3/8/2006
Take a virtual Aero Safari at Aviation Festival at Idaho Aviation Festival this weekend
BOISE - An African Aero Safari will kick off the 14th Annual Idaho Aviation Festival, this Friday and Saturday (March 10 and 11). The festival will be at the Boise Centre on the Grove in downtown Boise and is presented by the Idaho Transportation Department's Division of Aeronautics.
John Kounis, who has spent more than 100 hours criss-crossing Africa in a Cessna 172RG and Cessna 185, will lead a virtual expedition at a Friday luncheon. The tour begins at the Pyramids in Egypt and continues up the Nile River and through the Sahara Desert. In Kenya and Tanzania, sights include Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti Plain, where herds of migrating wildebeest blanket the landscape. The journey ends in the Okavango River Delta in Botswana through lush estuaries in the largest inland river delta in the world. His speech will also cover procedures necessary to fly in these countries, tropical weather conditions and aircraft rental locations. Kounis is editor of "Pilot Getaways" magazine. The luncheon is 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Tickets are $18.
On Saturday, Kounis will make similar presentations about touring Europe (10-11 a.m.) and the American Northwest (3-4 p.m.). Attendees can see what it is like to fly over chateaus in France's Loire Valley, island-hop Greek and Italian locations in the Mediterranean Sea, or pass over awe-inspiring national parks closer to home. Both presentations are free and open to the public.
A Saturday evening banquet will feature Bill Lishman, best known for his work that inspired the feature film "Fly Away Home." Lishman raised a flock of Canada geese, imprinted them to an ultralight aircraft he designed and built, and flew with the birds around Ontario, Canada. The success of this work resulted in a migration experiment that led flocks on their journey south by acting as surrogate parents. The experiment was documented by ABC's "20/20" and captured the attention of biologists around the world. The banquet is 6-9 p.m. and tickets are $35.
More than 800 aviation enthusiasts are expected to gather for the two-day festival, sponsored by R&M Steel Company and "Pilot Getaways" magazine. Event activities, most of which are free and open to the public, include:
- Flying Flicks (Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.): Inspiring aviation-theme movies will include "Fly Away Home" and "Fei Hu - The Flying Tigers," a PBS documentary about a group of volunteer American pilots who secretly battled the Japanese on behalf of the Chinese before the United States' entry into World War II. Free.
- Children's Workshop (Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.): Held in partnership with the Discovery Center of Idaho, the workshop offers aspiring astronauts hands-on activities such as stomp rockets and making paper airplanes. The Rocket Man (Kevin Young) will demonstrate rocket launches at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Free.
- Career Forum (Saturday, noon - 2 p.m.): A panel of presenters will share information about a wide range of career opportunities within the aviation industry. Participating on the panel will be a corporate pilot, an A-10 military pilot, an air traffic controller, a flight attendant, and flight school and military representatives. All panel members will be available for a question-and-answer session. The session, designed for teens and their parents, is free.
- AvSwap and Trade Show (Friday and Saturday): Items can be sold in the AvSwap for a $1 fee plus a 10 percent commission of the selling price. Sellers can drop off items at the festival on Friday, noon - 5 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. - noon. The trade show includes aircraft displays and aviation businesses. Free.
- Aviation Safety Seminars (Friday and Saturday): Topics range from backcountry flying to winter survival, touring Europe by private aircraft, and fun fly-in destinations in the Northwest. Free.
- Inspector Authorization (IA) Renewal (Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.): Classes are offered for aviation mechanics. Class fee is $45.
- Part 135 Training (Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.):
Classes are offered for Part 135 operators. Class fee is $45.
For a complete schedule of activities, visit itd.idaho.gov/aero/aviationfestival/2006, or call Kim Cobb at (208) 288-0290 or (800) 345-8793.