NEW AIRCRAFT AND NEW FACES AT LAA GRASS ROOTS FLY-IN THIS WEEKEND.

[Steve Slater]

New aircraft, including the exciting new Sling HW, flown in from South Africa via the USA will be on display at Popham this weekend, as well as new faces including the LAA’s newly appointed Chief Inspector Lucy Wootton and Mack Rutherford, the youngest-ever solo round-the-world pilot.
The Sling HW is one of a number of new types and new products expected to be showcased at the Grass Roots Fly In. In addition to trade displays including a fully sold out trade marquee supported Light Aero Spares, there will also be a presentation in Garmin Speakers Corner from 3 till 4 on Friday afternoon, highlight potential new LAA types including the Van’s RV-15, the Sling HW, Scalewings SW-51 and the revolutionary Skyfly e-VTOL project.

Lucy Wootton will be just a few days into her new role as LAA Chief Inspector. She’ll be joined on the LAA stand by more familiar faces from the Engineering team and our retiring Chief Inspector, Ken Craigie.

Sunday 4th September will see a planned appearance by 17 year-old Mack Rutherford, fresh from his circumnavigation of the globe. It is planned that Mack will fly in, in the Shark microlight in which he completed his 29,225nm (54,124km) flight, as a suitable finale to the three days of the LAA event.

Gates open at 09.30 each day and for those staying over the weekend, there will be post-event evening barbeques and food at Popham’s Spitfire Flying Club.

VISITOR INFO:
• FLYING IN. All pilots must book a slot to fly into the LAA's Grass Roots Fly-in. The slot system (run by Popham Airfield) is now live. You must read a copy of the Pilot Briefing Notes. Both documents can be found at https://bit.ly/3AFWWSj.

• COMING IN BY ROAD. Popham Airfield is adjacent to the A303, between Basingstoke and Andover. Car parking is free and will be signposted from the airfield entrance. Address for sat navs is Popham Airfield, Coxford Down, Winchester. Please avoid using the post code, it takes you the wrong way!

NOTE: TO ENABLE OUR STAFF TO ATTEND THE EVENT, LAA OFFICES WILL BE CLOSED FROM 5pm THURSDAY 1ST TO 9am MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER. WE’LL ANSWER ANY E-MAILS OR CALLS ON OUR RETURN.