Copper State Fly is postponed

[maxmirot]

I got email stating the Copper State Fly In postponed until this Oct.

What's up with this fly in?

I am new to flying in AZ. I heard this used be a good event.
Now it bounces between air fields like pin pong ball.
Before this the web site did not have much info.
I have seen good events die this way.

Max

 

[Plummit]

There's nothing about cancellation on the AOPA website.

-Marc

 

[Roadjunkie1]

Copper State Fly-in........

I got email stating the Copper State Fly In postponed until this Oct. What's up with this fly in?
I am new to flying in AZ. I heard this used be a good event.
Now it bounces between air fields like pin pong ball.
Before this the web site did not have much info.
I have seen good events die this way. Max

Interestingly enough we were just talking about this Sunday. The consensus among the pilots I was talking with was that the event has been "taken over" by what could be called "special interest": ?the Warbird group?. Granted this is just us talking but seems like it has taken a turn for the worse. You are right: this is how events like this die. Sad to see. It was a good place to go when weather everywhere else was not as good. Others might know details.....

 

[iwannarv]

The Copperstate Fly-In joined forces with the Buckeye Air Fair some years back..... Buckeye Air Fair was the community/airshow part put on by the City of Buckeye, and Copperstate organization was the fly-in/vendor portion of the show. This year AOPA took over organizing with the Buckeye Air Fair and turned it into one of their regional fly-ins. Thus the Copperstate Fly-In organization was planning to move over to Falcon Field in late March, I believe.... So they disaffiliated with Buckeye/AOPA group.

Copperstate was planned to be the weekend right before Sun N Fun, so possibly they decided with the move and timing it was better to delay if they still plan on keeping it alive. As a participating vendor at this show, its been frustrating to keep up. The Copperstate vendor/fly-in portion of the Buckeye show was really going downhill. Facilities weren't great, qualified attendance was dwindling, and it was generally a dust bowl.

Reading the information on this page, it looks like a lot of disagreement/politicking stuff is going on too.

 

[jrs14855]

Buckeye

The Buckeye event is still on for next weekend. The Vanguard RV Team will be performing.
Also a one day airshow at Bullhead on April 1.

 

[Steve]

The email I received from the Copperstate organizers cited staff shortages among tower and ground personnel and consequently were unable to handle a large influx of airplanes and attendees.
Note, no firm October date has been determined, just sometime in October.

 

[Scrabo]

Came out a few weeks ago

Falcon Field Airport would like to provide an update on the status of the Falcon Field Open House and Copperstate Fly-In events since we are receiving questions from airport tenants.
The Open House had been scheduled for March 25, 2023, but the City made the difficult decision to cancel it due to limited staffing resources in both the airport staff and air traffic control tower. Our plan is to hold the Open House again in spring 2024.
Organizers of the Copperstate Fly-In had hoped to hold their event in conjunction with the Open House but have decided to postpone it until this fall.
Additional information will be shared about these events as available.

 

[Scotty G]

Interestingly enough we were just talking about this Sunday. The consensus among the pilots I was talking with was that the event has been "taken over" by what could be called "special interest": ?the Warbird group?. Granted this is just us talking but seems like it has taken a turn for the worse. You are right: this is how events like this die. Sad to see. It was a good place to go when weather everywhere else was not as good. Others might know details.....

I’ve been asked to provide some clarification regarding the “warbird group” mentioned in the quoted post.

There are two entities at “the warbird hangar” at Falcon Field. One is Falcon Warbirds, and the other is Wings of Flight Foundation. Wings of Flight Foundation, while sharing space in the same hangar, is in no way affiliated with Falcon Warbirds and has no involvement with planning, running, or organizing the Copperstate Fly in.

Thanks.