report from peninsula newspaper Re: AL KHOR FLY IN
On their wings...
Web posted at: 3/14/2010 6:21:47
Source ::: The PENINSULA
By Nasser Al Harthy
DOHA: The good lineup of light aircraft — all privately owned — on static display at Al Khor Airfield for the Open Fly-in Day yesterday created quite a unique visual spectacle.
The more than a dozen local and visiting aircraft — of all shapes, sizes and varieties not to mention para-gliders hovering in the sky — made Al Khor Airfield really busy and was a great event considering its small size.
Not surprisingly officials are seriously considering to make the one-day air show an annual event which is now in its third edition.
“This is the third Fly-in Day to be organised here,” Mohammed Ali Al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Open Fly-in Day Organising Committee and Director of Al Khor Airfield told The Peninsula.
“Our intention is to hold the event on an annual basis and hope to get further support from local firms. There are ideas to develop Al Khor Airfield to meet the aeronautical college requirements and future general public aviation,” said Al Mohannadi.
“When developed this airfield would help create a general public aviation sector and would assist private operators like Gulf Helicopters. We hope to develop it.”
He said the Open Fly-in Day is intended to motivate the youth and introduce them to the aviation industry world. “The purpose is to develop general aviation in Qatar and bring to the attention of the young generation on aviation and have an idea on the industry. This would enable them to better understand the field of aviation and related fields,” he said. The other purpose for the event is to build a base for future aviation exhibitions in Qatar like air shows, airport exhibitions and all that is related to aviation, said Al Mohannadi.
The event organising committee comprised light aircraft owners and was sponsored by Qatar Airways, Qatar Steel, Qatar Fertilisers Company (Qafco) and RasGas.
The one-day show started off as a relaxed affair with a fairly small line-up of aircraft just as the event opened. Gradually the crowd of visitors started to swell with early attendees thronging the booth to register for the thrill of getting up in the air in such tiny flying machines.
The flying excitement was not just in the air; there was so much to do on the ground too. Visitors would walk through the aircraft on display taking pictures and some other would go inside the planes, meet the pilots and explore aviation first hand. Participants in the show from Qatar included planes from the Qatar Aeronautical College, privately owned light planes in addition to micro light airplanes and para-gliders.
A total of seven privately owned planes from flying clubs in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also taking part in the event. Captain Jamal Al Sheikh from Dubai is one of the pilots who flew his own plane all the way from Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE to Doha, a trip that took him four and a half hour to make including stop-over along the way.
Sheikh, who is a commercial plane pilot used to fly an Airbus 320 said, “Every pilot has first to pass flying tests on this type of training planes. It is a training plane. This costs ¤55,000. It is a one year old airplane 1 2009 model.
“The plane has all the instruments required to fly anywhere I like. It is my hobby, fun-fly. In the bigger planes you never have fun. But with this kind of planes, you can have fun to fly as everything is manual,” he said of his 2009 model plane. He said that flying could be a very expensive hobby in terms of maintenance and gas. He added that his plane can fly from sea level at minimum 500 feet, but in congested areas pilots are required to fly at a minimum of 1,000 feet.
