I echo @Pittsbird’s sentiments and I would like to add a few thoughts of my own.
First, congratulations to Flite Test for landing what I am sure is an incredible opportunity with DARPA! I’m certain that the financial trickle down will be very good for Flite Test as a business and provide FT with greater visibility in a world that seems to be diversifying quickly. I’m sure this partnership has been no small feat for those in leadership of Flite Test!
For those of you who are not OG, I want to give you a little history lesson of Flite Fest. In early 2014, our son Austin, the originator, brains, and brawn of the origin of Flite Fest, approached his Dad, John Furey, with a proposition mixed with a request. The request was to gather a small group of friends for a weekend of flying here at Furey Airfield (now Furey Airpark). We still don’t know what the proposition was but we loved his idea and “yes” was not a difficult nod to give! John and Austin brainstormed, planned and then implemented a weekend that culminated in a tad over 2000 attendees from the original “few friends”. The community and fellowship that happened that weekend was unprecedented in what was hoped for, and untouchable in the outreach that laid a foundation for future Flite Fests. It was stressed by the leadership through the subsequent years of Flite Fest that this event was about the community! It was about bringing friends and family together to create an even greater sense of extended family. It was stressed this event was not about making money, rather it was about making relationships. My husband gave his full blessing for working hard to create a community that looked forward to what it has been called a “family reunion” each summer. John and I have personally invested time, planning, and hard work into making this possible each year. We turned over our land and our privacy, to facility RC of all forms in the day sky and the night sky and I can say with absolute certainty this has brought us incredible pleasure.
Our town, our foothill Appalachia town of Malvern, has come to adore Flite Fest! Local businesses stock up on supplies and acquire help to provide those who need groceries, alcohol, fuel, ice, and restaurant service and those businesses loved it. Not just for the economic benefits those few days offered, but to show off our wonderful little town; and thus the “community” aspect grew even more encompassing. The local farmer rotates her crops to accommodate the land area needs of Flite Fest. Neighbors sit on their front porches and in their yards to watch the event. It is truly become a community event
Yesterday morning, I learned (after the Youtube announcement was made) that Flite Fest was being moved from Malvern to Dayton to accommodate the demands DARPA made to take part in the Flite Fest reunion scheduled in June. I was told it was because another farmer wouldn’t give up their crops to provide the additional land DARPA required to hold their event in conjunction with Flite Fest. The rest of the story was in the ‘exciting release’ on Youtube yesterday. Let me stress, both myself and the farmer were told AFTER this exciting release for new dates and locations. I wish this is the only part I am angry and disappointed about.
My greatest disappointment is that financial gains took precedence over the “community” that was so openly talked about as the primary goal of Flite Fest. DARPA and the “community” that happens at Flite Fest are incompatible. They are two equally valid but SEPARATE events and goals.
Flite Fest 2027 is an uncertainty here at Furey Field. I will not begin talks with Flite Fest leadership until Fall 2026 after their DARPA event is finished and closed out. Should we come to agreement on how to move forward, there will be stipulations in place to ensure that what happens here at Furey Field is a true community event with financial gain being the last criteria to be met.
If you are an OG, you know that this comes from my heart and a fierce sense of loyalty to the original goal of Flite Fest. It was never about the money.
We are trying to figure out a way to open up the land here from June 19th - 21st for those who want to come fly their RC with their friends and family at no cost. It will be without the amenities of an organized event, but our desire is that those who want to can come fly.
