April 1, 2012 SUN 'n FUN Today

TODAY’S SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

Jack Phelan captured this photo and claimed Best of Show in the Nikon Photo Contest.

Johnathan Silva’s photo took first place in the Airplanes as Art category in the Nikon Photo Contest.

Phot

o by

Jac

k Ph

elan

April 1, 2012 SUN ’n FUN Today - www.sun-n-fun.org FREE

The Official Daily Newspaper of the SUN ’n FUN Fly-In

Today’s HighlightsVolunteer Parade 7:30 a.m.

Thunderbirds performIn today’s airshow

Forum: iPad takes flight! 10 a.m. in Room 3, Central Florida Aerospace Academy

Table of ContentsTown Hall Meeting ....................................................3Flying “FIFI” ............................................................... 4SAFEty Amulets ..........................................................6A rare bird ...................................................................8An international flair .............................................. 10Workshops changing lives .................................. 16SUN ’n FUN’s official superstore ........................ 17Thunderbirds dazzle crowds ............................... 18“FIFI” lands at SUN ’n FUN ....................................... 20Black Diamonds: The home team....................... 22Tune in to SUN ’n FUN Radio ............................... 25Flying High Coffee fuels SUN ’n FUN ................. 26Flying Musicians perform ................................... 27International Visitors Tent .................................... 31Don’t miss the Florida Air Museum .................... 32Parts Exchange ....................................................... 34King Schools unveils new courses .................... 41Live Your Dream ..................................................... 14Photo Contest winners .......................................... 42What’s happening today ....................................... 46Volunteer Parade .................................................... 47This year’s award winners ................................... 48Barbie’s airplane ..................................................... 54

published by

The grand prize winner of the Nikon Photo Contest took first place with the stunning photo above.

Jack Phelan won a Nikon P7100 cam-era when prizes were handed out Saturday at SUN ’n FUN.

Participants in the contest appeared to universally agree that the photo was an amazing capture. Phelan noted that he was in the right place at the right time to click the shutter.

SUN ’n FUN and Nikon have hosted the photo contest for years. This year, just 35 people were allowed to compete, with all photos required to be to the judges by 10 p.m. Friday.

Nikon aviation photographer Bill Fort-ney, and José Ramos, SUN ’n FUN’s resi-dent photographer, chose the winners in the various categories.

Fortney and Ramos presented a short workshop on photography from their long experience in the field, offering tips and tricks to all the participants.

See other examples of the winners on pages 44-45.

Photo Finish

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By JANICE WOOD

This has actually been a banner year for general aviation, according to U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), who hosted a Town Hall Meeting Saturday morning on the SUN ’n FUN campus.

“We got a lot done in the FAA reautho-rization,” he reported.

Among the victories were amendments that protect Through The Fence agree-ments — “I think local airports should be able to make those decisions themselves,” he said — as well as language that pre-serves and protects data on antique air-planes and makes it available to restorers and airplane owners.

“We also were able to keep user fees out of the FAA reauthorization,” Graves said. “That was the No. 1 thing we worked to keep out of the bill, but user fees reared their head in the budget.”

In his proposed budget, President Ba-rack Obama has proposed a $100 per flight fee for aircraft. And while it exempts piston aircraft and those flown recreation-ally, the proposal still has GA advocates worried.

“It’s just for jets now, but in other countries whenever a user fee is enacted, it spread to all GA,” noted Craig Fuller, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pi-lots Association (AOPA). “Half of the members of Congress already sent a let-ter to the president saying no to user fees.

They said ‘don’t even send it here, we won’t debate it.’”

Graves, who penned the letter with other members of the General Aviation Caucus in the Congress, notes that the administration is trying to sell user fees as going to fund the Next Generation Air Transportation System — the upgrading of the Air Traffic Control system — “but it isn’t,” he said. “It’s going right into the General Fund. It’s revenue mining.”

Graves noted the fight against user fees is a non-partisan issue, with most of Con-gress against them.

“We are asking the president to drop user fees once and for all,” he said. “We do not want user fees in the U.S. It will destroy our industry.”

But what about paying our fair share?AOPA’s Fuller noted that 2/3 of the

FAA’s $16 billion budget is funded by people who use the air traffic control system — passenger and airline fees, and fuel taxes paid by general avia-tion pilots and the airlines. The remain-ing third comes from the General Fund. “The entire nation benefits greatly by our air traffic control system, even for those people who never get on a plane,” he said.

