Sun N Fun '07 Redux

Mary and I just returned from 6 glorious days at Sun N Fun in
Lakeland, FL, where we enjoyed the most amazingly perfect weather I
have ever seen at such an event. The nights were cool (almost cold
the first few nights) -- perfect for sleeping -- and the days were
sunny and warm. No humidity, no bugs, no alligators -- just lots and
lots of aircraft!

Here are a few high points, in no particular order, for those who may
have missed the show:

- Lots of rec.aviation newsgroupies were there! I personally ran
into many, and we had a great time getting to know one another. Some
were old friends, like Bob Moore (who we had meet at SNF '03 & '04),
but others were completely new to us. It was great to see you all!

As has been my continuing experience, all were perfectly wonderful
folks, and Mary and I really enjoyed spending time with them all. (We
spent several hours watching the airshow with Marcus, a Diamond pilot
from Germany, and were even able to show him Atlas for a few minutes.
Marcus is mostly a lurker here, but he will live forever in my memory
as a perfect gentleman, and the only German I've ever met who didn't
like beer!)
:-)

My only regret -- somehow we once again managed to miss meeting Orval
F. I know he was there, because I heard from others that he was
looking for me -- but we just zigged and zagged all week long, dang
it.

- There were a lot of people from Iowa City there! It was almost like
hanging out at our airport, cuz we kept running into "locals" --
usually at the margarita tent, natch... ;-)

- For the first time EVER, we had perfect weather all the way down AND
back. (It's always been "7 hours down, 3-days back" -- or vice versa
-- in the past.)

We departed Iowa last Sunday, mid-day, after waiting for that huge
storm (that later pummeled the East Coast) to drift east. On the
backside of the front we enjoyed 190-knot ground-speeds in perfectly
smooth air all the way to Tallahassee, where we spent the night.

- That wonderful tail wind made for a helluva landing challenge in
Tallahassee. With the winds gusting over 30 knots, and a 60 degree
crosswind, I had my hands full. I was literally flipping the yoke lock-
to-lock to keep the wings level, turning base-to-final...it was wild!
As is usually the case, however, it turned out to be my best landing
of the trip, thanks to working my butt off. Funny how the easy ones
can turn into thumpers, simply because you're relaxed...

- The 496's weather capabilities made the flight down pure joy. With
that giant storm stretching from Minnesota to the Gulf, we were able
to "play" the storm by watching the live satellite and radar map, and
simply steered down the clear area on the backside fo the front.
Although you COULD do this visually, over such a wide area you would
inevitably have run into areas of diminished visibility or precip.
Now with the 496, which paid for itself on the way to SNF.

- En route we stopped in Jackson, MS for a late lunch, and to wait for
the storm to drift a bit farther east. The airport there was very
nice, but we could not understand a single word ANYONE said to us once
we left the airport grounds. I am NOT kidding -- all we could say
was "Excuse me?" over and over again. It was like being in a foreign
country! The fried chicken was outstanding, however... mmm...

- Arriving at SNF on Monday morning was a piece of cake. The Lake
Parker arrival procedure is simplicity itself, and I was glad to hear
that they were literally reading the NOTAM on the ATIS. Even better,
the controllers were not insisting on "keeping it in tight", which
always makes for an extremely tight turn to final -- not good for
folks who are hot, heavy, and stressed.

- Despite this, there was a fatal accident on approach to Rwy 27, when
a Wheeler homebuilt spun in turning base-to-final. We saw the huge
pall of furiously-churning black smoke, and knew right away what had
happened. Very sad.

- Attendance early in the week was waaaay down from the other years we
attended. We were camped in Row 6 (that's not a typo), and they
didn't fill up beyond Row 9 until Friday. Compared to OSH, where
we're camped in Row 300-something, it's remarkably different.

- Despite this, the campground seemed terribly disorganized this
year. The aircraft camping area at SNF is directly adjacent to a
regular RV/tent year-round campground, which is usually a good thing.
(Real showers, for example!) This year, however, the camp store
vendor did not show up -- or was never contracted -- no one knew.

