Despite the clouds and moisture in southern California last week, AOPA had a good turn out for its first 2015 fly-in in Salinas, California. Nearly 300 airplanes flew in and about 2,600 people attended the event, which featured educational seminars, a pancake breakfast and more than 100 exhibits and aircraft displays. This year’s inaugural fly-in also included a few new additions to the schedule, such as a sold-out Barnstormers party and an airshow performance.
The Friday night Barnstormers party offered up a barbeque and a movie named Living in the Age of Airplanes, created by Brian J. Terwilliger, also the creator of the documentary One Six Right.
The main event kicked off bright and early on Saturday with a Rusty Pilots Seminar to help pilots who have been out of the game get back in the cockpit. Despite the 7:30 a.m. start time, nearly 100 people attended the seminar and got their certificates for the ground portion of the biennial flight review. The cloud layer had just about broken up for the mid-day airshow, in which Yuichi Takagi wowed the crowd in his bright-red Pitts.
The afternoon offered Rod Machado’s educational and humorous seminar along with a townhall meeting led by AOPA’s president Mark Baker. Sporty’s Pilot Shop offered up an ice-cream social to conclude the event.
The next fly-in will take place in Frederick, Maryland on June 6. Events are scheduled later in the year in Minneapolis; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Check out our photo gallery here for a closer look at the Salinas event.
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