75ème anniversaire

Fly-In du Royal Verviers Aviation

July 1st and 2nd 2006

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February 16th, 1931: saw the birth of Verviers Aviation

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2006: is the year that we celebrate its 75th anniversary. However, it is now called the Royal Verviers Aviation.

This birthday, we want to celebrate with fellows of the airmen community and therefore, we invite you to attend our Fly-in, on July 1st and 2d.

Our history, in a nutshell

We are the most ancient aero club in Belgium. It all started with an advertisement in the local press, asking anybody with an interest in flying and glider flying to meet in a café in Verviers. Five people answered positively on February 16th, 1931. The glider they used was rather a kind of a winged chair, fitted with one ski. When you look at logbooks of that time, you find flight durations of 30 seconds, 1 minute, in straight line with maybe one turn. The achievement of a 360° turn was the cause for much celebration! Fortunately enough, the material improved, new members joined and the group increased. In 1950, the club became established at its present location.

Where are we?

We are located in the east of Belgium 30km east of the city of Liège, close to the German border.

We have a 700 meter long grass runway, +/- 150 meter wide. Our ICAO code is EBTX and our info frequency is 120,325. We are the home for 10 aircraft (of which 6 are Piper Cubs), 8 ultra-lights and 35 gliders.

The Fly-in

The theme of the fly-in is "old-timers". But recent aircraft are equally welcome, especially if they come from afar. As it is a fly-in, there are no special aerial demonstrations foreseen for the public - just aircraft and gliders at take-off and landing. In particular, for insurance reasons, no aerobatics will be allowed.

The program of activities is still under consideration. However, we will be having in-flight and ground-based presentations of many aircraft and gliders, including old timers. There will also be Para dropping. For our fellow's visitors, we intend to organise a visit to an interesting site in the area and provided we can obtain an agreement with the city of Verviers authorities, it will be the Wool Museum. Until the year 1960, Verviers was an important centre for wool treatment. Needless to say, food and drink will be available at the airfield. Suffice to say that we are sponsored by the Champaign Laurent Périer...

We expect that there will be numerous aircraft and glider flights organised for the public. We will also have extensive local media coverage by the press, radio and television.

As we are sponsored by the Radisson Hotel of the nearby city of Spa, we will be able to arrange accommodation. The hotel is brand new and is located in the heart of a highly scenic little city. Camping on the airfield will be possible. Another sponsor, Hydromass, is planning to install a spa for campers!!! Other possibilities will be offered in the coming weeks.

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