He added that general aviation pilots have made it known that they are willing to pay higher fuel taxes — “if the money is used for aviation.”

Graves is also optimistic about another

proposal before Congress called the Pi-lot’s Bill of Rights, introduced by Okla-homa Sen. James Inhofe last summer, while Graves introduced a similar pro-posal in the House.

The Bill of Rights covers a variety of issues important to pilots, including giv-ing pilots access to information that is being used in an investigation about them — “now that information is very hard to find,” Graves said.

It also would require the FAA to review its NOTAM program. “That information is also hard to get your hands on if they say you violated a FAR,” he said. “It’s hard to get a copy of a NOTAM afterwards.”

The bill also would make sure informa-tion gathered by contract control towers is made available to pilots. Now if you want that information, you have to file a subpoena.

Lastly, the Bill of Rights would require a review of the medical certification pro-cess. Graves wants to “move in the direc-tion that gives the pilot the benefit of the doubt rather than being assumed guilty and having to prove your innocence.”

He added he hopes the Pilot’s Bill of Rights will get passed this year, noting that Inhofe already has a majority of the Senate — 60 of his colleagues — as co-sponsors of the bill.

A banner year — but the fight continues

Sam Graves addresses a question from the audience.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO RECYCLE

lifeisflying www. .com

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Life is Flying


ISSuE 6 — SuNDAy APRIl 1, 2012

PuBlISHERSJohn “Lites” Leenhouts

Ben Sclair

EDITORIAl STAFFMeg Godlewski

Janice Wood

ADvERTISINGLarry Price

Mickey Price

PRODuCTIONRussell Kasselman

DISTRIBuTIONArthur Ward

Paulette Ward

CONTRIBuTING WRITERSJ. Douglas Hinton

Deb McFarland Jack Neubacher

SUN ’n FUN Today is published each day of the SUN ’n FUN Fly-In by Flyer Media, Inc., publishers of General Aviation News and Living With Your Plane. Copies of SUN ’n FUN Today are distributed free of charge throughout the fly-in grounds.

Subscriptions to General Aviation News, $35.00 for two years (at the fly-in).

Visit our exhibit space, C-62.

The views and opinions contained herein do not necessarily reflect those of SUN ’n FUN Fly-In, Inc. Neither SUN ’n FUN Fly-In, Inc., nor Flyer Media, Inc. endorse or sanction the products advertised herein, and do not assume responsibility for such advertising.

www.sun-n-fun.orgwww.generalaviationnews.com

© 2012 Flyer Media, Inc., SUN ’n FUN Fly-In, Inc.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of photos or articles by any means is prohibited without written consent.

By JANICE WOOD

One of the stars of this year’s SUN ’n FUN is, without a doubt, “FIFI,” the Commemorative Air Force’s B-29.

Just out of a six-year restoration, “FIFI,” the only airworthy B-29 in the world, has been touring the country, mak-ing more than 100 ride flights last year, said Stephan Brown, CAF president.

And while the historic bomber is 68 years old, the PIC is just 29 years old.

“This is the new face of the CAF,” said Brown, introducing pilot David Oliver, as

well as co-pilots Debbie Travis King and Tracey Trothe.

“We are often viewed as a good old boys club, but that is not who we are,” Brown said. “We are about the mission.”

And that mission is to honor American military aviation through flight, exhibi-tion and remembrance.

As it prepares to celebrate its 55th an-niversary, CAF is looking to the future.

What began in 1957 when Lloyd P. No-len and a small group of ex-service pilots pooled their money to buy a P-51 Mus-tang, has grown into the world’s premiere Warbird organization, operating 156 vin-tage aircraft around the country.

As the group has evolved — changing its original name Confederate Air Force to Commemorative Air Force as just one sign of those changes — officials realized they needed to do a better job of getting their message out to the public. “We are one of the most dynamic aviation organi-zations out there,” Brown said, noting that in the past, the group wasn’t really known in the general aviation community.

To boost visibility, CAF teamed with country music star Aaron Tippin — who is also a passionate aviator — to launch the “Red, White & Loud” tour, in which he plays concerts in front of “FIFI” at air-shows and other venues.

CAF also created the RISE ABOVE exhibit, a traveling movie theater that plays a documentary telling the story of

the Tuskegee Airmen. It has been on the Warbird Ramp all week. The week before SUN ’n FUN it traveled to schools in the area, presenting the documentary and the message to reach for your dreams, to hun-dreds of children.

