopes to organise a much wider and bigger event of international standing with the opening of the New Doha International Airport (NDIA), which would attract major manufacturers in the aviation industry, like the ones in Paris, London or Dubai.
Among the planes that attracted visitors' attention was the US-made Cessna Citation CJ3 executive jet which can get 1,875 nautical miles without refuelling.
It was a real crowd puller with every visitor wanting to hop inside and see what it looked like.
Captain Phil Lyons, the pilot of the plane says, "This kind of show helps raise the awareness of private aviation and aviation in general in the country. The event is still small, but it is attracting growing interest."
The other newcomers that attracted especially young visitors were the privately-owned two-seat Icaro light copters which looked more like sport bikes than a flying machine.
© The Peninsula 2011
