Ever since Bright Events took over Wings over Illawarra, CEO Mark Bright and his wife, the late Kerry Bright, have always wanted the show to be something for the aviation community as well as the general public.
Their success in the past has been at best sketchy; GA attendance is always weather-dependent and WOI has had more than it's fair share of bad luck in that regard.
Despite the varied GA presence over the years, Bright believes strongly that WOI can be a showcase for both GA and recreational aviation. With only seven weeks to go until the gates open, things are looking very good.
"This year we’ve set aside a big area for GA exhibitors and at this stage we have 38 exhibitors onboard so far, which is good," Bright told Australian Flying.
"Things have really stepped up with the number of exhibitors so far and a couple still in discussions. So we’re heading in the right direction."
In the past, GA exhibitors have been either housed in one large marquee, or arranged in separate community-market style gazebos. The plan is to put the GA stall on the disused runway again similar to 2021, which brings the exhibition closer to the main crowd zones.
Last year, Bright Events was hampered by council construction work, which limited the space available for the GA zone, but this year it looks like a much larger area will be available.
But as has been seen recently with air shows, exhibitors need an audience to make their attendance worthwhile. Knowing that, Bright is determined to make WOI an attractive fly-in as well as an air show. The main bait is an under-wing camping area that stands to double as a social zone for GA pilots and passengers after hours.
They tried that in 2021 and collected a healthy weight of aircraft registrations, but in the end the weather dealt yet another cruel hand to WOI, making the camping area fit for only human feet. Aircraft were forced to remain on the hard-stand separate from their owners' tents.
However, Bright believes in the formula and is set to go with it again this year.
Under-wing camping will feature a shuttle bus to the show zone, after-hours catering and cash bar, toilets, showers and fresh water. Bright Events is also planning to provide 70 chairs and tables to go with them, to help create a social GA precinct for after-show socialising.
"We have about 500 metres of hard stand that we could utilise," Bright says, "but that’s Plan B. Plan A is beautiful weather and everyone can camp underwing and everything will be great!
"We’re hoping that this wet weather pattern they’re talking about doesn’t come, or if it does, holds off until a bit later. Fingers crossed, but we’ll have to wait and see."
Like all air show organisers, there's not a lot that Bright can do about the weather; if he could have, he would have. He can, however, tick a lot of boxes when it comes to an organised fly-in.
"We get it from a lot of people that it’s an air show, but we want to get the industry involved and be a showcase for GA and RAAus as well.
"We’ve always said we want to get the industry involved, and we know that from a fly-in point of view it’s been limited.
"We don’t charge the GA exhibitors in the hope that they will come on board.
"What we want is for people to see all sides of aviation. The general public come down and they’re looking at warbirds and military jets and that sort of stuff, but there’s a whole other side of it, a more affordable side of aviation … we’re keen to showcase that as well.
"We’ve struggled in the past, but this year we’ve got the largest turn-out of exhibitors than we’ve ever had, which is great. We hope that GA and RAAus will come down and get involved.
"And they can see a great air show!"
Wings over Illawarra is on at Shellharbour Airport 12-13 November 2022. More information is on the WOI website.