One of those who achieved his dream was Oliver, who recalls seeing “FIFI” as a 13-year-old boy at Oshkosh. “I was enamored by the plane and its story,” he said. “Fast forward to 2011 and I got the chance to fly ‘FIFI’ into Oshkosh. That speaks to how important it is for young people to become involved in the his-tory of our country. I hope that one day my grandson will get to see ‘FIFI’ fly into Osh kosh and then some day he can fly ‘FIFI’ into Oshkosh. We want to continue to tell that story — that’s our mission.”

See “FIFI” on the Warbird Ramp, as well as the Commemorative Air Force’s tent.

CommemorativeAirForce.org

Flying ‘FIFI’

BY THE NUMBERSCAF has 70 Wings in 28 states, • with 9,000 members.It operates 156 aircraft.• It’s jewel, “FIFI,” costs $9,000 • an hour to fly.CAF is celebrating its 55th an-• niversary this year.

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Jeppesen now offers complete, custom-izable training solutions for flight schools, instructors and students, officials reported this week at SUN ’n FUN.

The complete Jeppesen program offers flight training courses and business man-agement functions designed to increase training efficiency, company officials said. Working to improve student pilot retention rates from sport to commercial aviation and to address an expected fu-ture pilot shortage, the training solutions are available for flight schools, universi-ties and CFIs. Web-based delivery of en-hanced courses include Jeppesen Sport Pilot Online, Private Pilot Online, Instru-ment Pilot Online and Commercial Pilot Online.

The web-based training courses allow student pilots to work according to their own schedules and offer realistic scenari-os and multi-media learning strategies.

Recently introduced training products from Jeppesen have bolstered complete training solutions offered for student pi-lots. These elements include the Jeppesen Aircraft Total Training solution suite for intensive learning of specific aircraft models and the development of compan-ion guides used to supplement course ma-terials. The Jeppesen SkyManager system provides flight training operators with business management resources such as online scheduling, professional account-ing, maintenance tracking, real-time dis-patching, and more.

Complete training solutions offered by Jeppesen also eliminate the need for flight training organizations to draw upon multiple resources for training materials, as bundled, customized curriculum and student-purchased elements are offered directly from a single provider, company officials said, noting Jeppesen provides pilot supplies, test preparation materials, e-learning programs, training program syllabus guidelines and IFR and VFR charts.

Find out more at Jeppesen’s exhibit in Hangar C, Spaces 17-21, or at Jeppesen.com.

Jepp offers training solutions

Alan Davis (left) and Cliff Chetwin, both Society of Aviation and Flight Edu-cators (SAFE) directors, proudly wear pieces of the framework of their tent from 2011. Davis calls them “SAFEty Amu-lets.”

Davis and Chetwin were in the SAFE tent when last year’s tornado hit.

“Cliff and I were hanging onto the crossbar when the tornado hit,” said Da-vis. “The tent, along with the two of us, were lifted about 3 feet off the ground...twice. The third time we were lifted, we let go about 5 feet in the air. The tent blew two spaces away.”

SAFE’s new tent is in the Northeast ex-hibit area, Space 6.

SAFEty Amulets

Phot

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Ben

Scl

air

If you’ve lost something, be sure to head to the Lost & Found, which is di-rectly across from the Main Gate in the Volunteer Center.

“We just returned a pair of prescription bifocal glasses that were lost two years ago,” a volunteer reports. “And a little boy lost his wallet with a Spider-Man on it. You should have seen his face when he found it and saw all his money was still there!”

If you’ve found any items, you can drop them off at Lost & Found and the volun-teers will do what they can to get it back to its rightful owner.

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By MEG GODlEWSKI

When you think corporate airplane, the image of Gulfstreams and Citation jets may come to mind. But the folks at ComLine Pro had something else in mind: A 1969 Polish-built PZL.

The PZL attracts a lot of attention because it’s so unusual, not PZL Greg Custer, who notes there are only about three in the United States. Most people don’t recognize the plane, he added. “It was built under license from Yake-lov Aircraft. It’s been called a Wilga, a Beaver, you name it.”

The PZL was designed to be a Short Takeoff and Land (STOL) aircraft. It sports a 360-hp MP3P supercharged ra-dial engine and leading edge slats that allow it to takeoff and land just about anywhere. The high-wing taildragger can be found in the single-engine war-bird parking area.

