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Sun n Fun update ??????

morganjp

Well Known Member
As I sit here in Atlanta fighting the flu, I am surprised not to see any Sun n Fun posts other than people asking what are the vender specials?
So anything going on in HBC? Any super new products? Lots of Rv's; no Rv's?
Any great forums etc?

I imagine the weather has slowed the fly in attendance but what else is happening?

Sick and stranded in ATL:mad:
 
Me too!

Seems like the wx has been good.

I was wondering how the TRW's were this morning as it passed through!
 
Reports I received for Tuesday had only 23 in HBC. This was primarily due to the wx restricting many from getting into Florida and it's very windy & gusty.
It's really a shame as it's been so beautiful here the last several weeks.

Today's report said it was much better attended since the wx door opened yesterday.

Listening to liveatc, there was constant inbound traffic after the cold front went through this morning.

I plan on flying in tomorrow and spending the night in HBC. I'll post an update later.
 
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Blocking front over Jacksonville.

Probably stopped a few from getting down - quiet on the parking lots.

Quiet yesterday, well until the aerobatic lads started ;-)

Weather forecast cooler into the weekend, back to the show tomorrow.

No one noticed my blatant Union Flag T shirt yesterday, and they were flying our flag upside down at the International tent, but other than that, the beer was cold, the people were friendly etc etc.....

Baaaa !
 
I thought it was quiet

Just got back from two days at SNF. Unless there was another area to park, the number of RV's parked south of 9-27 was quite small.

It was brutally hot Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather arrived at 0530 this morning and we left in our RV (the 6 wheel ground based model) in between cells at 0700. The forecast for today following the rain was supposed to be clear skies and temps 15 degrees cooler than the previous day. I wish we could have stayed longer and enjoyed the cooler weather.

The crowd was also quite small for the night show.

I was not overwhelmed with anything I saw, although we went more to talk to Garmin, E-mag and compare the Hartzell composite prop to the Whirlwind composites.
 
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SNF

After the storm passed through Thursday morning, the rest of the day wx was perfect at SNF. Clear blue, mid 70's.
I, for the first time, walked around the hbc area, but saw only a handful of RVs, and didn't see any proud owners that I could strike up a conversation.
I did hang around the Vans booth a fair amount until I started to look like a stalker. Talked with the new president. He always seems happy to carry on a conversation and answer questions I'm sure he's heard a million times before. Great guy!
Wx looks perfect for the rest of the show, but unfortunately, I have to start driving towards Ga tomorrow morning.

I did plan on going on Friday, but like I mentioned I won't be attending on Fri and, as a result, I have one ticket to offer at a "Pilots Special Price". The ticket was purchased online using the EAA discount, so technically, the user should have EAA credentials if asked at ticket booth. The ticket is free to the first to send me a pm. Ticket will be left at front desk of Hilton Garden Inn at the LAL airport.
The SNF ticket has been spoken for
 
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As everyone else has said - the Wx improved greatly today after the storms went through in the early morning. Wednesday was just too hot!

We've got a few folks roving about and posting short stories on what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing over on the Kitplanes home page (www.kitplanes.com).

Paul
 
I'm leaving the panhandle at 4 am tomorrow to make it there as the field opens. Will be staying in HBC until sunday. N345JE
 
I wish my panel was back together, I miss not being there. Actually, I miss flying myself in general: I spent 9 hours trying to get from LGA to DCA today due to the storms and associated ATC ground stops. Thankfully, one particular dispatcher / flight crew team at American Eagle was finally able to 'work' the system in a short window of opportunity: we flew at 6k' and 250kts, a view I know well on that route, albeit slightly slower.
 
Wife and I have been here in HBC since Wednesday at noon. Having a good time despite a leaking tent on Thursday morning and a flat air mattress. Show is great and Mary Jane and her crew in HBC is
awesome! We are leaving Saturday morning for the trip back to Texas.
 
My wife and I are coming up Saturday AM and staying in HBC till Sunday. Unfortunate that the weather held a bunch back including us. We are south of KLAL so the lousy weather Thursday am reached us during the day so that squashed our Thursday travel plans. That four letter word got in the way today (work), so tomorrow it is!!
 
SnF

My 9A is down for repairs (fuel tank seep) so my friend and I drove over from Vero Beach on Wednesday. We walked the flightline in the morning then ate lunch at the Sunset Caf?. We spent the afternoon going through the 4 exhibition halls, the outside vendors, the Garmin Pilot presentation, and the museum.
Yeah, it was 90 degrees and the breeze did nothing but make it seem hotter.
 
