GoFlyAmerica?

I

isnoop

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Ian "isnoop" Maddox
I was listening to an older episode of Pilotcast and they had two of the folks behind goflyamerica.org on talking about the site. I became very excited to get home and join up since I just "landed" my PPL and I figured this would be an ideal way to build experience and explore the area. However, when I pulled up the site, all I found was a squatter page.

Is there any chance it was merely uprooted and can still be found elsewhere? If not, are there any alternatives?
 
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All good things must come to an end. Many of us here participated and the two folks you heard are regular posters here. But it had run its course I guess.
 
I really wouldn't mind seeing it come back to life. I think it could still serve a good purpose.
 
Yup GoFlyAmerica was a great concept but I think Nick and Chip got exhausted with the upkeep. It was a big part of my flying a few years ago. I'd like to see it come back But don't know where chip is and Nicks busy growing Tobacco ")

Hey you can always use this site to post your flying adventures.
 
I've been thinking about starting something similar again....the first time around was so much fun, I really enjoyed running it, and while I can't speak for him, I think Chip did as well.

I don't want to just repeat the same thing again though....I dunno....it was a great reason to go flying.

I can open to ideas. Sometimes it feels really good to have a positive impact on GA, and without sounding cocky, I think what we, as a group, did really had a big impact.
 
SkyHog said:
I've been thinking about starting something similar again....the first time around was so much fun, I really enjoyed running it, and while I can't speak for him, I think Chip did as well.

I don't want to just repeat the same thing again though....I dunno....it was a great reason to go flying.

I can open to ideas. Sometimes it feels really good to have a positive impact on GA, and without sounding cocky, I think what we, as a group, did really had a big impact.
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Oddly enough, my wife talking about doing her own online 'thing' made me start thinking about something I could do in my spare time. The GoFlyAmerica concept came to mind.

Maybe rejuvinate GFA with more of an 'interactive' feel. Instead of the users simply posting where they've been, try to direct them WHERE to go - with focus on aviaton related events, airports in need of support, etc. Maybe have monthly/quarterly regional 'hot spots' to try to get pilots more active in a certain area of the country. Maybe try to get a sponsor involved to get some sort of contest atmoshpere going - most airports hit, most grass fields hit, most fields hit on the 'double-points' list, etc. etc.

Don't know if you've seen 'Feasting on Asphalt', but I loved the concept of hitting out of the way places as he travelled across the country. GFA could be similar in that it targets out-of-the way airports with historical value, interesting terrain, exceptional community relationship, etc. etc.

Maybe have montly/weekly 'bloggers' talking about a particular trip they took and why it was different than usual, etc.

I'm not a super creative guy, but I'd definitely help out if you wanted to get something new started up...
 
airbornejohnny said:
What is the concept?
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GoFlyAmerica was Nick and Chip's project a few years ago. IIRC (Nick will correctly me if I'm wrong), the goal was to have someone land at all airports accessible via GA within one year. There was a GoFlyAmerica website that listed and mapped all of the GA airports in the country. If you were the first one to visit a particular airport, you took a picture of something to confirm that you were there (airport sign, etc.) with the 'GoFlyAmerica' logo in the picture somewhere. Then you would log on to the website, upload your photo, and write a note about the airport if you wanted. Then that airport moved from 'not-visited' to 'visited' on the GFA website.

My thinking was to start with GFA's initial concept and expand it out a bit further...
 
CJones said:
GoFlyAmerica was Nick and Chip's project a few years ago. IIRC (Nick will correctly me if I'm wrong), the goal was to have someone land at all airports accessible via GA within one year. There was a GoFlyAmerica website that listed and mapped all of the GA airports in the country. If you were the first one to visit a particular airport, you took a picture of something to confirm that you were there (airport sign, etc.) with the 'GoFlyAmerica' logo in the picture somewhere. Then you would log on to the website, upload your photo, and write a note about the airport if you wanted. Then that airport moved from 'not-visited' to 'visited' on the GFA website.

My thinking was to start with GFA's initial concept and expand it out a bit further...
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You know, even if GFAII was just a re-do of GFA1, I'd sure enjoy it. I had fun with the first one, and I would participate just as much with the second.

