Fly-in at Offaly airfield attracts fantastic array of aircraft
“Cook a great breakfast, and they will come!” joked one of the organisers of a very successful fly-in at Birr Airfield which took place on Sunday September 5th.
Over 40 aircraft, including 2 helicopters and a gyroplane, arrived at the Airfield with hungry crews, who, when they disembarked, were eagerly looking for breakfast!
The organisers were well prepared with everything needed to serve a Full Irish!
The abundant food was thanks to the generous sponsorship of organisations like Musgrave, Java Republic, Limerick Frozen Foods, Dooley's Hotel Birr, Rudds, Aidan Larkin, Nigel Johnston, Brosna Press and others.
The organisers of the annual event, the Ormand Flying Club, were this year encouraged to take a different approach and they therefore decided to ask for donations towards Birr St. Vincent de Paul.
Marian Carter, a volunteer from Birr Vincent de Paul, was at the event and expressed her delight with the fundraising effort.
Marian also mentioned the sad fact that this year people who had previously donated to St Vincent de Paul were now often requiring its help.
Over €2,000 was raised from visitors on the ground and from the visiting aircraft who attended from all over Ireland, despite the challenging weather conditions.
This figure will be added to funds already raised at other events this year to a total of over €254,000.
Plans are now firmly in place that this will be an annual event at Birr Airfield.
Among the visitors were Jim Gavin, former Dublin Gaelic Football Manager and former player.
Jim, of course, was the senior Dublin county team manager from 2012 to 2019, becoming the county's most successful manager.
Jim said he loved the spectacle at the airfield and, like many of us, he loves aeroplanes, especially the older models. In fact, Jim is a professional airline pilot.
One of the organisers, Se Pardy, an Aer Lingus pilot who is originally from Birr, said he chatted with Jim for a while. “He said he is looking forward to the All-Ireland Football Final next Sunday, even if he was reluctant to call the winner!”