Get well

As I sit here in Atlanta fighting the flu, I am surprised not to see any Sun n Fun posts other than people asking what are the vender specials?
So anything going on in HBC? Any super new products? Lots of Rv's; no Rv's?
Any great forums etc?

I imagine the weather has slowed the fly in attendance but what else is happening?

Sick and stranded in ATL:mad:

Get well soon, John Morgan.
Hope to see you in great shape in Oshkosh.
 
Sun and Fun

All
spent two days at Sun and Fun, lot of upgrades very impressed. Crowds seemed light but the product is great. Go and support it you will have a good time.
Thanks
Mike Kelly
Spruce Creek
RV-8
 
Friday Fun!

Airport closed....HOLD over Lake Parker .... taking the HIGH road :eek:




Show center and my RV was right there! Best seat in the house :D




All in all a nice cool sunny Florida day!
 
That's a nice picture Ivan! You are not missing KPOU in lower 40-ies couple days... :)

It was nice today for sure!

I saw Turbo taxi out in front of me. I must have missed him when they opened the gate and we all did the 100 yard dash to our airplanes :D
 
Made it to HBC this morning.
Became really busy around 0830. Was hold over Lake Parker so I flew east a bit, then 1 circuit around the lake.
They all told me I took Dan Horton's spot. Thank you Dan :D
It's going to be a chilly night.
Lots of RVs in HBC.

Tomorrow looks to be a really nice day here.
 
I attended Tuesday and Wednesday, and found the crowd (and RVs) on the light side. It was hot, but I enjoyed the heat for a change of pace. For me, the stiff breeze and some scattered clouds made it tolerable. Yesterday was fantastic wx at Epcot...
 
Beautiful weather today, but very quiet in the homebuilt section.

Caught up with the gentleman with the missing rivet - it is a school project and looked really good. We will let them off a single LP4-3 :D

Watched Art Nalls display some superb British Sea Power in the Harrier, even though the announcer got it completely wrong and referred to it as an AV8-B more than once. That one is yours and was a great development from the SHAR, shame will got rid of all ours. There are still a bunch of them in Goa - India, see them in winter when we are down there.

Most excellent to catch up with Vince and Blake Frazier from Flyboys - good people and great products. Ordered my hydraulic Numatx squeezer at the show.

Caught up with Brad at P-Mag, yep, still waiting for certification :rolleyes:

Watched a Titan Mustang fly round and round with one gear down and the other not. He went to Lakeland South and bellied it in - he is safe, airplane needs TLC. It was a B model with the BMW V-12 in it. Sounded nice in any case.

Business twin looked very sad on the grass, on one leg - either gear problem or departed the hard, don't know which.

Managed to leave before the Angels started, that is why I can still hear.......

Shame Matt Younkin wasn't there - caught Jim Pietsch yesterday, great display in the Bonanza.

Is it me or is SnF getting really quiet and run down ? Been going for 15 years and the last 2 have been a bit of a disappointment to be honest. They sure like to charge, but other than visiting the good people in the hangars, I am not sure what value we are getting.

I use it as a fact finding, touching base kind of show, so I get value, but if you were local, I am thinking you are getting a little short changed.

However, the smoke ring they blew this afternoon at the early part of the airshow was simply awesome.... Rose to a thousand feet or more - absolutely perfect.

Back to Blighty tomorrow, work on Thursday to.... Orlando !

Happy days :D
 
Matt Younkin

Matt Younkin performed today at the Columbus ga air show. Looks like he was at sun n fun earlier this week. The two shows usually aren't the same week. Must be because of Easter's date this year.
 
Was there yesterday
Stopped by Vans nothing exciting there was looking to get t shirts no luck
Zeneith was swamped supposedly backloged for 2017.

Angels and F16 showed us how fast n loud they can be.

Hbc had plenty of rvs lots of 7s

Snf seems tired for sure
Picked up a clarity headset

Met my Eaa66 guys n gals, had lunch watched the air show.

We had 4 rvs fly in from ft Myers that I know of.

Anyway still a great day with new found friends and airplanes
Hard not to enjoy all that.
 
