I made it to Sun N Fun 2009 on the last day. I drove from Clearwater Fl. to Lakeland. It took me 1 hour 11 minutes. Not bad for Tampa traffic, but it was on a Sunday. There weren’t a lot of people at the airshow and many of the planes had already flown out the day before.
One of the first things I did was walk up to the Sun N Fun radio station which airs during that whole show and gives interviews. I wanted to meet Dave Allen from Twitter. I had met him through Twitter. He was volunteering there so I had a chance to meet him. We ended up heading out to the flight line, which I wanted to do before anymore of the planes left. I did get some shots of planes taking off and taxiing. Afterwards, we headed back to the display area where we parted ways. I plan to see him again next year. I also met Max Trescott; another Twitter friend. They both were very nice people. I’m sure they will be at Sun N Fun next year.
I then wanted to get a good look at the “Flyingcar”. What an idea that someone has finally been able to do. Not a bad price either considering that a Piper Arrow is $300,000 plus. The Terrafuga is going to cost $190,00. It takes 90 seconds to go from flying to driving; not bad. Hopefully they will get some takers; only time will tell. It will be neat to see it in action.
Of course when you are at Sun N Fun you have to walk through the four big blue hangars. There you can find every thing under the sun for pilots. I wasn’t in the market to buy anything so I just walked through and stopped at a few booths and of course stopped at the Loves Landing booth. Our neighborhood has a booth there like some of the other “fly-in” neighborhoods. If you ever are at Sun N Fun stop by and say hi.
I stayed a while to watch the airshow. It was impressive, as usual. Beautiful weather, but a little hot. But hey, it’s Florida. It was a nice airshow, although a bit on the light side for people coming to it. But I did come on the last day. Next year will be better, since my husband will be able to come and we will be going in the middle of the show. I have been going since 1996 to Sun N Fun. I probably will keep going even though it cost more money to go every year and it’s pretty much the same set up every year. I don’t even need a map anymore to know where I’m going.
But its about the celebration of flight and pilots. It also keeps aviation in the public eye; which is important these days. I think without airshows like this, aviation would even be more of a non reality to a lot of folks. As long as I can fly and walk I’ll be going to Sun N Fun and other airshows to show my support to the aviation community at large.
I’m already planning to attend next year April 13-19, 2010.
Blue Skies and Tail Winds.