By MARTIN STEINER
Hurricane Milton was churning toward Florida. If it made landfall in the panhandle, it could have put it right over Thomasville, Georgia, where the 57th annual fly-in was slated for Oct. 11-13, 2024.
But as fate would have it, the hurricane veered away from Thomasville, and the days of the fly-in saw crystal clear blue skies and not a drop of rain.
Milton’s path across Florida did keep a few usual attendees away from the fly-in, but “we also had a lot of first-time attendees who were flying out of Florida just to get out and found us by happy mistake,” said Jaclyn Donovan, board member and public relations director for the Thomasville Aviation Club, which organizes the fly-in.
Friday arrivals at Thomasville Regional Airport (KTVI) were steady, keeping volunteers busy. By Saturday, the usual peak day of the fly-in, approximately 150 aircraft were parked on the grass between the taxiway and runway.
There was no order to the parking except the arrival sequence. One exception was a planned Ercoupe group to the side that didn’t materialize. Three quite different Ercoupes were parked away from the main gathering. The other expected Ercoupes were from Florida airfields that were either flooded or had no power to pump fuel.
Classics were scattered about, including various Aeronca, Beechcraft, Luscombe, and Piper models. Homebuilts were everywhere, with some seldom encountered examples.
While most visiting aircraft came from Georgia and adjacent states, one regular attendee, Paul Neely, flew his Glasair from New Hampshire to visit with friends in the Thomasville Aviation Club. Another long distance participant brought a Cirrus from Maryland, returning a second time after enjoying last year’s visit.
This was a good old-fashioned fly-in: There were no flight demonstrations planned or executed. Pilots and their passengers could simply take a flight around the area if so moved.
Planning has already begun for the 2025 fly-in, which is slated for Oct. 10-12.
For more information: ThomasvilleAviationClub.com