Sorry to hear about the T-51 - we did a photo shoot with it yesterday afternoon! I'm on my way home right now - just saw this, and will have to get some details. It's a gorgeous airplane - hope it is easily repaired.
 
what a great week in lakeland. hot early, cool and cold at night if you didn't have a winter sleeping bag i heard. :eek: my oil is draining and the plane is filthy as expected. more of the same, less exhibitors, lots of gyros, nice gyros, one i must have. eclipse 10 from brazil, 120 mph and gorgeous. nice seeing everyone there. lots of fun. had some company yesterday for part of the trip. love this truck with a radial engine.

eclipse-01.jpg

IMG_1230.jpg

IMG_1223.jpg
 
Impression of Sun N Fun

Flew down from Alabama Saturday morning with a nice tailwind. Weather was as nice over the weekend as I can remember.

Camped overnight for the first time in years (been doing the hotel thing for the last 20 years or so) and was impressed by the night air show. Wonder how they do that?

I've been attending Sun N Fun for the better part of 30 years and I too have the impression that some parts of the event may be in decline. I have no factual data to back this up, but, it seems that years back, there was an incredible variety of homebuilt's in attendance. Cozy's, VariEzy's, Kit Foxes, Quickie's, Lancair's, etc. Maybe Vans is just such a successful design that it has naturally taken some of the variety out of the homebuilt market. Can't argue with success.

Also, the showers and facilities for the camping areas did not seem as plentiful or as clean as in the past.

And finally, the homebuilt camping area could not get any further from the main display area of the show. Years ago, it was right there, between the main event area and the runway. I was left with the impression that the focus as shifted a little from homebuilt to corporate built over the years.

These impression may all be simply that I'm getting older and do not have an accurate impression of years past.

I do find the event good for the soul and still well worth attending. The fellowship with pilots never gets old. I hope that I am blessed enough to attend many more years.
 
I've been attending Sun N Fun for the better part of 30 years and I too have the impression that some parts of the event may be in decline. I have no factual data to back this up, but, it seems that years back, there was an incredible variety of homebuilt's in attendance. Cozy's, VariEzy's, Kit Foxes, Quickie's, Lancair's, etc. Maybe Vans is just such a successful design that it has naturally taken some of the variety out of the homebuilt market. Can't argue with success.

Is the event in decline? Hard to tell for me - I've been going for 20+ years. But general aviation is a sunset industry with fewer pilots and airplanes every year, so the shows have to suffer at some point.

No doubt the variety and quantity in the homebuilt parking area is down, but I think people are simply parking elsewhere (not in the homebuilt paddock), because they don't like being denied access to their aircraft during the airshows. And to your point about Glasairs, Lancairs, EZ's, etc., those designs, for the most part, haven't been well supported in a while, meaning fewer kit starts, so there are not many new guys (or gals) attending the shows in those aircraft.
 
Our trip report

We got home early this morning(1:30am) from Sun N Fun. We took our other
RV, a 5th wheel this year. Yes the weather was hot(our A/C quit on Tuesday)
and the breeze did little. The air shows performers were great. We were
parked in Miss Betty's North Pasture 24hr generator area. I believe there
were more campers this year than last year as this was the only area with
spaces available when we arrived early Tuesday morning. Then vendors were
about the same this year as last and we found what we were looking for at
Flyboys, SkyOx and Aircraft Spuce. I walked by the HBC on Wednesday and it
seemed sparce, but by Friday the number had picked up as the weather had
passed.

A few things I noticed, in some areas there seemed to be a lack of
organization. In particular the camping areas. People pulled in all willy nilly
often taking up what could have been 3 spaces. It would be nice if they had
volunteers actually guide the camper parking or at least outline the spaces.

The white line rule for the jets didn't make much sense as there was none in
the over flow. I know it was an FAA thing but just shows you....

Now, I hope no one takes offense to the next statement. The volunteers,
last year they were great, very helpful and organized. Umm not so much this
year. I saw a ton of them driving around in golf carts not paying attention to
those who were walking. Again not sure what was different this year. Not
saying they didn't do a good job, but I think they were not as good as last
year. For the record I am thinking of volunteering next year.

But over all this was still a great show. This was my wife's first Sun N Fun
and she left impressed. Like anything early in the week it was weather, by
late in the week the crowds grew 3 fold. We left Saturday afternoon and the
crowd was the largest of the week. We are already looking forward to next year.
 
