EAA Ford Tri-Motor

2012Chapter Handbook

Aircraft Information

Wing Span: 74’ 8”Fuel: 100LL Avgas

Length: 49’ 10”Cruise Speed: 80-100 MPH

Height: 13’Turning Radius: 60’ wide runway

EAA Tour Contact Information

Sean Elliott, Dir. Aircraft Operations 920-426-4886

Sue Strehlow – 920-426-6840 office, 920-426-4881 fax

Cody Welch – 586-946-5381 cell

Jackie Welch – 586-946-5382 cell

Table of Contents

Chairman Handbook ------Pg 3
Marketing Co-chair Handbook ------Pg 7
Volunteer & Equipment Info------Pg 10

Volunteer Job Descriptions ------Pg 12

Passenger Briefing Card ------Pg 19

Emergency Operations ------Pg 22Chairman’s Handbook

Overview

The “Ford Tri-Motor” event chairman has overall responsibility for the Ford visit. This includes selecting the site to host the visit, recruiting the other co-chairs, and acting as liaison to the Ford crew.

Good planning, along with recruiting of volunteers with the requisite skills, will lead to a very successful event. Study this handbook. It will help you with planning and identify for you the key volunteer positions and their responsibilities.

Planning Timeline

A successful tour stop requires good planning. Start early and plan on having regular meetings with your volunteers to ensure all the details are worked out and you have a smooth visit. The timeline shown below is provided as a guideline to help you prepare.

4 months before visit

  • Make the Ford Tri-Motor the main focus of a Chapter meeting
  • Obtain early commitments for rides and volunteers
  • Recruit Co-Chairs
  • Select Site

1

3 months before visit

  • Complete volunteer recruitment

1 month before visit

  • Post Flyers (EAA headquarters will send these to you)
  • Create volunteer work schedules

3-4 days before visit

  • Review tour stop needs and reconnect with volunteers working.
  • Post signs/banners (if your airport allows you to post the banners sooner do so, the more advance advertising you do the better.

Day of arrival (unless prearranged)

  • Ford Arrives – (if there is going to be a delay due to weather or mechanical you will be contacted.)
  • Press Flights (usually at 1:30 PM on day of arrival)
  • V.I.P. Flight(s) – arrange to have your VIPs at the airport ready to go.

1

Co-Chairs

To help with planning and running the visit, it is recommended that you have twoco-chairs responsible for specific areas. These co-chairs will each have to recruit volunteers for a variety of areas, these two positions are key to your success.

Marketing Chairman

This person is responsible for Promoting and Advertising the event. You will be working with the EAA Communications department for media contacts, etc. They will be making contact with you before the event.

Nadia Farr, Media/Public Relations Specialist,

or 920-426-6573

Kevin Hazaert, Communications Specialist,

or 920-426-6521

Volunteers and Equipment Chairman

Responsible for recruiting, scheduling and briefing volunteers and arranging for the various equipment needed to ensure a successful visit. This person is also responsible for providing one volunteer to assist the EAA Merchandise Sales personnel with set up upon arrival and loading the trailer before departure.

These individuals will handle many of the operational responsibilities during the visit, freeing you to deal with issues that may arise and coordinating with the EAA staff and Ford crew. Please provide copies of this manual to each Co-Chair.

Site selection:

One of the first things you will need to do is select the airport and FBO for the visit. The following items need to be considered:

  • Would the Tri-Motor ride program be welcome?
  • Are there adequate parking facilities for visitors?
  • Is there easy access on the airport property?
  • If anyone is requesting additional insured status please have them contact Liesl Wrolstad in EAA’s Risk Management department – 920-426-6106.
  • Do they have restroom facilities that may be used by visitors? Otherwise an adequate number of port-o-lets needs to be assured.
  • Is there a good place to set up a table for signing in passengers that is inside the FBO or a hangar?
  • Is there an adequate hangar for the Ford Tri-Motor on-site? (80’ door) (This is a must)
  • Is there adequate ramp area for dedicated Ford operations?
  • Any special security concerns?

Chapter Activities

The Ford visit will provide great publicity for your Chapter. The exposure and crowds make this an ideal time for additional Chapter activities such as Young Eagle flights, cook-outs, Airport Days, etc., or to sign up ‘new’ chapter members.

Visit Schedule

The schedule below will help with planning the visit.

Arrival

The Ford will typically be flying into your site from a previous tour stop, or Oshkosh. Subject to the distances involved, the main office will notify you of the time of arrival when discussing the tour stop. Please remember this is weather permitting. This is a great time to schedule a press flight and/or VIP flights. It is also a good time to give Chapter members a chance to see the plane and meet the pilots. We ask that you have a volunteer on hand to assist with the merchandise trailer set up as well.

