A phenomenal €75,000 was raised during the Deja Vu North-West ’24 events in conjunction with the ‘Planes, Cars and Coffee’ charity event at Sligo Airport in April. During what was the busiest day in terms of aircraft movements in the history of Sligo Airport, 70 aircraft, from all across Ireland, landed at the airport as part of the event which raised funds for the families of Gene McDonald and Daire Maguire who tragically died during the Sligo Stages Rally last July.
Beautiful vintage rally cars were also on display during the event which enjoyed great support from the local community and visitors from further afield.
Funds were raised for the ‘Rallying Friends appeal’ through aircraft registration for the Fly-In. A 76-page souvenir brochure on sale (€15) at the event also added to the funds raised and sponsors donated through advertising in the brochure.
Visitors also enjoyed delicious home-produced goods and arts and crafts at the People’s Market which featured 60 local stalls in the airport grounds. The ever-popular Airport Café was thronged during the event.
A very impressive and detailed model of Sligo Airport, created by TY students David Aves, Kyle Spollen, Sam Cunningham and Odhran Gilmartin from Summerhill College was unveiled during the event by RTÉ broadcaster and aviation enthusiast, Ray Kennedy.
The purpose of the project was to aid with Sligo Airport’s vision of becoming an internationally recognised aircraft and vintage car museum. The model airport was one of various projects targeted towards TY students in several secondary schools throughout Sligo.
Student David Aves, said, “We were given the opportunity to visit the airport in November last year to aid with the model creation. This visit included a flight arranged by airport manager Noel Jennings, which gave us the chance to take aerial photographs of the airport as references for the model.”
“The model took approximately seven months to make. The grass was created using various shades of green paint as a base layer, depending on the hue of the grass. Following this, static model grass was laid on top of it. Each of the buildings present on the model was individually 3D printed. The surrounding ocean was made from a mix of tissue paper stuck onto the model using a mix of wood adhesive and water. Paint and gloss varnish were later added to give the impression of realistic water.”
The ‘Planes, Cars & Coffee’ Sligo Fly-In was supported by Derrin Group.
Conor Gilligan, CEO, Derrin Group said, “We are thrilled that this event got such great support from the aviation and motoring community and of course from the wonderful local community in Strandhill as well as visitors from Mayo, Leitrim and Donegal. Sincere thanks to everyone who participated and came out to see the action. Let’s hope we’re as lucky with the weather for the Sligo Air Show which will take place on 27th and 28th July.”
Thanks to Adam Hipson, Daragh Butler and Mateusz Koziatek for supplying the photos.
