Sun N Fun: Spring Break for Pilots, Picture Opportunity for Me

I love a good airshow. I kick myself for not having gone to Sun N Fun before, considering I used to live in Lakeland where it is hosted every year.

This Sun N Fun featured every facet of flight that I person could be interested in. Billed as “Spring Break for Pilots”, hundreds of small aircraft fly in from all over the world. You’ll see Cessnas, small private prop planes, warbirds and jets all converge onto this site for five days of fun, aerial acrobatics and exhibition.

For non-pilots like me, there are a few hurdles to enjoying the show. Firstly, the organizers don’t make it apparent where to park or what to do. I drove around the Lakeland Linder airport a dozen times, asking various people posted at gates what to do. No one seemed to know. I finally ended up parking in the only place I could find, walking a half mile to the ticket booth, walking another half mile or so to the tarmack and taking my spot next to the runway.

Secondly, the way the exhibits are laid out are different than most festivals. There were a couple of small food/drink shops set up but they were all clustered together. Usually, they are spread apart for easy access no matter where the crowd is. Thirdly, the bathrooms were all at the very back of the show instead of being strategically placed. None of these are deal breakers, but it did make tasks that are normally integrated difficult if you planned on being at the show all day.

The airshow itself was quite nice. As I got there, a series of four Aeroshell acrobat planes took to the skies and performed a number of maneuvers.

Next, the Navy’s F-18 came out and performed a series of high speed and low speed tricks. Here you can see a slow pass at less than 100MPH. It amazes me how they can keep such a heavy plane aloft at such low speeds, but it’s just one of the many features of this jet.

Just watching it take off at near vertical was incredible.

The fact that it could turn upside down in almost zero time was incredible too. At one point, the pilot continued to barrel roll across the staging area.

But slow isn’t what these jets are known for. I’ve seen jets in afterburner before as they pass Mach 1.1, but this one had an exceptionally long vapor trail. I was really hoping he would create a sonic boom, but no such luck.

Talk about control! Here you see the burners as he turned hard left and banked on the axis. This whole maneuver took less than a second and he was going the other direction.

At the end of the jet show, a jet and a warbird did a banana pass together, showing off their underbellies.

The staging area was filled with warbirds from the WW2 and post-WW2 era. Every time I get near one of these beauties, I’m amazed by how impressive they really are. It’s like standing next to a bomb, or a drag racer. So much innovation went into something the designs 50 to 70 years ago. Even though we have planes that are faster and better in every way now, it’s amazing to me how much they got done with the technology available at the time.

The crowd was attentive, even between shows. Here you see the lawn by the tarmac, filled with people video taping and grabbing photos.

Sun-N-Fun returns to Lakeland next spring. I’m hoping I can spend the whole weekend there, as just have one day isn’t enough to take in even a fraction of the whole experience.

For the complete photo set, see the gallery:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/denisbaldwin/sets/72157617268438305/

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