No store meant very bad things for aircraft campers because, unlike
OSH, campers at SNF are completely at the mercy of the event planners
-- the Lakeland Airport is out in the middle of no where, and you are
NOT walking over to "Friar Tucks" for dinner!

Therefore, the AWOL camp store was a "Big Deal", since we were unable
to get ice or (gasp!) beer. Thankfully, because we were working a
booth with our friends at Flying Colors Glass, they were able to drive
us off-field to a local grocery store, where we stocked up on the
essentials. Others were not so lucky, and much griping was heard
until, later in the week, some local non-profit organization stepped
in and started bringing in supplies from the local Winn-Dixie store.

- Another example: The porta-potties in the aircraft camping area
actually ran out of TOILET PAPER! This is the absolute, number one,
top-of-the-list NO-NO for ANY event, and it happened -- thankfully for
a relatively brief several-hour period.

- The Warbirds were practically a no-show this year, for reasons
unknown. The largest bomber on the field was a B-25, and he
inexplicably did not fly in the warbird show. Organizers were forced
to use a (very nice, but totally wrong) C-47/DC-3 in the "bomber"
role, and T-28 trainers and L-39 Czech jet trainers in the "fighter"
roles, with just two P-51s and a (very nice) Spitfire rounding out the
line-up. Unless they showed up after we left Saturday morning, there
wasn't a single B-17 in attendance.

- The British equivalent of the Civil Air Patrol sent a squadron or
two to help park planes in the camping area. They did a very nice
job, although when we departed I was helped (in pulling Atlas out into
the row) by a fine young Brit who was clearly miffed because Sun N Fun
had taken their golf cart privileges away, after one of their members
had apparently been driving a bit over the top recklessly. As
anyone who has ever parked planes at an airshow knows, you NEED a golf
cart (or equivalent) to get around, or you will be dead in two hours
-- and these kids were headed that way... I hope they won their
driving privileges back after we left!

- The vendors were every bit as good as OSH, but there were (of
course) fewer of them. They seemed pleased with the turnout, although
I heard grumblings from folks out in the "Fly Market" (or whatever
they call it at SNF) that the crowd was cut off from them by the
layout of food tents and the postal service trailer.

- Mini-rant: Why does SNF (and OSH) continue to allow non-aviation
vendors into the buildings? The guy selling the big, extendable
ladders was there, again, and the ubiquitous extendable flag-pole guy
wasn't far away. Put these shills out in the Fly Market, with the
cookware and luggage vendors, where they belong!

- Mini-rant #2: AOPA hired an aircraft with a moving-light sign on
the bottom to fly over the grounds, advertising Phil Boyer's "town
hall meeting" at the SNF theater. Unfortunately, the pilot would do
nice, quiet slow flight down Rwy 27, until he got all the way to the
end -- where he would jam the throttle forward and do a high-
performance turn-around to get lined back up with the show line.

Apparently in the dark he didn't know that he was turning directly
over the campground, and keeping everyone awake with his engine
antics! Even with ear-plugs (a fly-in necessity) it was hard to
sleep.

- Good deal: We were able to take advantage of Aircraft Spruce's (very
smart) emailed coupon when we bought a replacement for our COM 2. (A
simple-but-nice TKM MX-11, digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for
our hinky Narco COM 120.)

- Bad deal: In the brand-new Spruce catalog, the price for the MX-11
is listed as $819. At first they agreed to honor that price, but in
the end they would not, as the price had "recently gone up" to $893 --
a whopping 9% difference between advertised and actual price.
Despite this bait & switch tactic, I bought the radio from them,
because with the aforementioned coupon they were still cheaper than
anyone else on the field. But the experience left a bad taste in my
mouth.

- Best deal: The guys at the JPI booth sold us an outside air
temperature probe for our EDM-700 engine analyzer for $100 bucks --
fully $60 cheaper than I've seen anywhere. (It'll be good to get rid
of our "prong" thermometer sticking through the windshield.)