My first time at SNF; drove from NC. I was there Wed. and Thursday. I had a blast, wore myself out looking at planes for two days. About roasted on Wed. but very nice on Thursday. Sat in on some good presentation also. It was great for me; hope to go back some time.:D
 
SunNFun impression

Short report. Have been going to SunNFun for about 7 years. Always good to head south and warm up. Had an interesting conversation this morning with a fellow from England. We were on the flight line (Sunday morning), watching departures. He had a camera with large lens, and media badge. Told me he has been in aviation media for many years. His somewhat unsolicited opinion is that there was nothing much "new and interesting" at the SunNFun show. He arrived in Lakeland on Thursday night, and was at the SunNFun show Friday and Saturday. His frame of reference is quite compelling. He had just been at Aero Friedrichshafen a large airshow in Germany < http://www.aero-expo.com/ >, and noted that in his opinion, there were about 14 to 15 new and interesting "items" at the show in Germany, adding a type of "energy" to the show. We didn't discuss further, because there were too many departing aircraft to look at, but thought I would relay this story here. My own opinion is that SunNFun seemed a bit "slow". Hard to describe -- after all, a person is surrounded by aircraft and great people -- but seemed just a bit "slow" for some reason.

Wayne
Dues paid 2017
RV9a
 
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No snf for me this year😡

My buddy and I booked flights a month ago on Frontier. We arrived at phl on Thursday afternoon to find no plane at the gate at departure time. A couple hours later we were lined up for takeoff and it was announced that we would be returning to the gate. Our pilots would have exceeded their service hours for the day had we continued. We deplaned and were told another crew was coming. A couple hours later, the flight was canceled. A young lady I spoke with was on her way to her father's funeral and missed it. The whole thing is unbelievable.
 
I was on a road trip to pick up an a/c project, & drove down Thursday morning from Bell FL (near Gainesville). Arrived around 11:00, & visited for a bit with friends in the alt engine tent on the way in. Continued to the food vendors & had bought some lunch when the 1st jet flew overhead.

Finished lunch, walked toward the homebuilt parking area only to discover they'd already closed it (I guess at noon) for the airshow, so I never got to walk the homebuilts. Killing access to the planes for half a day is a royal pain. Turned out there were only about 3 or 4 rows anyway. I assume that weather kept a lot of planes away, since there was significant weather in N FL for a couple of days earlier in the week.

Walked some of the vendor booths, heading through the Warbirds section intending to visit homebuilt camping. Got the the end of the warbirds, looked down the taxiway, & realized I was only halfway there. I'd forgotten that homebuilt camping is in the next county. I miss the days when it was 'homebuilt-classic' camping, and you could camp with your plane in the same county as the flyin. Shame they can't carve out a section of the classic camping area for homebuilts; I bet 80% of attendees never see the homebuilt camping area when looking at planes. They do get to see a lot of 25 year old Cessnas/Pipers/Beechs that look just like the 5 year old versions, though....

Paradise City (ultralite area) seemed to have been combined with Light Sport this year, and given that both were in the area, vendor presence seemed to be down a bit.

Kudos to SNF for their long and continuing practice of providing an alternative engine focal point. If you really think about it, engines are about the only truly experimental thing left in homebuilt experimentals these days. :) Over the years they've had everything from VW's to Lyc clone 'kit' engines on display there. And for a long time, they had a dedicated alt engine row (or two, depending on need) in Homebuilt Parking. I used to attend OSH every year, and never saw anything remotely like that at OSH.

And they certainly got their money's worth from the Blue Angels & Air Force jets. They were overhead almost continuously until I left around 4:00 PM.

Hoping I can fly in next year and spend several days, so I'll have time for more leisurely exploration like I did in years past.

Charlie
 
I first went to Sun & Fun in 1997 with my RV4. The homebuilt area was full and each year there are fewer and fewer planes there. This year there were about 15 RVs in the homebuilt area for the first few days. We had heard that homebuilt camping was the place to be and wandered over there; another 10 to 15 planes.
I love this show, it starts the flying season for me and feels great to get a long cross country in early in the season. The vendors are fresh and willing to talk. Our friends, camping by the pond, make the whole thing worth while. Next year ask some friends to fly their planes down with you. Be proactive, make the time, do the trip, stay up late and swap stories. It is a great place to be.
 
I first went to Sun & Fun in 1997 with my RV4. The homebuilt area was full and each year there are fewer and fewer planes there. This year there were about 15 RVs in the homebuilt area for the first few days. We had heard that homebuilt camping was the place to be and wandered over there; another 10 to 15 planes.
I love this show, it starts the flying season for me and feels great to get a long cross country in early in the season. The vendors are fresh and willing to talk. Our friends, camping by the pond, make the whole thing worth while. Next year ask some friends to fly their planes down with you. Be proactive, make the time, do the trip, stay up late and swap stories. It is a great place to be.

