The Much Requested Flite Fest Volunteer Update

Flite Fest 2015 is now less than one week away!

So this is going to serve as your one week out update for all of the people who signed up to volunteer at this year's event.

Introduction

Hi! 

Fred here.  AKA FlyingMonkey.

I was the volunteer coordinator for the first ever Flite Test Flite Fest last year.  Oddly enough, Austin and the gang is letting me do it again!

So you signed up to be a volunteer at Flite Fest 2015

If you've signed up to be a volunteer, you're spoken with me at least a little when you sent me your...

Real Name

Screen Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Street Address

City

State and Country.

If you didn't send me this information in an email, you haven't been signed up yet.  So please go ahead and shoot it to me at flyingmonkey@flitetest.com

Thank you!

Let me begin by saying thanks to all of the people who have signed up so far.  I can sincerely say I am excited to get to work with all of you over the near week that will be Flite Fest this year.  When I'm not portraying myself online as an aviating ape, I am a volunteer coordinator for an organization that is NOT Flite Test.  So I really appreciate the efforts of the people who give up a portion of their time to make sure that the jobs that need getting done do so with so much enthusiasm and joy that I witnessed last year at Flite Fest 2014.

Questions and Answers

I've been getting several questions, and I'd like to take a little time answering them.

Will I have time to fly if I volunteer at Flite Fest?

Yes.  You should have as much time as you want, even if you're a team leader.

This year I will be doing the job assignments and schedule differently than last year.   I will have a giant dry erase board with the various tasks long one side, with the day represented along the top, in columns broken up into two hour sections.  Something like this.

This is a draft of what will be on the 4'x8' plywood dry erase board situated in the hangar.  Volunteers will get to pick which jobs, and which times they want to work.  From the emails I've recieved (from over 100 volunteers) so far, the interest in the different jobs is very evenly divided.  I am confident that we will be able to maintain the coverage we need, without me having to assign positions to people and just leave it up to them to select their own duties and shifts.

What jobs are available?

Good question.  As you can see in the image above, there's at least seven departments that we need volunteers in.

Gate will be the team at the entrance to the property.  This group is being lead by Steve (Abiex) and will be responsible for welcoming folks to the event.  They will also be directing people to the parking team, as well as handing out the informational literature to the incoming guests.  This is a fairly low activity role, mostly involving getting up and walking to the window of the guest's vehicles.  Shade is available from the trees, and a tent might be available if it's determined to be needed.

Parking will be the people in charge of taking the guests to their parking or camping spots.  Team leaders here will be Curt (Trimax) and Andre (Andre)   These will be the most active of all the volunteers.  They will be either running, or driving all over the property to guide the incoming guests to their sites.  Shade will be limited to not available.

Registration will be the team in charge of checking in the guests, handing out the rest of the literature and wrist bands, as well as ensuring the incoming guests fill out the proper forms (such as liability releases) to be at the event.  Your team leaders here will be Sean (Flyboypres) and Patrick (earthsciteach). This is the most stationary task and always under shade, good for people with mobility limitations.

Flite Line is the folks that walk the legth of the flight line.  The team leader here is Benjamin (bgfireguy92) They will assist new pilots with getting and staying in the air.  They will also be there to help direct people to various locations at the event.  They will also be keeping an eye out for safety issues before they become injuries.  This will be a highly mobile position, lots of walking, without shade.  Some sort of hat and portable water container container (canteen, camelback) will be recommended. 

First Aid is the people needed when someone else gets hurt.  Anyone with medical/paramedic skills should contact team leader Ryan (crashrecovery) and even if not actively working with the First Aid team, would be ased to be ready to respond to a medical emergency if needed.  This job will primarially an on call responsibity.  So these volunteers could be called to anywhere on the property.

Build Tent will be the folks in the build area, assisting guests with construction and repair of aircraft, specifically Flite Test Speed Built Kits.  The following is a comment from team leader Dan (Craftydan).

CraftyDan here, and first off, thank you for being willing to lend a hand to make FTFF 15 just a bit better than FTFF 14!  

One of the things we're working to improve this year is to find a workable solution to link volunteers who've built a particular model with builders who want to finish out a SBK.  Anyone can build via video at home, but here at FTFF we want to offer the chance to build with other people in the community!

