Sun n fun

[flybill7]

Flew in Wednesday morning from the Vero Beach area 90miles away. Beautiful flying weather. I've flown into Oshkosh/Sun 'N Fun many times but this was the first time flying in/out for the day at either. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea of flying in this morning with the great weather so the arrival was saturated. Airplanes were getting directed to fly around Lake Parker and/or hold around Lake Hancock. We were lucky, after one trip around Lake Hancock, we were cleared to the power plant, and just by lucky timing, got cleared to join the procession into Lakeland. Three planes ahead of us were bunched up and got sent around Lake Parker again. Short final on 9L was interesting as we were side by side with a L39 jet landing on 9R!

We were parked in the new homebuilt parking area which is further east than homebuilt camping, itself not close to the main show. It didn't bother me but anyone who wants to check out the homebuilts has to do some walking or catch the tram. Clearly, the Vintage guys have the best spot, closest to the show. There was no mass grouping of RVs like you see at Oshkosh. It didn't seem to me like RVs were as numerous as past Sun 'N Funs and they were scattered about in HBP or HBC, mixed with other Homebuilts.

One day was not enough to see everything of course, but we did check out the vendors, ultralight/LSA demos, warbirds, and airshow. We left after the day airshow, which was very good. We got in the end of the taxi line which stretched the entire length of the airport east to west. We were on the taxiway for at least 30 minutes. Fortunately, although warm, it wasn't hot, so my oil temps didn't get too high, 210 max I think.

The flight home should have been in sunny blue skies, but there were fires on the ground halfway across, and it was unbelievable how much smoke they put into the sky. At first we thought it was fog or a low cloud which went all the way to the ground. We went around to the north of the fires. Don't know if they were man-made or wild.

All in all, a great aviation day.

[Paul 5r4]

I drove in this year because the weather window was a little too narrow for my return. My boss is good but if I called them up and said I wasn't going to be at work because of weather I'm sure their first words would be "I think Delta is still flying!" I plan to retire at the end of 2020 so that should take care of that little problem.

SunNFun.... I was mission driven this year because of a potential upgrade to IFR panel. In the research phase now. I wanted to specifically have a nice chat with Garmin/Dynon/Steinair and was able to get all my questions answered. Also spent some time with Champion Aerospace talking about the slick mag service bulletin. They gave me all the parts I'll need except for the gear with the monel contractor. Spent some time chatting with the lycoming people too. They shared some good engine information.

The only negative comment I have about the SunNFun and Oshkosh for that matter is this. Their maps are horrible in my opinion. I find it interesting that I can fly hundreds of miles and find a specific spread of concrete to land on that was preselected days ago but I have trouble navigating the shows. Maybe it's just me. Also, It wouldn't break my heart to see the length of the airshows decreased to a couple hours max. On the drive home I noticed that for the first time, I did not take a single picture.

Parking the car was 10 bucks and 32/day to get in. Reasonable. They'd like you to buy the weekly pass but I can't digest being there that long driving in.

This was my first year driving in and I can say this without any doubt. The experience of flying in and camping is what makes it really worth it all. I missed that this year and I can tell it too.

[Tom Martin]

I attended from Monday to Wednesday. We parked in the new home built parking area, and yes, it is a long way from most of the show. The tie down area and ramps were good where we were.
The real positive was the ground crew at HB parking. They provided shuttle service to our camp site over by the big pond. Typically I had walked all the gear to that area so this was a big plus.
I like sun and fun and have been many times in the last twenty two years. It is our first flying event of the year and it is a great warm up for summer flying

[gereed75]

Flew in and out yesterday. Both procedures are pretty simple and work well. Did get cut off by a 172 that just entered on their own terms apparently not even monitoring tower freq, and wandered down to the runway and landed. wTF!! Had to do a wave off and circled back to downwind for re-entry. Tower controllers were incredulous but pragmatic. Can?t beleive people can not figure out how to read the f?in NOTAM

Meanwhile show was just fine. HB parking is not that bad. They have a tram that works.

The Blues essentially flew most of the morning - must be their ?loose show? routine. Then again as the last attraction. Always magnificent!

Spoke with some officials who said overall attendance is creeping ever downward. Vintage attendance seemed robust, HB not so much. Remember, this is a commercial show put on by a private Corp. Certainly not as epic as Osh but still a well run, big event.

Have fun, fly safe.

[roadrunner20]

I flew in Wednesday morning as well. I heard the chatter re Lake Parker holds but loitered for 5 minutes, then proceeded in without delay.

FWIW. I'm not usually a big complainer as I usually go with the flow.

1) I too parked in the HB section. It's really is a shame to be so far out. They parked me in row 1 on a steep grade backed up to a drainage port. Getting out was a challenge as my tail wheel kicked out on the diagonal ascent out & my wingtip came very close to a RV12 prop.