I was in HBC this as well as last year. I believe the low attendance was due to the storm systems that rolled across the entire country as well as Florida. Monday morning there was a massive system that extended all the way from New Orleans to Cincinnati and on Tuesday another line blocked the route north of Lakeland.
 
First time to SunNFun as well. Was there from Wed afternoon through Saturday afternoon. As other have said, Weather early in the week was a bit of an annoyance, but improved towards the end of the week. Crowds were good, and absolutely exploded on Friday / Saturday.

Tons of booths and vendors. My feet are still recovering from all the waking around. I honestly didn't get to see everything. Spent a lot of time in the workshops learning new skills and asking dumb questions!

I did make it out to the HBC area as well as chatted up some folks in the Homebuilt parking. Already planning to go back next year with a whole new set of questions / vendors I will want to talk to.
 
I believe the low attendance was due to the storm systems that rolled across the entire country as well as Florida.
Yep, I was planning to come early in the week and "couldn't get there from here" because of that wall of weather across FL.
 
Sun n Fun

Hello all. We had intended to fly into SnF from Foley, Alabama on Tuesday morning but the weather held us back. Ditto for Wednesday. With clear skies and gail force gusty winds, we launched out of here Thursday afternoon. I liked our ground speeds on the way down! We were the last and I mean the LAST ones allowed to land that evening. When they say the airport closes at 7:30 they mean it. The controller said you have to be parked with the engine off by 7:30! We landed at 7:28 and they turned others away after we touched down. We were met at HBC by our host Mary Jane. I've been to SnF 3 times and she's always done a wonderful job of hosting! HBC was nearly full when we arrived. I thought I had a brake issue and the next morning they quickly fetched the emergency AC repair guys to lend me some tools and guide me with their expertise. In the end I did not have any issues, it was the winds!
The show was packed with people and the daily airshows were good. Always nice to see the blues! Although I'll say I do wish the airshow lengths were trimmed a tad. Earlier posts in this thread say the whole event seemed tired. Maybe a little. There did seem to be fewer venders. The Adventure Pilot ifly folks were there. I traded in my 720 for the 740. Whoo hoo! What a step up. A good example of a company IMPROVING their product. With my trade-in and getting another 100 off because I didn't want the ping buddy adsb it came to $599. I was having buyers remorse, (it was a spontaneous purchase). After flying home with it in the panel all that went away! The bright screen is easy readable with my sunglasses on in direct sunlight. Overall we had a great time with wonderful people.

Edited to add a video and pictures

New ifly 740 placed in the panel. It instantly linked up with Navworx to give this traffic picture sitting in HBC.
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Flight Chops
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Steveo1Kinevo
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Any sectional you want printed on a shirt. Pretty cool.
2hq58gg.jpg


Heading home
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In line
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We pretty much followed the coast line all the way home. CAVU!
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A short video of our Florida coastal flight home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysscj8GBgl0
 
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Friday!!!!

Drove down from KAZE Thursday and stayed in a free Marriot Rewards room with a SNF 1st timer. Drove in Friday AM and in the gate by 0830. Visited with Rhonda at BPE, then off find Trio and inquire about the certified STC for my C172. It was a disappointment, but left a recently purchased head unit with them for updates. Visited with Vince at FlyBoy, Tim at Approach Systems, the Ping Buddy booth and tried to touch base with Paul Dye at KitPlanes(bought a two year subscription). Bose told me no cordless headsets in the near future :(. Bought a cool safety wire tool and went back to buy the Supertracks mod on the way out, but missed Vince(building closed).

Weather was windy, but perfect. In my 21 years of attendance, I thought the Friday people numbers were way up. I've flown in and drove in many times. It took longer to get out of the parking lot this year than ever before, even when it flooded or when the cars caught on fire. We arrived home around midnight Friday night, wishing I had stayed another day. What's to complain about? Every kind of over priced junk food your wife frowns upon, things you surf the web looking at now at your finger tips and ideas/info galore! It was more than fun!

RV-6 is still 36 months from first flight, but i'll continue to attend until I'm dead. Thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, vendors, participants and attendees for a great day geeking out on aviation.
 
Tom!

Go to the Bahamas! I met so many nice Canadian sailors in the Bahamas a few weeks ago. Now your new mission, Canadian pilots!

Best
Howard
 
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