The Mackay Aero Club Raise Money for Rescue Helicopter at Wings and Wheels Expo

The Mackay Aero Club indulged in everything flight with their Wings and Wheels Expo at Queensland’s Tiger Moth Museum. The event, which happened the 17th of August, also raised money for a very good cause.

“This was our annual expo displaying everything with wings and wheels. Some of the proceed going to the RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter,” wrote Gary Bruckner. “We conducted flying displays and free flights for some lucky visitors. On display we had different types of aeroplanes, gyrocopter, ultralights and a number of helicopters. The resident airport fire fighters had one of their high tech firefighting trucks on display with the younger crowd showing lots of interest in, especially when they were allowed to play with the sirens.”

Buckner said that the event’s promotion relied a lot on the community. “We got a lot of free community advertising in the media, email circulars and obviously the raffle with lots of the tickets pre-sold,” he wrote. “One of the major shopping centers provided us with an area where we could set up a display over a four day period some weeks ago. This was manned by some of the exhibitors. Having the radio stations on site was probably the best advertising in getting the word out. On the day one radio station was broadcasting live, during the event.”

Unfortunately, the weather threatened to make the event a wash, but quick planning saved the day. “Considering that we had a lot of rain till the day before the event forcing us to make some changes on the day to the display, [but] the entire day was a great success,” wrote Bruckner. “We received a lot of fantastic comments from the public.”

“I think the best part was the diversity of exhibits that were on display,” he wrote. “One of the surprises was that a major mining company turned up and delivered boxes of giveaways and supported a sausage sizzle, with the proceeds going to the rescue helicopter.”

Are you planning a similar event to the Wings and Wheels Expo? Bruckner has a few tips that will help you better promote and plan your expo. “Put in a lot of planning into the event and work out all the details and make sure you have enough volunteers on the day to handle everything,” he wrote. “It is amazing how little things you don’t think about can put you in a spin on the day.”