- There was no "Big Deal Thing" at SNF this year. No new 596, or any
whiz-bang, must-have item. In fact, the biggest news was that Lowrance
and AvMap once again did NOT introduce XM weather capability.

- XM radio was there in force, with a great deal -- a FREE car radio
kit, when you add-on another radio subscription for $6.95 more per
month. We didn't take advantage, but lots of people were lining up.

- Light Sport Aircraft were EVERYWHERE. We were able to take a close
look at Cessna's new LSA (and their next generation GA plane), but
they were overshadowed by the European manufacturers, who seemed to
have an LSA in every shape and size, no matter which direction you
looked.

- The single-engine PiperJet is very, very cool. Given the inherent
reliability of jet engines, I don't know why that single-engine-in-the-
tail configuration hasn't been tried yet.

- It's getting harder and harder to tell an ultralight from an LSA
from a small GA plane.

- Angel Flight went cheese-cake this year, with an absolutely drop-
dead gorgeous model dressed up like an "angel", promoting their
services. She was falling out of her dress everywhere, and it was
wonderful... ;-)

- In the "Coolest Guy to Meet" category, Mary and I met Erik
Lindbergh, grandson of Charles, when he wandered into the Flying
Colors Glass tent. We spoke with him for over 30 minutes about
everything under the aviation sun, from creating our Charles Lindbergh
Suite, to our efforts to save our Boeing/United Hangar, to helping
grow GA flying. He's a fascinating, unassuming young man who is using
his famous name to better GA -- and we should all be thankful for him.

- Coolest formation of the week -- a DC-3 with four Yak/Nanching
radial warbirds off each wing, flying over our tent at about 100 AGL.
I've got a video of it I'll post later that (hopefully) captured it.

- Coolest overflight of the week -- Kyle(?) Franklin flying aerobatics
in a Twin Beech (really!) came over our campsite at MAYBE 50 AGL. I
*felt* the overflight as much as heard/saw it -- and also (hopefully)
captured it on video tape!

- Regret of the week. We missed the night airshow because we were
attending the off-site Flying Colors Glass party. Actually, I was
happily pressed into service to work as grill-meister on the bratwurst
(brought in special from Wisconsin, of course). It was a great party,
but I have STILL never seen a night air show!

- Observation of the week: Thanks to the hotel, there are now people
who look like people we know EVERYWHERE. We saw folks we *thought* we
knew all over the grounds. Sometimes they WERE the folks we knew, but
most often they were people who looked almost just like them. We
waved and shouted at one couple (who clearly thought we were crazy)
because they looked JUST LIKE two good friends of ours. It was
creepy.

- 2nd Observation: Having the aircraft camping area located at the
end of SNF's single active runway may not be the smartest thing. At
OSH, the daily airshows are held over Rwy 18/36, while the bulk of the
camping area is at the end of Rwy 27. This positioning would protect
campers from most airshow mishaps.

Not so at SNF, as they close their only other runway (5/23), meaning
that the airshow is performed directly over -- and at -- the
campground.

Although they don't camp planes directly in line with the end of the
runway, because of crosswinds an out-of-control aircraft, or even a
long landing or engine-out incident could go directly into the camping
area, with great loss of life/property. This was graphically brought
home to me while watching (and filming) the very cool Twin Beech
routine.

- The food at SNF continues to be head-and-shoulders above Oshkosh.
Part of this is necessary -- there are NO off-field options -- but
part of it is just good planning. We had some of the best Greek food
we've had ANYWHERE -- a gyros that was to die for, and some fantastic
shish-kebob -- and the fresh shrimp was great, too. Best of all,
there was a real, live SALAD BAR on the field, which meant that -- for
at least one meal -- you didn't have to eat deep-fried-greasy food.

- Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is gone, but in its place was an
establishment every bit as good, serving Pina Coladas, Strawberry
Daquiris, and Margaritas. By Day Two we were settled into a schedule
that included a mid-afternoon Pina Colada break, whilst comfortably
ensconced in an adirondack chair, soaking up that fantastic Florida
sunshine. It was heaven.