You can find ComLine Pro in Hangar D in the Head Sets Inc. booth.

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By JANICE WOOD

As the International Welcome Party kicked off Friday night at the AOPA Pa-vilion, a quick check of the International Visitor Registration Board showed that 1,620 international visitors had registered so far from 70 countries, ranging from Aruba to Greenland.

The highest tally, however, was by Bra-zil. No doubt boosting the numbers was a tour group brought in by Candiota Op-eradora, a tour group headed by a Brazil-ian couple, Luciana and Claudio Candiota Filho.

A pilot, Claudio has been leading avia-tion-themed tour groups every year to Os-hkosh since 1982. His first group had just 15 Brazilians. Last year, it was 200.

“But it is very difficult to take people to Oshkosh as it is so far away,” he said. “SUN ’n FUN is much easier.”

After meeting past-president John Bur-ton, who encouraged the group to visit SUN ’n FUN, they decided to take the plunge. The first year they didn’t expect too many people to sign up, but were pleasantly surprised to get 60 people for the tour. The next year that number grew to 89, while this year the group numbers 110.

While the airshow is a big draw, it helps that SUN ’n FUN is conveniently located to Orlando with its many theme parks, in-cluding DisneyWorld, Universal Studios,

and more. Often the pilot in the family will head to SUN ’n FUN while the rest of the family goes to visit Mickey Mouse. And a lot of the visitors will go shopping, Claudio said.

“Brazilians are the #1 shoppers in Flor-ida,” he said.

And that should be good news for SUN ’n FUN exhibitors as many of the Brazil-ians — and other international visitors — head to the airshow to buy parts that would cost “up to three times more” in Brazil. The exhibitors seem to be picking up on this as many have people in their booths who speak Portugese, he noted.

While most of the people in the tour group fly to the U.S. commercially, some

do end up flying their own airplanes — like the few gentlemen who flew their RV-10s to Oshkosh a few years ago.

Like many international pilots, Claudio notes that flying in the U.S. is quite differ-ent than flying in Brazil. He cautions U.S. pilots thinking of making the trek south to talk to others who have done it to get some advice. “Airport fees are high, so you should plan not to land at an interna-tional airport,” he suggests.

And expect sticker shock at the pump.While he didn’t have avgas prices on

hand, he did report that auto gas is selling for $6 a gallon in Brazil these days.

There are airshows in Brazil, “but noth-ing like this,” Claudio said.

Which is why planning for the tour group to return to SUN ’n FUN next year will begin the moment they return to Bra-zil.

“All the people are talking about how they want to come back,” he said, noting next year he hopes the group will grow in size to 150 aviation enthuasiasts.

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An international flair

Phot

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Rus

sell

Kass

elm

an

Phot

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Jan

ice

Woo

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Guardian Avionics by CO Guardian has introduced the Aero 454, which re-ceives data from your airplane’s Garmin GPS system (430, 530, 650, 750, G900, or G1000) and transmits it simultaneously to as many three iPad/tablet devices held by pilots or passengers.

The new Aero 454, an FAA/TSO cer-tified product, can reference locations, maps, flight plans, and more.

“You will have no more GPS signal loss because of banking or a heated wind-shield,” said Ash Vij, president. “The Aero 454 will delight your passengers with ETA through their iPads. It will help eliminate the ‘Are we there yet?’ questions, because it interfaces with 21st century iPads and tablets like nothing else can.”

The Aero 454, with CO detector, mounts in most panels, he added.

Find out more at the company’s booth in Hangar D, Space 62 or at

GuardianAvionics.com

The AOPA Foundation has unveiled a plan to expand its Hat in the Ring Society and bestow four awards on those in the general aviation industry who have made strides in each of the categories.

The society, chaired by actor and GA advocate Morgan Freeman and co-chaired by author Stuart Woods, air race pilot Mike Goulian, actor-comedian Dave Coulier and renowned celebrity chef Al-ton Brown, is open to anyone donating $1,000 a year to the AOPA Foundation.

All proceeds support the founda-tion’s mission to improve aviation safety through the Air Safety Institute, preserve community airports, and encourage learn-ing to fly for career and personal benefit. In addition to supporting the future of GA, Hat in the Ring Society members also receive invitations to AOPA Avia-tion Roundtables and other events to meet with AOPA leadership and discuss issues facing the industry.

