The ask
Looking for sponsors to make this airshow dream a reality
Here is where I am at.
I have been flying aerobatics since 2012 and competing in borrowed airplanes that whole time. I do not own one. The airplane I need to build an act around is a GameBird GB1, and I am not going to get there by cutting grass.
Epsilon formation, from a Beech 18. His camera.
The airplane does not have a name yet
Every airplane I have competed in had somebody else’s name painted on the side. Not mine. Theirs, and rightly, because they owned it and they lent it to me.
There is no livery on the next one because there is no next one yet. Whoever comes in first does not get a decal on somebody else’s paint. They get to name what this thing is called for as long as I fly it.
That slot is open. There is one of them.
One goal: a first full airshow season
That is the thing I am building toward. Not one appearance somewhere. A season, front to back.
Here is the record behind it. 8 contests sanctioned by the IAC between 2012 and 2021, flown up to Intermediate. At least 420 hours logged as of March 2023. I started flying at 16 and had my licence at 17.
I will be straight with you.... I am not there yet. That is exactly why this matters.
Why a business would do this
This is a cheap thing to be part of. There is no stadium package, no hospitality box, no season ticket book to hand out. Your name goes on an airplane, and the airplane goes where people already are.
Sport flying pulls a wide age range, and the part of it with money to spend on a Saturday. If that is who you have been trying to reach and you cannot afford to buy that audience twice, this is a way in.
There is also one door nobody else in this sport can open. I play music as well as fly, and I spend a good part of my year standing in front of young people. Instrument brands, music schools and music education foundations get a pilot who is also a working musician. That combination is not on offer anywhere else in this, that I know of.
What your name gets
This is what is on the table. It is a short list on purpose. I would rather hand you something I can actually do than a brochure.
- Your name on the airplane. The first one in names it, and that name stays on it for as long as I fly it.
- Your name in the show program, and said out loud at the events I am at.
- A written piece about your business on this site. In my own words, about what you actually do. Not a logo in a grid.
- Honest use of your product, and honest words about it.
- Somewhere to bring your people. The airplane is the reason they turn up.
What you are putting your name on is a real thing happening to a real person. Not a logo on an airplane.
What your name goes on
Every talk I give costs something to get to. Fuel, hangar, travel, and the airplane. Right now that comes out of my pocket, which is a hard limit on how many I can do.
I started flight training at 16 because a program decided I was worth a seat. Everything I do now is trying to be that for somebody else.
Your name goes on that.
Let’s talk about it
Tell me about your business and what you would want out of this. I will tell you straight whether I can do it.