… Bringing Planes to the People …

“We want to bring the airplanes right to the people, so they can look and see and touch and feel,” Johnson said. “We’re missing a lot of the pilot community, not to mention the general public, when we ask the people to come to us.” The schedule and locations for the events are in the works now, and should be available soon. Vendors will have displays and kiosks on site, and vendor fees will help pay for the tour. Johnson also is working to involve the National Association of Flight Instructors in the project, so they could offer symposia to help familiarize flight instructors with the new aircraft and flight rules. Plans are for the tour to expand to 15 to 25 sites in 2006, Johnson said. He has about 150 people in the industry involved in his loose marketing coalition. After a year or two, Johnson said, he’d like to expand the tour to participate in new venues such as boat shows and RV shows, where the non-flying public could be introduced to sport flying.