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first time to Sun and Fun 2017

jfrank71

Well Known Member
My son and I are making the trek from South Texas to KLAL for Sun and Fun. Would love to hear some tips and tricks on where to park and what to do. The local FBO charges $40 facility fee plus $40 per night to tie down. Could not find a price for HBC to park overnight. We will be staying in a local hotel and not camping.
 
HBC is just for homebuilt camping. There is no charge for regular Sun'n'Fun parking, just the show entry tickets.

You'll only need the FBO if you arrive too late, as they close off access to the show area late evening.

Download the Notam for Lake Parker arrival procedures etc. it should be out about now.

What to do ... well there are daily air shows, exhibitors, lots of talks and presentations and a museum on site. Nearby is Kermit Week's Fantasy of Flight which has hosted a seaplane event in the past and , I'm sure, plenty of other Florida touristy things if needed.
 
HBP

You can park your plane in Home Built Parking if your not camping. You will need tie downs, and you'll have to buy the daily admission tickets. That is it!
 
What everybody said above - and remember that when you tie down in Homebuilt Parking, you won't be able to access your plane from the start of the air show until the end - roughly 1300 - 1800. So make sure you have closed it up and secured it for the evening before the air show starts if you're going to leave before its over!
 
Were thinking about heading to SNF on Tues , leave Thurs or Fri. Wondering if its actually worth the trip or if we should divert to someplace else. Not interested in workshops but we do like to have fun. Anything fun going on there?
 
Were thinking about heading to SNF on Tues , leave Thurs or Fri. Wondering if its actually worth the trip or if we should divert to someplace else. Not interested in workshops but we do like to have fun. Anything fun going on there?

Worth it for me because I look forward to the trip more than the show!
 
looks like we have decided to land at Tampa Exec KVDF and base there. -10 in the hangar, hotels available for less and rent a car. Plus no field closures to prevent a quick exit if needed.
 
Sun n Fun

I would consider Bartow, KBOW, if the weather looks good. $5.00 bucks tiedown, rent car on field, closer than Tampa. Ive done both, KBOW is easier. You can leave when you want to. I had a mechanical there last year and the maintenance facility was great to me. Fuel is more reasonable in price. If they burn the grass at KLAL, you don't want to be there and it's easy to get trapped because of the airshow.
 
I'll second Bartow, KBOW. Friendly people, easy car rental on site, goodies for SNF goers, good fuel price. What's not to like?
 
I was told they realized their mistake and would never burn the grass again. If they do, I am done with Sun N Fun.

If you are flying in, try to make an 0830-0900 arrival. Gets pretty busy after that. There are those who do not read the notam. Be advised and read the notam.

Learn the tram routes. Bring lots of money for $20 hamburger lunches.

Make sure your brake pads are good. Lots of taxi time. I think it is even more than Oshkosh.

If you are not camping, as others have already said, you want HBP.

My early morning arrival 3 years ago.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=jKaA6x_sXXg
 
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I fly my plane down every year, park at HB, tent camp at vintage (to be close to HB) and volunteer parking at HB. They quit burning the grass years ago. S-N-F is like a mini-Oshkosh, has most everything as Oshkosh but not to the depth as expected since it is a smaller event. Everything is closer and smaller crowds. Arrive before noon when they start fly overs and then the air show. After 6 is wild for departure of transients. Unlike Oshkosh, I never had a long taxi for morning departures. A lower key event (then Oshkosh) for a couple of days with warm weather makes S-N-F a great way to start the flying season.....my opinion as always your mileage may vary.
 
My feelings about SNF are just like Scott's. This year will be my 11th flying in with my -9. HBC is the place for me.
The only real bummer I have with SNF is the tall chain link fence that was implanted last year perfectly obstructing the once enjoyable activity of watching arrivals and departures at the HB parking area. But its still a great getaway at a nice time of year in FLA. :)
 
From HB parking, the taxi to 27 departure is shorter than OshKosh. No big deal.
If it's 09, you get to cut in front of all the traffic and the taxi is very very short. Maybe 200 yards?
 
3 years ago I got the "in and spin" haul azz departure from HBP just before the airshow.
2 years ago I parked in HBC and hung out with those guys until the end of the airshow. Then I taxi'd for 30+ minutes prior to take off.
Last year I parked in HBP but stayed in HBC for the show. I rode a tram to HBP and taxi'd right out to rwy 9. No waiting at all.
 
I work at SnF as a volunteer in Air Operations, so I am familiar with a few of the topics brought up in this thread. While I don't speak officially for the SnF staff, I bet I can answer a few of your questions.

Burning the grass...this was done to prevent a grass fire potential. But it was absolutely hated by our visiting pilots and John "Lites" Leenhouts, the SnF President,stated four years ago that we will no longer do this. And we haven't! (I will "throw myself on the sword" to ensure this never changes, by the way...that soot gets into everything.)

That big fence at HB parking was placed there as a result of ongoing security concerns by the airport with events OTHER than SnF. The SnF grounds are used by many other events throughout the year, so it was one way for the airport management to control those who should not access the rest of the airport.

Sitting by that fence during arrivals: This was an enjoyable pass-time for many, and I too enjoyed sitting out by the previous (e.g. low) fence and watching the constant stream of aircraft landing. However, SnF is a big event and sometimes one area is affected greatly by another's issues, and this is no exception. Specifically, the FAA has experienced changes in their 8900.1 document that governs aerial events, and these changes brought up new non-compliance issues with the SnF "Showcase" fly by pattern. That pattern, normally flown at 500 AGL and parallel/south of normal landing traffic, overflys HB parking on it's way past the crowd, and is used by manufacturers to show off their new wares.

Because of the proximity of this pattern to the HB parking, the FAA was concerned that we now had a de facto "spectator area" in that area. The FAA agreed that we could continue to use that showcase pattern altitude and ground track ONLY if we did not allow bystanders to linger in the HB parking area. That means that we can no longer allow people to sit out at the edge of the fence line and watch landing traffic during the showcase fly by pattern times of 1100-1300. The HB parking area is deemed a "transit" area for our visiting pilots, which still allows us to use it as a parking area but now keeps us legal for the Showcase pattern. It's a solution that impacts many, but we had to make a change that was best for the whole of our SnF visitors.

Taxi times: construction of the new taxiway Delta (which parallels 9R/27L) should speed taxi times remarkably. Should....this is our first year with it, so we hope this works better for all.

Most of all we want to provide the best of all worlds for our visitors. Let me know what we can do to help!
 
Winter Haven

We always fly into Winter Haven, get a cheap car and stay there. Great place.

Have not seen Leenhouts since 89 when he was at NAS Cecil. May try to look him up this time.
 
Eagleflip, thanks for the info on the fence. That's the way it was explained to me as I was being told to stay away from the fence last year. It really bums me out. A few years ago I customized a camp stool so I could sit and see over the orange fence as I listened to the controllers on my handheld.
 
Bruce, sorry about the fence move. It was probably me who drove by and asked you to move. The FAA is absolutely serious about the overflight issue, and their request to move folks off the fence line was difficult to swallow, but reasonable overall.

We now have several areas on the warbird ramp that have a clear sight line to the runways and airshow. You may want to walk over a little east and find a great spot to sit along the show line.

Important note: If any RV-12 pilots intend on landing at Paradise City, please remember that the grass runway there does not open until Monday, April 3rd at 0700. DO NOT land there on Sunday--call the Lakeland Tower instead and land on 9/27 and taxi to Paradise City via normal taxi routes. And for all, please keep in mind that Paradise City is for LSA aircraft and other lighter "types" (e.g. powered parachute, powered trikes, etc.) only.
 
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