“Through this newly revitalized pro-gram, the AOPA Foundation is hoping to build a nationwide network to showcase the contributions of general aviation’s leaders, pioneers, and practitioners,” said President Bruce Landsberg. “Just as im-portant, the Hat in the Ring Society will be building a network of advocates with the means and enthusiasm to expand the foundation’s mission.”

The AOPA Foundation will select the winners and confer the awards on Oct. 11 during the “Night for Flight” event at AOPA Aviation Summit in Palm Springs, Calif.

Aero 454 debuts

Hat in the Ring Society to honor GA

Syd Cohen with his highly polished, award-winning Ercoupe. Note the plac-ard on the leftside of the prop: Cohen has flown 1,042 young Eagles. The Ercoupe is a two-place design. you do the math.

1,042 Young Eagles flown

Phot

o by

Meg

God

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The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) officially opened a Composite Squadron at the Cen-tral Florida Aerospace Academy (CFAA) on Saturday at an 11 a.m. ceremony.

The new squadron boasts 59 cadets and 17 senior members under the command of newly commissioned First Lieuten-ant Lori Bradner.

“More than 18 months ago, Cadet Lieu-tenant Colonel Timothy Pollock asked for assistance in starting a CAP squadron here at CFAA,” said Bradner. “We spent a lot of time learning from Commander Chris-topher Latocki and his team at the Chuck Yeager Squadron in Brandon, Fla.”

“Prior to exploring all the CAP has to offer, I didn’t know a great deal about the organization,” continued Bradner. “But after the last year and a half of learning, I’m confident the student cadets and adult senior members couldn’t be paired up with a better organization.”

The past three to four months have been hectic with recruiting. Pollock played a leading role in recruiting fellow students to join CAP, she said, noting, “in fact, Cadet Pollock coordinated the rifle team demonstration to start the ceremony.”

In a display of partnership, Air Force ROTC Lieutenant Colonel John Miller pinned Bradner’s First Lieutenant rank at the ceremony.

Florida Wing moving to SUN ’n FUN

The ceremony concluded with SUN ’n FUN President John “Lites” Leenhouts, CAP Florida Wing Commander Colo-nel Michael Cook, and Vice Command-er Lieutenant Colonel Phil Zedonek announcing the headquarters of the Flor-ida Wing of the CAP will be moving to the SUN ’n FUN campus.

“The Florida Wing has been without a permanent home since the attacks of 9/11,” said Zedonek. “At the time, we were located on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, but were asked to leave for se-curity reasons.”

At present, the Florida Wing is operat-ing from the Coast Guard Station in Opa Locka. The Wing should be settled in be-fore next year’s fly-in, Lites said.

CAP Squadron launches at CFAA

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Taking flight

Changing lives, one rivet at a timeBy JANICE WOOD

Interested in building an airplane, but just not sure if you can do it? You can hone your skills — and increase your confidence — at the SUN ’n FUN Work-shops.

This year there are 14 workshops of-fered near the Buehler Restoration Cen-ter and the Florida Air Museum, covering everything from engines to basic sheet metal, composites, metal shaping, fabric covering, avionics, and more, reported Vic Boyce, workshops chairman. “Every-one is welcome,” he said, noting, “they are all hands-on workshops.”

There are 167 volunteers at the work-shops, including Burl Nelson of Diamond-head, Miss., who was manning the Sheet Metal and Riveting Workshop. He noted that Van’s Aircraft and Zenith Aircraft both donated supplies for the workshop, including parts for participants to work on. Zenith donated the pieces for would-be builders to create a Drawings Binder. Putting it together gives people a chance

to do some rivets and get their hands on a project, he said.

Such a small project can make a big dif-ference, according to Boyce.

“People have told me that we’ve changed their lives,” he said. “They say, ‘before I came to SUN ’n FUN, I couldn’t do any-thing and now I can build a plane.’”

It’s all a matter of showing people what is possible, Nelson added, telling the story of a young couple in their 20s who showed up a few years ago, the man all excited about building his own plane and the woman just tagging along, unsure of what to do. Nelson looked her in the eye and said, “You’re going to help him, right?”

“She said, ‘oh no, I can’t do that,’” Nelson recalled. “I took her to a table and showed her what to do and within 15 minutes she looked at me and said, “you know, I think I can do this.’ We got her to where she saw that she could learn.”