Tim
 
I'd love to see it come back. Hell, I have several claim pictures that I never got to upload 'cuz it got shut down too soon... So even bringing it back as-was (I hope the data is backed up somewhere, many of the writeups were really excellent!) would be great!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I'd love to see it come back. Hell, I have several claim pictures that I never got to upload 'cuz it got shut down too soon... So even bringing it back as-was (I hope the data is backed up somewhere, many of the writeups were really excellent!) would be great!
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I have the data on a CD that Chip mailed me shortly after it shut down.

If I do bring something back, I'd like to bring up an archive of the old GFA, just so we have it out there for historical purposes.

I like Chris's idea.....trying to drive people to a specific airport....that's a great idea. Regional fly in sort of thing.

Hmmm....the ol' brain is working.
 
SkyHog said:
I have the data on a CD that Chip mailed me shortly after it shut down.

If I do bring something back, I'd like to bring up an archive of the old GFA, just so we have it out there for historical purposes.

I like Chris's idea.....trying to drive people to a specific airport....that's a great idea. Regional fly in sort of thing.

Hmmm....the ol' brain is working.
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Just an idea, but if there's a concept of regional fly-in, why not coordinate it with the airports themselves. Like GFA is shooting to fly in on xyz date to abc airport...bbq/meet n greet perhaps...get word out in their (the airport's) general area and there could be a spark of local interest...just a thought:dunno:
 
A slight tweak could involve Match.com meets GFA. Doing it at the airport...a whole new meaning to hitting it on the numbers. :D
 
How about GoFlyNorthAmerica?

Here is a picture I took that I never got to use. :sad::sad:
 

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I would dearly love it if GFA could be, in some way, revived. It was grand fun.

I note with pride that I participated in the FIRST GFA claim, which was Gadsden County Airport in Quincy, Florida, and with sadness that the pilot with whom I flew on that fine day, Mike Schneider ("Marathon Mike") is one of our PoA'ers who has gone west.
 
I finally trashed the GoFlyAmerica "sign" that had been living in my flight bag when I was getting ready for Wings this year. :sad:

I've often wished the site was still up, as I enjoyed the PIREPS and them used in my flight planning (or to help me decide where to go). Always could count on Barb (OneShort) to give reliable turf conditions...
 
Couple of ideas come to mind.

1. Something like a "passport" system. Each ga airport can stamp your passport, could be electronic, could be paper.

2. There's probably an interesting way to twist ga with geocaching. Geocaching, for those who aren't familiar, is a kind of high tech scavenger hunt using gps coordinates and clues. The clues could lead you to ga airports or fob's.
 
JoeSelch said:
I finally trashed the GoFlyAmerica "sign" that had been living in my flight bag ...
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I had printed out several full color logos. Several I framed with the photo of various airports. It is Airport Geekness at it's finest. Truly, the GFA op was a memorable mission.
 
SCCutler said:
I would dearly love it if GFA could be, in some way, revived. It was grand fun.

I note with pride that I participated in the FIRST GFA claim, which was Gadsden County Airport in Quincy, Florida, and with sadness that the pilot with whom I flew on that fine day, Mike Schneider ("Marathon Mike") is one of our PoA'ers who has gone west.
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Mike was a fine man and had a beautiful Maule I had the honor of meeting him at Gastons.
 
I'm working on bringing it back....with a twist. Stay tuned.
 
SkyHog said:
I'm working on bringing it back....with a twist. Stay tuned.
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Tuned I am, and tuned, I shall stay. :yes:

I note that GoFlyAmerica.org and .com are both locked down - do you, by chance, have one or the other?
 
Dont know if there is any truth to this, but i had a friend tell me that when you do a search for a domain name there are companies that track those searches. Once they see a name in a search they buy it in hopes to make you pay more for it. Again, I dont know if there is any truth to that. He just told me to not search until I was ready to buy on the spot. Back to the OP, I never heard of GfA before this thread. But as a student who will hopefully solo this summer or fall it would be awesome to be able to plan my X-C's around that!
 
mikeinbama said:
Dont know if there is any truth to this, but i had a friend tell me that when you do a search for a domain name there are companies that track those searches. Once they see a name in a search they buy it in hopes to make you pay more for it. Again, I dont know if there is any truth to that. He just told me to not search until I was ready to buy on the spot. Back to the OP, I never heard of GfA before this thread. But as a student who will hopefully solo this summer or fall it would be awesome to be able to plan my X-C's around that!
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A little hijack here... how about flooding those companies with plausible searches and try to bankrupt them.
 
