Media
The GEAAR will attempt to bring a sense of adventure, romance, and excitement back to aviation, reminiscent of the early days of barnstorming and daring-do by flying aces.
The overall format should be thought of as a cross between Big Brother, Survivor and a Charity Bash. Teams will be obliged to provide significant amounts of time to social and regular media, with live crosses, in-aircraft footage, commentary, social media posts and the like.
- The race will be heavily promoted, daily through social and conventional media, with on-board camera footage/audio, in flight footage and audio from support aircraft and ground-based camera crews streamed and then edited for broadcast every evening as a race update. A dedicated media team will be required to manage this.
- Live crosses will be done, where pilots and crew are interviewed by the central race commentary team.
- Non-flying events may be planned and filmed at the end of each day, challenges, performances etc for the air crew and support crews, which may count towards the overall score.
- The option to include celebrities on the aircraft for certain legs may also be considered to maximise publicity and leverage awareness.
- Waypoint ALA’s may be selected and timed to coincide with other events, to maximise exposure e.g. festivals, fairs, other sporting events.
The success of the event will be heavily dependant on securing significant corporate sponsorship and support from the various regulatory authorities, local shires, councils, and state governments. It will also depend on a prize purse that is attractive enough for teams to devote development time and to dedicate themselves to winning.
However, if the right combination of sponsorship appeal and community/industry engagement can be found, there is every chance of success. The event could a global showcase for electric vehicle technology and the aviation sector.
If successful, it could be imagined the event could become annual or bi-annual, like the World Solar Car Challenge, held every two years. This has now attracted corporate sponsorship from a large automotive tyre manufacturer.
There are some drivers for government support for the event, from publicity, to spruiking their environmental credentials. We must bring the romance and adventure back into flying, the GEAAR could be the just the ticket.