“We turn the key,” Boyce chimed in.Want to join in the fun? The workshops

run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

By JANICE WOOD

A few days from now, Joe Birch of Corrigan, Texas, will do something that very few people get to do: Fly the plane he built with his own two hands for the first time.

As he sat in the workshops area of SUN ’n FUN earlier this week, he recalled the day back in 2008 when he walked into one of the workshops and found a group

of volunteers building a Zenith 701 that, once complete, was to be donated to a charity (Sadly, the “Spirit of Hope,” as it was dubbed, was destroyed in last year’s tornado).

But back in 2008, Birch found himself working on that plane every day he was at SUN ’n FUN. When he bought his Zenith 750 kit — “I fell in love with that plane,” he said — he was prepared for the proj-ect.

Getting that hands-on experience at SUN ’n FUN “taught me all the skills I needed to build mine,” he said.

“He was practicing on mine,” Burl Nel-son, who headed up the “Spirit of Hope” project, said with a laugh, “so he knew he could build his.”

Birch built the Zenith all by himself, taking about four years to complete the project. Just a few months ago, he head-ed to Carson City, Nev., for six hours of transition training with a CFI to prepare for his first flight. With the DAR sign-off complete, he was anticipating first flight in the week after he returned home.

“I just turned 73,” he said. “This will be my birthday present to myself.”

volunteering OpportunitiesWould you like to volunteer at SUN

’n FUN? Stop by the Volunteer Center across from the Main Admissions Gate to find out more.

About 3,000 volunteers help SUN ’n FUN be a success every year.

Monda Thompson, workshops co-chairman, vic Boyce, workshops chairman, Joe Birch, a workshops participant, and Burl Nelson, a workshops volunteer, hold one of the remaining pieces of the “Spirit of Hope,” a Zenith 701 that was built in the workshops area over the last few years but was, sadly, de-stroyed by last year’s tornado.

Joe Birch

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March 27-April 1, 2012 Sun ’n Fun Today - www.sun-n-fun.org 17

In addition to the complimentary In-ternet Cafe co-located with the Tourism Information Center near Sunset Grill and in Hangar E, guests can get wireless In-ternet access for a fee from BrightHouse Networks, a SUN ’n FUN sponsor.

WiFi access is $9.95 for one day or $29.95 for the week. Stop by the Internet Cafe for more information.

TEXT UPDATESWant to keep up with everything that’s

going on around the airshow grounds?You can get event updates by texting

SNFUPDATE to 69050 and weather alerts by texting SNFALERT to 69050. You can stop the texts by texting STOP to 69050.

PILOT BRIEFING CENTERCome to the Pilot Briefing Center next

to the showers by the Vintage Headquar-ters for the latest information on taxi pro-cedures, field opening and closing sched-ules, availability of tie-downs, fly-by information, demonstration ride staging, information relative to the grass strip, and radio frequencies.

WEATHER BRIEFINGSeveral self-briefing weather stations

provided by XmWx Satellite Weather are available at Vintage, Homebuilt, Light-plane, Warbird and Choppertown HQs, Aircraft Camping Registration, GA Park-ing, Seaplane Parking, the Pilot Mall store, and the Florida Air Museum.

Stay in the know

Look for a lot of new products this year at PilotMall.com, the “Official Aviation Superstore of SUN ’n FUN.”

“We have over 300 new products,” said Neil Glazer, president of PilotMall.com, which sells more than 4,000 products on-line and has operated the 4,000-square-foot retail store located across from Han-gar B for four years.

Glazer notes that he and other company officials spent the last year finding new things for the store, including more gift items, more toys, and even some aviation art. “There’s a lot of cool new stuff,” he said.

But don’t worry: The store will still car-ry official SUN ’n FUN merchandise, as well as Thunderbirds merchandise. And because the weather last year was so bad, PilotMall.com still has a supply of 2011’s official merchandise for those pilots who didn’t get a chance to get here.

One item that was particularly popular last year was the “I Survived the SUN ’n FUN Tornado” T-shirt, which sold out in minutes after going on sale just two days after the tornado. This year, the shirt will be available in a sapphire blue. Last year’s shirts were only available in gray.

The store also carries a full line of pi-lot supplies, charts, books, headsets, and transceivers.

Besides the store, PilotMall.com will operate four merchandise tents around the grounds: Near the new Kid Zone by the main admission window, in front of the Sunset Grill, near the VIP seating area, and near the Warbird Ramp. There also will be a mobile cart driving through the grounds with merchandise for sale.