- The beer served on the field was....appalling. You could have any
beer you'd like, as long as it was made with...rice. Luckily, pina
coladas are mighty tasty, too.

As an aside, the ability to enjoy an adult beverage on the field is
one of the simple pleasures that Oshkosh should learn and embrace.
And the money raised, at $8 bucks a pop, is substantial, I'm sure.

- Idiots In Golf Carts (we call them "IGiCs") were EVERYWHERE again,
as well as gators and personal vehicles. Apparently someone is going
to have to die before event organizers ban these abominations from the
field. If you can't walk, rent one of those electric scooters -- and
stay the hell off my heels!

- Despite this, we could not bring our bicycles on the grounds during
the day. This wasn't a terrible hardship, but seemed to present an
interesting double standard.

- Bringing the bikes was a Godsend. Because we didn't have the kids
with us (thanks to Montblack!), we were able to remove the back seats
from Atlas and bring our full-sized mountain bikes (actually our kids'
bikes), which made getting to the showers and the front gate much
easier.

- Florida saw grass WILL cut through the bottom of your ground cloth,
tent, sock, and foot, with alarming ease. Make sure you stomp it all
down BEFORE setting up your tent.

- Departing LAL was simplicity itself, although the wait was
substantial. We usually wait to leave until the last day, but we had
to be back to Iowa by Sunday, which meant leaving on the busiest day.
As a result, we taxied/idled for over 45 minutes before departure. (A
Spitfire ahead of us shut his engine down after 20 minutes...)

- Having the year-round campground adjacent to the aircraft campground
makes for some interesting conversations. Unlike OSH, everyone you
meet in the shower isn't a pilot, and it was fascinating to meet guys
who owned $200K motor homes who thought owning an airplane must be
prohibitively expensive. We NEED to do a better job of educating the
public about GA!

- Alligator is absolutely delicious. I'd never had it before, and it
was succulent, juicy, and tasted a lot like chicken, but with the
consistency of beef.

- Sleeping on an 8-inch airbed makes camping on the field every bit as
comfortable as a motel. In fact, it was MORE comfortable than the bed
in the motel in Tallahassee.

- Clamp-on umbrellas (that attach to your chair) are absolutely
necessary in the Florida sunshine. Luckily, we brought two.

- Jim Fisher (formerly a VERY active member of this group) is still
alive and well, and we dropped in on him in Muscle Shoals, AL on our
way home. Unannounced, of course! Nonetheless, he dropped everything
and let us take him out to lunch. As planned, he had just eaten -- so
we got off cheap!
:-)

- The housing market around Lakeland is very unusual, by midwest
standards. We saw million-dollar homes built adjacent to ramshackle
trailers, and no apparent consistency in how things are built.
"Zoning" ordinances are apparently a foreign concept, which is both
good and bad.

- Maybe partially as a result of these zoning quirks, the housing
market isn't as crazy as we thought it would be. We attended a party
at South Lakeland Airport, a private 4000' grass strip surrounded by
homes with hangars, where they fly everything from King Airs to
ultralights. It is still possible to buy a home with a hangar there
for around $350K -- far less than I would have believed.

- Much of Florida is still completely undeveloped. Between
Tallahassee and Lakeland there is a lot of absolutely nothing except
trees, even along the sunny Gulf Coast.

- Sun N Fun isn't Oshkosh -- nothing can come close to OSH -- and
that's a good thing. It's a fantastic fly-in, and is just different
enough to be worth doing without stealing any thunder from
AirVenture. I wish it were earlier in the spring, but I understand
why they have pushed it back to April -- the weather is just TOO
unpredictable in February/March to guarantee attendance.

Thanks to Montblack (for keeping an eye on our kids while were gone)
it was a great time, and we met a lot of fantastic people -- many from
this very newsgroup. Our taste has been wetted for OSH, and we can't
wait for July!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"