 If you're not interested in building this year, thanks for your time and hopefully we'll get to meet and hangout outside the build area.

If you are interested, please Send an email to build@flitetest.com with a list of skills or models you feel comfortable with teaching or lending a hand with, and if you're willing, a phone number we have a good chance of contacting you at Furey Field.  We'll keep any contact lists secure so only the volunteers who need it will have access.

We'll try to use these lists to make sure we've got good coverage of models among the volunteers working shifts in the tent, and if we have a gap (somebody walks up and wants to build but can't find help) we can either tell them when the next volunteer with that knowledge will come on shift, or give someone a call so they can arrange a time to come over and build with them.  

So that's:

- Name

- FT Models you can help build

- Skills you can help others learn

- Contact # at the field (optional)

sent to: build@flitetest.com

Again thanks for the help, and looking forward to seeing all of you there :D

FPV Tent is the newest department.  Team Leader Chris (multigp) will be organizing the frequency management for FPV as well as the daily races.

Chris has the following to say...

Greetings! Chris with MultiGP here. I am excited to be volunteering this year to help bring FPV racing to Flite Fest but I definitely cannot do it alone. Our primary duties are here:
1. Manage FPV Racing - This will involve registering pilots to race, checking their equipment prior to the race, coordinating the start of the race, monitoring the progress of the race and keeping the race course clear of people.
2. Managing FPV Video Frequency - This will involve using our system to allow pilots to get into a queue to have permission to use a video transmission frequency for a period of time, inspecting equipment, policing the airwaves, saving the world.
I have much to share and really hope to find some volunteers willing to help make this an event to remember. Since the schedule of events each day is not really strict I think we can run a series of races each day, as well as some clinics for people who want to get into racing. 

When can I arrive?  

There will be several people arriving on Wednesday.  I plan to be on site Monday, and getting things prepared, such as laying out parking and camping sites.  Arriving before Wednesday could very well lead to being asked to move your camping equipment, if you set up for staying on the property.

Can my wife/girlfriend/kids volunteer?

Absolutely.  There are several people who have signed up that want their families to volunteer with them.  Flite Test is all about community and family.  I look forward to seeing this reflected in our volunteer group.

Conclusion

I hope that I have answered most of your questions.  If I missed any, please feel free to contact me at flyingmonkey@flitetest.com  As I said earlier, I plan to leave Firday night.  I will be driving to VA first, on Friday, taking my time through the mountains.  Then I plan to be on site by Monday.  I will be checking my email when I can.  If I don't speak to you before, then I will see all of you at Flite Fest 2015!  Thank you, and looking forward to working with all of you.

PS.  I almost forgot....

Some people emailed me to ask me about schedules.  This is from the 2015 Flite Fest page.

2015 Schedule

Wednesday – Set Up
6pm – Optional Volunteer Meeting

Thursday - All Day Open Fly 
8:00am - Registration Tent Opens
8:30am – Pilot Meeting (Event Tent)
9:30am Volunteer Meeting
1:00pm – Combat Time (Kill The Flite Test Crew!)
6:00pm – FPV Racing by Multi GP
9:00pm – Night Fly
10:00pm – Bon fire

Friday – All Day Open Fly
8:00am – Registration Tent Opens
8:30am – Pilot Meeting (Event Tent)
9:30am Volunteer Meeting
1:00pm – Combat Time (Kill The Flite Test Crew!)
6:00pm – FPV Racing by Multi GP
8:00pm Pilot Skill Workshop w/Arron Bates
(Event Tent 1)
9:00pm – Night Fly
10:00pm – Bon fire

Saturday – All Day Open Fly
8:30am – Pilot Meeting (Event Tent)
9:30am Volunteer Meeting
1:00pm – Swappable/Scratch Built Fly
6:00pm – FPV Racing by Multi GP
3:00pm – Bloody Wonder Combat (NAS-BWACC)
8:00pm – Live Flite Test Q&A
9:00pm – Night Fly
10:00pm – Bon fire

Sunday – All Day Open Fly
8:30am – Pilot Meeting
9:30am – Volunteer Meeting
11:00am – Chapel Service (Event Tent)
1:00pm – Open Fly!
3:00pm – Vendor Tear Down Permitted