Full Tour Days

The crew will typically arrive around at the airport around 8:00AM to ready the plane for the day’s flights. The first flights are scheduled to start at 9:00AM and the last flight is at 5:00 PM. (Special flights can be added if necessary. This will need to be discussed with the pilot beforehand.) We appreciate having Volunteers to help the pilot with pre-flight and end-of-day airplane cleanup duties. We value this rare artifact and keeping it clean while promoting your chapter is paramount to us.

Departure

Again, subject to the distances involved, the Ford will typically depart the morning following your last tour day, unless forecast bad weather necessitates an earlier (or later) departure. Any variance of this will be communicated to the chapter by the pilot.

Financial

Your financial arrangements will be specifically agreed to in advance with EAA. A well planned and executed event, given favorable weather, can produce a nice revenue making opportunity for the host. Remember, the more rides sold, the more profitable the event. Net income is not the only benefit. If your event is properly marketed, you will have a chance to gain new members for your chapter, and you can use this opportunity to become a goodwill ambassador for your local airport and FBO.

Sponsorship

Since this is so important, the Event Chair should lead the initiative with assistance from the Marketing Chair.

EAA’s positioning and per-diem (motel rooms, meals, car rental) costs associated with a weekday tour stop is $2500 and a weekend tour stop is $3,500. We encourage local sponsorship to help offset this cost. This has to be a major local push. Following are some ideas:

  1. Local Ford dealers are always a good starting point. Note, we will
    provide one free flight (10 passengers) for a $1,500 sponsor. (Please arrange for all their passengers to be on one flight during our time there.)
  2. Some chapters have landed several small commitments while others have been successful with a single large donor. At any rate, if thechapter can raise the minimum sponsorship feedetermined for your tour stop up front it will participate in revenue sharing from the onset on a per passenger basis. This is $5 per seat sold. If your sponsorship goal is not met revenue sharing will not commence until the sponsorship fee for that tour stop (per-diem and positioning costs) are met through flight revenue (approximately 15-20 flights).
  3. Get the fuel supplier (who the FBO gets their product from) to donate 500 gallons to EAA. This is huge. If they can’t donate 500, make it 300! With fuel averaging over$4/gal, this can be substantial amount.
  4. Knock on doors. (One of our chapters rallied the troops and got 12 sponsors for every 35 cold calls). Not bad…

Visit Requirements

There are a few conditions that are required for your Ford visit. Your Chapter will be required to:

  • Provide ground transportation for our crew while on your site. (1 - 6 passenger vehicle) Note, chapters usually are able to get a donated auto from a local new car dealer.
  • Arrange a hangar (80 ft wide by 20 ft high) for the Ford overnight and in case of inclement weather during the day.(This is a must)
  • Arrange a motel room for each member of the aircraft crew. These can be held with your personal credit card and once EAA arrives they will pay for it with their credit card. EAA staff will let you know ahead of time how many rooms we need. Usually it is 2-3 rooms per stop.
  • Provide enough volunteers to safely operate the Ford during the visit. (Minimum of 4 per shift, 2 shifts per day).
  • Coordinate tour stop with Airport and FBO Management. (This is critical for a good tour stop.)

Marketing Chairman’s Handbook

Overview

The Marketing Chairman is the coordinator for Promotions and Advertising. The KEY is to use all of the tried and proven tips below in a coordinated, rational, and strategic approach. MOST importantly, you must excite your volunteers. As we all know, 10% of the folks typically do 100% of the work. Make it different this time!

Promotion

A good marketing effort is critical to make the Ford visit a success. There are two main parts of the promotion effort: Message and Exposure. The message is that people have a rare chance to experience the early days of air travel in an aircraft that made aviation history. The Ford Tri-Motor was the airplane that gave rise to scheduled passenger flights. The first scheduled passenger flight,as well as the first scheduled air freight flight, took place in a Ford Tri-Motor. All major airlines began with a Tri-Motor. Only 199 were built. At any one time, only 1-3 airplanes remain airworthy. Find a connection to your community and play this up in all of your pre-event contacts. For example, Columbus, OH was one of the National Air Tour stops for the Tri-Motor. Almost anyone can speak to the early days of air travel and the subsequent impact on a community. In other words speak directly to circles of interest in the community.

Done correctly, promotion provides much larger rewards than paid advertising! The key to success is getting the message to thepublic. Detailed below are some key steps in gaining the necessary exposure and making this visit a tremendous success. To assist you EAA’s communications staff will be contacting you before your tour stop. Below are the names of the staff people that will be working with you.

Nadia Farr, Media/Public Relations Specialist,

or 920-426-6573

Kevin Hazaert, Communications Specialist,

or 920-426-6521

Public Service Announcements (PSA’s)

By all means use these spots whenever you can. They work! Write the spot yourself and get it to the media a minimum of 3 weeks ahead. Make them nostalgic, historical and fun.

