Thoughts & Ramblings: Sun ‘n Fun 2011

Spring is in the air, which means it’s time to start thinking about aviation. At least that’s what several thousand pilots do, as they migrate to Lakeland, Florida for the annual Experimental Aircraft Association’s Sun ‘n Fun fly-in. Sun ‘n Fun is much more than a fly-in, much more than an air show, much more than a trade show. It is all three combined, but it is also a week long gathering of friends and family. Some sleep in tents with their airplane, others park their motor homes in neat rows, and others choose to stay in the local hotels. Where ever they stay, they congregate each day to tell stories, buy and trade parts, and enjoy being part of the largest gathering of aviators in the southeast.

This year, Sun ‘n Fun conveniently fell on Spring Break. We had already booked our condo for a week in Orlando. Unfortunately, I still had to work, but my Friday off worked out perfectly. My co-worker Mark and I decided weeks out to drive over and see the show on that Friday. We both purchased our tickets in advance online and made plans all week leading up to it.

Early this morning, Mark texted me that he was on his way to meet me at our condo. I set my timer for 45 minutes and finished getting my things together. Susan had a friend over, too, and had plans to stay in Orlando. When Mark arrived, we switched cars and headed to Lakeland. Less than an hour later, we were taking the County Line Road exit off Interstate 4. We quickly passed the strawberry fields on our way to the south side entrance to the show. It was about 10:20 AM. We figured we’d get there by 10:30 and have three hours to explore before the start of the air show. And that’s when we ran into the tail end of parking traffic.

Slowly but surely, we inched our way south. We passed the extended centerline of the runway and watched as many pilots took off for a quick morning flight before the air show closed the airport.

An hour or so later, we crept past the corporate entrance to the show. We were starting to get concerned about our decreasing time to see the sites before the show. We found the air show radio station and tuned in to hear the latest information. We discovered that the large storm the day before – which some say spawned a tornado over the field – dropped incredible amounts of rain on the fields used for general parking. As a result, they were busy trying to roll the water off the fields and dry them out; thus the long lines to park. Looking back to last year, I don’t recall waiting at all to park, so this was mostly unexpected. We noticed other signs of the storm as we drove along. As we passed a cemetery, I saw three large Oaks lying on the ground with their roots exposed.

As the time passed, we continued inching along. We were now well south of the airport and looking for our left turn onto Pipken Road. To my amazement, I saw what looked like four F/A-18s in tight formation heading our way. I only know one group that flies F/A-18s and that’s the US Navy Blue Angels. Could it be? Yes! The Blue Angels were in the air. They arrived late due to the storms all week and were out getting the lay of the land. For the next hour or so, the individual planes of the diamond formation criss-crossed the area around the airport, roaring overhead several times. Being stuck in traffic was annoying, but having the Blues fly over made it much less stressful.

Eventually we reached Pipken Road and turned east. The diamond formation flyers landed and the soloists took to the sky. By now, we’d been stuck in traffic for three hours and had reached the time of the originally scheduled air show. We heard on the radio that the show start was being delayed due to the difficulty getting people into the show and parked. That was good to hear. Then the announcer said the unthinkable… the Blue Angels would NOT be performing during the air show. This was too much for my already stretched patience to take. But what recourse did I have? We already waited three hours, the parking lot was still apparently an hour or more away, our (expensive) tickets were purchased and non-refundable, we already lost our chance to take in the vendor displays, and now the Blue Angels were not going to perform during the air show! I asked Mark to do something quick to improve my attitude, but I think he was in the same mental state as me.

We really had no choice but to just keep going. Others decided that they had waited long enough. People were parking on the shoulder and walking. Looking at my Google Map, I estimated we were still at least a mile from the parking entrance. Those who chose to walk were looking at about two miles to get to the flight line. The DJ on the radio warned against leaving your car unattended and begged us to just be patient; they were doing everything they could to get us in. Some tried crossing the grass median and ended up buried to the axles in mud. Some were running on fumes and looking for a gas station. And surely everyone was wondering what they were going to do when their bladder started screaming to them.

Approaching the four hours in traffic mark, we came upon the west entrance to the soggy, flooded fields. The traffic cop directed us right on by. I couldn’t believe it. We were now heading AWAY from the show. Others were also not happy about the latest development, and they pulled U-turns and headed back to the west entrance. I clung to the hope that maybe they knew what they were doing and continued east. Finally I saw the west entrance. We were off the road at last! A few minutes later we were parked on what I hoped was a dry, solid field – it was. After more than five hours in the car – four of it in the last five or six miles – I turned off the engine and got out of the car.

