Thanks for your offer of support OldmanJoe it's much appreciated . Thanks too to N707ZS for pointing out that the Friends scheme is open to all , please see our website for further details ;
Membership .
As a Friends committee member I was disappointed to see that the proposed airshow was given more prominence than the Friends scheme itself but I suppose that's what the press picked up on more as it's a more newsworthy story than a group of friends getting together to try and raise the profile of the airport .
We have applied to the RAF Displays Committee for various aircraft for the proposed airshow , we did start out with the sole intention of hosting a fly-in but like Topsy it's grown and grown , and have requested the Red Arrows , BoBMF , Falcons and a Typhoon amongst others . If we are successful in our bids we are totally dependant upon then raising the funding , around £50,000 , to secure both the aircraft and the groundshows to make the day a success . We hope that resident Teesside based operators and users will support us and the GNAAS , the police ASU and Cobham have all indicated that they will plus we hope input from the local GA community in the area and from local airfields and strips . We also hope to secure an undertaking from the airport that landing fees for visiting GA will be waived in lieu of a donation to a nominated charity , one of which will be the GNAAS .
We need help both to organise the airshow and run the Friends scheme . If there is anyone out there who is willing to do so we would appreciated any help you can give us ? We hope to arrange another public Friends meeting before Christmas when we can update members on the progress to date and hopefully have some input from the airport management as well . Once confirmed the date will be publicised on our website and new members would be welcome .
We also appreciate helpful comments and suggestions rather than snide sarcastic ones because at the end of the day we are just doing what we can to support our local airport .
Thanks for your time .