PilotMall.com also is featuring several free giveaways to the first 1,000 custom-ers, including ball caps, key chains “and other pilot swag,” Glazer said.

The store also will feature an exhibit by Angel Flight Southeast, including the opportunity to find out more about the group’s Texas Hold’em fundraiser, slated for Saturday, March 31.

The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the fly-in.

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The United States Air Force Thunder-birds military jet team will perform Fri-day, Saturday and Sunday. The team is ex-pected to arrive Thursday around 3 p.m.

“We are delighted that the Thunderbirds will return to the skies over Lakeland, knowing the remarkable impact their

appearance made on all our guests and friends throughout Polk and Hillsborough Counties in 2008 and 2010,” said SUN ’n FUN President and CEO John “Lites” Leenhouts.

The Thunderbirds (officially named the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration

Squadron) perform precision aerial ma-neuvers demonstrating the capabilities of the Air Force’s high-performance air-craft to people throughout the world. The Thunderbirds squadron is an Air Combat Command unit composed of eight pilots (including six demonstration pilots), four support officers, three civilians, and more than 130 enlisted personnel performing in 25 career fields. The air demonstration is a combination of formation flying and solo routines.

The four-aircraft “Diamond Formation” demonstrates the training and precision of the Air Force pilots, while the solo air-craft highlight the maximum capabilities of the F-16 “Fighting Falcon,” the fighter jet employed by the Thunderbirds team.

The Thunderbirds perform approxi-mately 30 maneuvers during their demon-strations. The entire Thunderbird perfor-mance, including ground and air routines, runs about an hour and 15 minutes.

In addition to their responsibilities as the official U.S. Air Force aerial demon-stration team, the Thunderbirds are part of America’s active combat force. If re-quired, the team’s personnel and aircraft

can be quickly integrated into a fighter unit at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where the F-16s can be made combat-ready in less than 72 hours.

Thunderbirds to dazzle crowdsExpanded jet box requires campground evacuation

During the Thunderbirds’ demon-strations, the FAA requires everyone to evacuate the area north of Yel-low Line on Poberezny Road in the campground.

Campers will be advised of when they must vacate the area by SUN ’n FUN officials, but should expect to have to do this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

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The Commemorative Air Force brings one of its stars, “FIFI,” the last airworthy B-29 Superfortress, to this week’s air-show.

With a place of honor on the Warbird ramp, “FIFI” will be open for ground cockpit tours, when not in operation. Tours are $5 for adults and $2 for children 5-12. World War II and Korean veterans can tour the bomber for free, as well as active duty military.

The bomber also will be giving rides during the show. The B-29 holds 10 pas-sengers — four in front (including the bombardier) and six in the rear gunner’s compartment. Passengers in the gunner’s compartment are not able to move to the front of the aircraft because the bomb bay separates the two cabins. Passengers must be at least 12 years old.

Rides will be offered Wednesday through Sunday. Check at the Commemo-rative Air Force tent on the Warbird ramp for available times. Rides range in price from $595 to $1,495, depending on where you sit.

The Commemorative Air Force is also bringing its RISE ABOVE Traveling Ex-hibit to SUN ’n FUN. The one-of-a-kind exhibit, dedicated to the Tuskgee Airmen, is housed in a 53-foot customized trailer with sides that slide out to create a 30-seat climate-controlled movie theater with a 180° screen.

The original movie, “RISE ABOVE,”

‘FIFI’ lands at SUN ’n FUN

Country music star Aaron Tippin after his checkout in “FIFI.”

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is certain to entertain as well as educate viewers, CAF officials note.

In the movie “RISE ABOVE,” a young student with the dream of becoming an astronaut finds out that his new friend fought in a long-ago war as a pilot. He also learns that the man had to overcome many obstacles to reach his goal and that any goal worth having is worth working for. Tuskegee Airman Col. (ret) Charles E. McGee plays himself. “Col. Mac” holds the U.S. Air Force record for most combat missions — 409 over three wars.

The movie highlights who the Tuskeg-ee Airmen are and how they overcame so many obstacles to be allowed to train and fight as the first black U.S. Army Air Corps pilots. The film also features the

story of the more than 14,000 other black men and women who trained hard to sup-port the pilots. The courage and determi-nation they all exhibited in the 1940s as they rose above adversity to meet their goals still has the power to inspire Ameri-cans today. In addition, the movie will give viewers a thrilling feel for what it’s like to fly a P-51C Mustang!