2) I purchased a case of oil & was looking for a ride back with my case on a handcart. I was at Gate 44, Tram 6 waiting for 45 minutes, Yes 45. The gatekeeper couldn't care less about it as I asked him to check on the shuttle. His only interest was making sure everyone had armbands. I finally ended up hitching a ride from a passing golf cart. The volunteers at HB were good enough to drive me back to the booth to return the handcart.

3) The departure taxi from HB to 09 took 30 minutes. For me, it was a 20 minute flight back to KCLW.

I do hope that SNF rethinks the HB parking & returns to the flightline location.
I believe the masses really enjoy seeing the homebuilts before the airshow. The lot was about half full with a few experimentals & old Cessnas.
I would have opted to attend another day as I usually do, but with the lengthy taxi getting out, it wasn't worth going again.

[KatanaPilot]

Originally Posted by dwranda

I spent maybe an hour talking with Krea about his plane. I was grateful he was there with the cowl off so I could see his firewall forward with the bill lane plenum. Seems like a great guy. Our 2 wives talked while he and I were talking. These 2 are great RV ambassadors! His is definitely a beautiful aircraft and gives me a goal for what mine will look like when done.

It was great meeting you and your wife as well. Thank you for the kind words. Best of luck on the build and please reach out if there is anything I can do.

[pilotkms]

Flew in Wednesday morning and had to make 1 circle round Lake Parker. Parked in HBC but ended up tenting with others in the camp area on the far west side of the airport. Didn’t notice an abundance of restroom facilities in HBC or any cell charging stations. Maybe I missed them due to my short time there. (Left Thursday morning). Totally agree on WEAK cell service. I “conned” a cart driver to Uber me between my camp and plane twice for $5 each way. Well worth it due to all my camp gear. I was at a car race out west last year and the track had veterans driving golf carts as “taxis” for donations. Maybe an idea for SNF ??

Listening to tower freq I heard a 210 announce he was on a 5 mile straight in for 9. Tower advised him to follow the Lake Parker arrival procedure. His reply > I thought I was using that procedure. ??? ATC let him continue and land straight in. Didn’t hear if he was provided a phone # to call, but I doubt it.

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Drove down Monday, got my press credentials, went over to the high school to make sure that the Powerpoints on the thumb drives would work for my forums -- they did -- then off to the motel in Winter Haven. A bit of a drive, but tolerable.

With my back having been acting up, Tuesday and Wednesday were short days, exhibits opened at 9, tried to visit just about all of them, or mostly, left at 3 before the mob scene leaving the parking lot and went home and rested. Thursday, left at 1 so I'd have more time to rest up for Friday's drive home.

Sun 'n Fun quit being primarily a homebuilt show quite some years ago, and these days seems to be all about their aerospace education facility. Those of you who track gender equity would have noticed that in their publications, they had only a token few boys.

Although I saw homebuilt parking from a distance, I didn't make it that far. The general theme among the vendors is that everybody seems to be doing well with healthy order backlogs.

My two forums (AOA and Spins/Spirals) each had a handful of high powered engineers (including FAA Designated Engineering Representatives) along with maybe 30 regular folks, and the forums seemed to be well appreciated by all.

Thursday afternoon, since I was already in Winter Haven, I figured I'd stop by Jack Brown's Seaplane Base, just to check it out. The short story is that there was a lot of socialization and a great environment there, just what general aviation should be. Highly recommended. Since I'm spending an enormous amount of time researching pilot proficiency topics, I asked how many of their seaplane students needed remedial stick and rudder skills, and the answer was not encouraging.

I also discovered that there was an AlfaRomeo dealership around the corner from the motel, and they gave me a ride in a 505 HP Quadrifoglio. WOW! I'm now having idle thoughts of trading down the RV-8 for one of those. Makes absolutely no sense, but...

Saw a few old friends, some by surprise, met one man I'd only corresponded with on facebook and when I was selling my Cessna.

A fun time, but I spent too much time journalist-izing and not enough time socializing.

[Paul 5r4]

In post 12 I mentioned I hadn't taken even one picture. I was wrong. I did take just one. Since I drove this year, I was hoping to find the Lake Parker controllers but no joy. I don't know where they hide. I did get a photo of the Lake Parker power plant. Sure looks bigger/different from a car! :-)

[KatanaPilot]

Although it is pretty clear that homebuilts are not the focus of SNF, they were well represented at the Awards ceremony.

Out of the top four awards, three were for RV's. An RV-10 won Grand Champion, a Lancair took Reserve, an RV-8 and an RV-7A received Exceptional Achievement awards.

The crowds were surprisingly good and other than Sunday, there was a lot of interest for build assistance for RV's and Safari helicopters.