Excellent! Glad to hear that GFA II is in the works!! I too enjoyed the fun of going somewhere that was not yet 'tagged'.

EDIT: HA! Just checked; my GFA photo sheet is still in my flight bag in it's sheet protector. I'm ready to rock & roll.
 
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Hey guys,

So, this has been back up and running for about 4 and a half months now, and we are averaging about 5 pilots participating each month....

Just wanted to reach out and ask - is there anything more that you all would wish the site was? There was a lot of people in here that asked for it to come back, and not a lot of participation, so I fear that something big might have been missed in the redesign and relaunch.

Lay it on me, guys, what can I do to make the challenge more fun, and fun enough to draw more of you back into participating again?
 
SkyHog said:
Hey guys,

So, this has been back up and running for about 4 and a half months now, and we are averaging about 5 pilots participating each month....

Just wanted to reach out and ask - is there anything more that you all would wish the site was? There was a lot of people in here that asked for it to come back, and not a lot of participation, so I fear that something big might have been missed in the redesign and relaunch.

Lay it on me, guys, what can I do to make the challenge more fun, and fun enough to draw more of you back into participating again?
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Hmmm... Well, give me more money to fly? ;)

Seriously though, a few ideas:

1) Add some tie-ins to Facebook and Twitter for people to easily share their claims

2) Agree with Nate - Figure out a way to make it a game, competition, whatever. 10 points for an initial claim, 2 points for a visit or something like that. Bonus points for airports farther from the claimer's home field. More bonus points for "likes" or some sort of "that was a great review" votes, that could help improve the quality of the claims. I think maybe part of the problem is that a lot of the easy-to-get-to airports for the vast majority of us are already claimed, so doing this sort of thing will allow the Californians and Michiganders to join in again, and competition adds another fun element to it.

3) Publicity. I know you've got the ability to have statistics pulled right up on the site now, but I did enjoy seeing your posts of the monthly leaders before... And that also kept it in my mind. Adding the social network tie-ins would help this too.
 
Nick -

The biggest thing is, as Kent notes, publicity. Getting the word out. I suspect the whole "social media" thing might well help.

I have a list of airports I intend on targeting, just as soon as I get the chance to do something besides working all the freakin' time.
 
Have you noticed that there is only one person that is in the perfectly symmetrical place on the list at Opertion:Fly where the number of claims and their rank number are the same?
 
N2124v said:
Why not use four square or Facebook checkin?
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Specialization. More fun if it's all pilots.

The guy who delivers donuts to the airport could easily be the "Mayor" there on the others. ;)

But many of us do check in on those anyway.
 
SkyHog said:
Hey guys,

So, this has been back up and running for about 4 and a half months now, and we are averaging about 5 pilots participating each month....

Just wanted to reach out and ask - is there anything more that you all would wish the site was? There was a lot of people in here that asked for it to come back, and not a lot of participation, so I fear that something big might have been missed in the redesign and relaunch.

Lay it on me, guys, what can I do to make the challenge more fun, and fun enough to draw more of you back into participating again?
Click to expand...

Fine, but what's the address?
 
Didn't know this was up and running! Looks like fun and it'll give me a reason to get out and about more!
 
I didn't know it was up yet either.

And I'll second #2 on this post.
flyingcheesehead said:
...
2) Agree with Nate - Figure out a way to make it a game, competition, whatever. 10 points for an initial claim, 2 points for a visit or something like that. Bonus points for airports farther from the claimer's home field. More bonus points for "likes" or some sort of "that was a great review" votes, that could help improve the quality of the claims. I think maybe part of the problem is that a lot of the easy-to-get-to airports for the vast majority of us are already claimed, so doing this sort of thing will allow the Californians and Michiganders to join in again, and competition adds another fun element to it.
...
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When I first saw this a long time ago I decided to opt out because so many airports I could afford to fly to had already been claimed. Maybe I missed something but there didn't seem to be much point in going there again. Edit - I see there are now reduced points for a 'visit'.

Additional reviews would be reasonable if they brought up new info.
 
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