Anniversary Fly-In

Virtual pilots from all over the world will be flying into Chambery/Aix-les-Bains, France (LFLB) this weekend to celebrate the first anniversary of the founding of the Virtual Pilots Association (VPA). The event, co-sponsored with IVAO France, will include ATC at LFLB on IVAO.The Virtual Pilots Association is a unique community of virtual aviation professionals founded by well-known French aviator and flightsim enthusiast Yann Gascard who saw the need for an organization to support virtual aviators with all the resources of a VA, but unencumbered by the restrictions of traditional VAs - allowing almost complete freedom to fly any aircraft, anywhere - embodied in the VPA motto, "Free Your Wings".In its first year, VPA has grown to almost 200 members who now fly an average of 1400 flights and 3300 hours each month. Members fly both scheduled airline flights and general aviation on IVAO, VATSIM, and FPI as well as off-line. VPA provides the most comprehensive pilot's log data system available as well as complete flight planning services and data resources.Nevertheless, in a recent membership survey, members indicated that the greatest value is the sense of a community of professionals, less interested in accumulating huge numbers of flight hours than in the association and discussions with others who are truely interested in virtual aviation.The 24 hour fly-in begins at 0001z on Saturday, 30 July and runs through 2359z the same day. All are welcome!