By my estimation, we still had about a mile to walk before arriving on the flight line. My bladder couldn’t possibly last that long. I spotted a building that I hoped was open. While heading that way, we saw a line of people getting on a bus. Another dilemma arose – ride the bus or find a bathroom? We chose the bus.

The bus ride was interesting; the driver gave us some facts along the way. He told us about the storm as we passed a line of at least a dozen completely destroyed airplanes, then a demolished building that was a shower house a day earlier. It was the closest I’d ever been to a natural disaster. Despite all the damage, no one was seriously injured – amazing.

The bus dropped us at the main gate, where we exchanged our printed tickets for wrist bands. Strangely, the bands were dated for Thursday April 15, 2010. I guess they had some extras to get rid of. I’m sure I don’t need to say where I headed next…

We were finally at Sun ‘n Fun. The driving ordeal was completely behind us, it was time to have some fun – and something to eat. I don’t know what it is about fairs and air shows, but I tend to be drawn to the pork BBQ house every time. I love a big, sloppy, eat-it-with-a-fork barbecue sandwich. As we sat and ate, we watched the air show that had already begun.

One of the first performers was the US Air Force F-22 “Raptor”. I’ve seen it before in Daytona Beach, making some passes and flying as part of the Heritage Flight, but this was different. I was completely impressed with the sheer awesomeness of this plane. It has vectored thrust nozzles and can do unnatural things in the air, like nose over tail reversals and vertical tail skids. It truly deserves respect and from this point forward has mine.

After lunch we started looking at the vendor exhibits while looking up to watch the air show. My three favorite Very Light Jets were parked close to each other – the Cessna Mustang, the Embraer Phenom 100, and the Eclipse 500. In my wildest, least likely dreams, I still see myself flying one of these as an air taxi pilot someday.

At 4:00 we saw the US Marines C-130 “Fat Albert” take off, signaling the beginning of the Blue Angels show. I followed Mark as he weaved his way through the crowd, right up to the orange plastic barrier. Nice spot. We had our fold out chairs, but we didn’t use them. We stood for the entire “practice” show and enjoyed it immensely. Every year, it seems the Blues make some small changes to their performance. This year, they pulled a double sneak pass, making me jump both times. As the diamond crossed the sky to the east, the first soloist blew past from left to right. As I watched him in disbelief, the other soloist blew over from behind the crowd. By the time I heard him and looked back, he was already past us and turning to rejoin the others.

After the Blues, we packed up our chairs and continued our exploration. We passed by more aircraft vendors and the vendor hangars. I was sad and shocked to see that several airplanes had substantial damage. A Piper Archer had a flap that was bent into an inverted V shape and the wingtip smashed in. There was a Piper Seneca with damage to its wingtip lights and engine cowlings. Then there was the Air Cam display, that was a complete loss – everything appeared to be destroyed. I was disappointed to see that the vendor hangars were closed for the day. I was looking forward to seeing the new Garmin touch screen units that I’ve been reading about lately.

It was now time to do a little socializing. We took the Nature Trail west to the camping area. Along the way, we saw more evidence of the strong storm. I saw a tree with a 1 foot diameter branch snapped off. There were piles of branches and other debris along the road between the tents. It looked like several campers had packed up and headed for motels. Turning the corned we entered the motor home zone. I was looking for one very unique motor home. Dan Moody, a Super Commander owner, has an amazing sunset and palms scene – complete with a Commander flying overhead - painted on his motor home as a tribute to his father, who died of cancer in 2008. We found it and talked to Dan and Nancy for a while, then turned back toward the main show. It was late and we wanted to get going.

The walk back to the car was probably two miles – and there were no busses in sight. Along the way, we got a closer look at some of the static displays and more of the fly-in campers. The hot air balloons were firing up for the night glow, and the night air show was underway. There were still quite a few people standing by their cars, watching as the night performers flashed, strobed, and smoked across the sky.

Back at the car, we packed our things and got going. We were relieved to see that there was literally no traffic getting out. What took four hours earlier now took five minutes. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick dessert, then headed for the condo in Orlando. Once there, I dropped off Mark and he continued home alone.

Looking back, I’m disappointed that I didn’t see everything I wanted to see. I’m sad for the loss of so many planes. I’m amazed at the strength of the storm and that no one was seriously hurt. I’m happy that I didn’t let the circumstances crush my spirit, at least not for very long.