The “Great American Fly In” or “Go Fly America Challenge” has returned. The concept is simple: Fly to airports that others have not yet been to, take a picture of a recognizable landmark with a piece of paper showing the “password” and submit it to the Operation Fly website, permanently planting your flag as the official claim holder of that airport.
In the two years that the challenge ran before, we received 2,295 claims, consisting of approximately 50% of the airports we had registered. This time, however, there are a few changes:
1. All public use airports in the United States are open to claim, not just those in the 48 Continental United States
2. There is no time frame or limit on our ultimate goal of claiming every airport
3. The challenge is run by a new organization, Operation: Fly
Operation: Fly is a non-profit organization dedicated to the continued life of General Aviation in the United States, according to officials. “Our mission is to keep the costs of operating a general aviation aircraft low, while providing a fun, easy, and free way to get out and meet other pilots,” officials said. “It’s been a long two-and-a-half years since we received our last claim on Dec. 24, 2008. After all this time, we are ready to resume one of the most fun ways to burn avgas.”
The official password will be released on July 11, when the challenge officially resumes. For more information: OperationFly.com
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We have a group of female pilots that fly somewhere to lunch once a month so I thought we could help out.