“Sunshine!” Once again I am relieved when I open the curtains (much too) early on Saturday morning. Once again it is our open day at the flying club, once again many hours of preparation have been spent to present our club to the outside world and make potential new students enthusiastic about flying and our busy club life.
And once again the first exciting students turn up much earlier than the official starting time. Good to see that they are as excited as we are!
15 students, 5 planes, 5 instructors….the VCR is busy on the Open Day
After registration where everybody receives their day schedule, name of instructor and plane, our head of training is welcoming the participants in our theory class room. Coffee in hand 15 curious future pilots listen to his explanation why planes fly and do not fall out of the air. Handy to know before taking off themselves.
5 planes taking off 3 times each within just 2 hours needs some preparations
Always one instructor is responsible for a group of 3 students. This way, everybody will fly once on their own and sits in the back once as well to listen in or just enjoy the views. In advance, 3 different routes have been agreed with Rotterdam Airport and LVNL so that not all 5 planes head into the same direction at the same time but spread out on different routings during the day. Safety precautions appreciated by all involved.
And then it is time for the first group to take off! We just love to see their anxious but curious and motivated faces! “What can be expected? Am I really allowed to fly a plane myself?” Guys, you are! With the help of our instructors everybody will take off, land and fly around like a real pilot! Yes, it is a long way of training to perfection, but in general flying is easier than it looks like!
Pilots chats
For those on the ground a VCR cinema has been prepared again. Let’s share our passion for flying by showing some films of the VCR, our aerobatics, of club trips to Scotland and France as well as triggering the flying bug even more with the video of Matsieng Airshow in Botswana which we have attended just a couple of weeks ago.
All this excitement and learning makes hungry! So at lunch time a buffet is awaiting participants, instructors and voluntary helpers. Time to relax and chat pilot stuff as well as to look curious at the guys from the Victor Romeo Formation who have turned up and prepare for their show – a highlight on every years open day. Right on time at 14 hrs they take off and all watch their performance in awe. How much training would be necessary to fly like these guys?
A busy day comes to its end with coffee and cake on the terrace where the BBQ for this evening’s saté is already lit. We wonder how many of the faces we saw today we will see again in the future as fellow VCR members and pilots but already know for sure: their happy smiles at the end of the day was worth the work of today and the previous weeks.
Just roughly 360 more sleeps till we will say again: Welcome to the Open Day of the Vliegclub Rotterdam! We wish you all an exciting day and many happy landings!
Interested to fly yourself? Contact us or get in touch with the Vliegclub Rotterdam!
Victor Romeo Formation – always a highlight of the day