Talk Radio Programs

Find out who has the most listened to talk show and get an interview-preferably live in the station. If you need a Ford pilot interview, we will arrange for one to be available via the telephone.

Press Releases/Kits

Press kits will be mailed from EAA headquarters to all viable media sources in your area that we have concluded may be interested in our story or of value for promoting the Ford while in town. Please feel free to call Nadia, or Kevin, to suggest strong media outlets in your area that we may not be aware of.

Media Flights

Taking a member of the media up for a complimentary flight is a great way to get coverage with all the different sections of the media. Typically we do the media flights at 1:30 PMon the first day of the tour stop. They are very important and successful when done correctly. It is highly recommended that the media be limited to television, radio, and daily newspapers only. A quarterly newspaper or magazine does not get us the immediate exposure we need. It is crucial to get the media fired up and enthusiastic. Approach this from the point of view as a ‘Local Interest story’. Host the media with refreshments and food, make this an ‘event’ for them. You only get one shot to get the message out there – make it count. We are glad to do live interviews whenever we can.

Posters

Approximately4-6 weeks in advance of your tour stop, EAA will mail you 200 color posters for dissemination locally. Additionally, you may want to print additional copies. EAA will e-mail the artwork on request.

Flyers

Also it is recommended that the chapter also produce a much larger quantity (500) of inexpensive one page flyers. Places for posting flyers are area airports, grocery stores, shopping centers, service stations, public buildings and any area with high foot traffic. Flyers should be posted about 1 month before the event. Once again, identify your basic theme (historical significance, local connection, etc). The Flyers are affixed anywhere there is a large traffic area. Great sites are Wal-Mart, K-Mart, grocery stores, City Hall, outlying airports, restaurants, etc.

Signs & Banners

To help draw the drive by traffic, you may want to place signs on the road near the airport and in the terminal building. EAA will provide 2 largebanners prior to the event. Once again, it is highly recommended that the chapter create additional signage and get them placed near key intersections. Additionally, they should be directional (point to ride location).

Community Leaders.

These are invaluable resources. Get community behind you. Enlist their support and cooperation. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! The earlier the better! MOST IMPORTANTLY, FIND OUT IF THERE ARE ANY CONFLICTING EVENTS IN TOWN. The Ford doesn’t do well if there is another activity in town that will siphon our ridership.

Chamber of Commerce/Tourism Boards

These folks need to be onboard immediately after your dates are confirmed. They have deadlines that have to be met. Ask them to post the tour stop information on their websites.

EAA Advance Visitation

EAA Ford Tri-Motor flight operation volunteer, Cody Welch or designee will travel to new tour stop at least onemonth prior to the tour stop to work with the Chair and Co-Chairs to address the operation and promotion. Tour stops that have hosted the Tri-Motor before will receive a phone to go over the questions that might arise. This is an excellent opportunity to address concerns and solve problems.

Food Service

It is recommended that you provide some type of food/drink co-located with the ride event. Chapters have actually used this as an additional fund raiser. Some of the visitors will hang around the ride operation for an extended period. Even if the food service is nothing more than vending machines, the public is very appreciative. A joint venture with a local scout group, church group, service club is an easy way to deal with the food service.

Merchandise Sales

Some chapters have used the event to sell chapter specific t-shirts and hat merchandise which is fine with us. We do however ask that you do not allow other vendors in to sell merchandise as we will be bringing our own in to sell.

Volunteers and Equipment Chairman’s Handbook

Overview

Typically the Ford travels with key personnel (1 cashier, 1-2 pilots & 1-3 support people) and equipment necessary for the stop. The hours of operation are 8:00AM for preflight and 9:00AM to 5:00PM for flights, unless otherwise noted. The sponsor chapter provides support for the Ford Aircraft Operations, as well as Crowd Control.

Hangar

Hangar space is an absolute requirement. In addition to overnight storage, we may have to hangar the plane during the day if weather dictates (basically if more than 35mph winds or hail is forecast).

The Ford has a wingspan of 75’ and is 50’ long. The door opening should be 14’ high and 80’ wide. EAA provides a tow bar and chocks. If we have to push the plane by hand, 8 volunteers are required.

Crew Accommodations

  • 2-3 hotel roomsare needed for the crew. We ask that you use moderately priced hotels, such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, etc. that also provide a hot breakfast ($80 to $100 per night) It must be close to the airport and restaurants.

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  • Ground transportationfor the crew (6 passenger courtesy or rental car) is required. If we need to rent a vehicle ½ of the expense will be paid by the chapter. This can be deducted out of your commission rather than you directly reimbursing us.

Support

  • Area adjacent to the aircraft for selling tickets, shaded with restroom facilities. We prefer just inside an open hangar door or inside the FBO. If not inside, we need a tent.
  • 1 long table for additional ticket sales space.
  • We require 10 chairs for seating passengers prior to

each flight. This ‘Queue’ ensures that flights will depart in a timely