“RISE ABOVE” was created by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Adam White of Hemlock Films.

Admission to the RISE ABOVE Trav-eling Exhibit, which is on the Warbird Ramp, is free with on-site registration of a valid email address.

RedTail.org, CommemorativeAirForce.org

The Commemorative Air Force is also bringing the Red, White & Loud Tour starring Aaron Tippin to SUN ’n FUN.

The country music star will take to the stage in the AOPA Pavilion Thursday at 8 p.m. His concert is sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Known for his patriotic songs, Tippin is a platinum-selling recording artist and songwriter with 13 albums and more than 30 singles, including “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagles Fly,” “You’ve

Got to Stand for Something” and “Kiss This.”

A long-time pilot, Tippin soloed on his 16th birthday. He became a commercial multi-engine instrument-rated pilot by the age of 18 and his also helicopter-quali-fied. A certified aircraft and power plant mechanic, he owns a 1941 Stearman, a 1946 J3 Cub and 1959 Helio Curior — all in flying condition. He also is qualified to fly the B-29 “FIFI.”AaronTippin.MusicCityNetworks.com

Country music star Aaron Tippin in concert


When the Black Diamond Jet Team performs during this week’s airshow, you may see the crowd react a bit more en-thusiastically. That’s because the Black Diamonds are Lakeland’s “home team,” based right here at Lakeland-Linder Re-gional Airport (LAL).

The team’s fleet of five L-39s, two MiG-17s, as well as their maintenance and support personnel, are headquartered in hangar and office space in the old Piper Aircraft building.

Last year, the team performed at SUN ’n FUN under the name Heavy Metal Jet Team. But when Gene Conrad, the man-ager of LAL, approached the team about relocating to Lakeland — after getting the backing of City Hall and the SUN ’n FUN management team — the jet team moved here permanently.

Since landing in Lakeland, the Black Diamond Jet Team has added another air-craft to its routine. In addition to the four aircraft precision formation of L-39s, the team also features two solo performers flying MiG-17s.

The L-39 formation is led by Lt. Colo-nel Jerry “Jive” Kerby, USAF (retired). Civilian Jared “Rook” Isaacman flies the right wing, while Doug “Tut” Demko takes the left wing position. The slot po-sition is flown by Major Sean “Stroker” Gustafson, USAF Reserve, while the dy-namic L-39 position is taken by Major John “Slick” Baum, USAF. Captain Dale

“Snort” Snodgrass, USN (retired) fills the lead solo position at the controls of a MiG-17, while his opposing solo pilot

is Commander Mike “Buick” Eberhardt, USN (retired).

The Black Diamonds are slated to per-

form in every airshow this week, except Thursday.

BlackDiamondJetTeam.com

Black Diamond Jet Team: The Home Team


Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt, one of three crew members of Apollo 17, the fi-nal historic mission that concluded the Apollo program, will speak Wednes-day at 8 p.m. in the AOPA Pavilion.

His presentation commemorating the 40th anniversary of that mission is spon-sored by Nikon.

Apollo 17’s crew was the last of 12 hu-mans to step on the surface of the moon. The mission concluded the Apollo pro-gram, which spanned nine years from 1963 to 1972.

Schmitt served as Apollo 17’s Lunar Module Pilot. He joined two other NASA explorers on the mission, Eugene A. Cer-nan, Commander, and Ronald E. Evans, Command Module Pilot.

Schmitt was the first scientist-astronaut to land on the moon. Over the course of 75 hours on the lunar surface, he and Cernan set up six automated research sta-tions, gathered 243 pounds of material, and used the lunar rover vehicle to cover 30.5 kilometers of the lunar surface.

Schmitt has had a storied career as ge-ologist, pilot, astronaut, administrator, businessman, writer, and U.S. Senator. He has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the International Space

Hall of Fame and has received honorary degrees from eight U.S. and Canadian universities.

Dr. Schmitt is co-founder and chairman of Interlune-Intermars Initiative, Inc., cre-ated to advance the private sector’s ac-quisition of lunar resources and Helium-3 fusion power.

He also is the author of “Return to the Moon,” which describes a private en-terprise approach to providing lunar he-lium-3 fusion energy resources for use on Earth.

The book will be available at the pre-sentation and Schmitt will be available for autographs.

Commemorating Apollo 17

Dr. Schmitt on the moon during the Apollo 17 mission.

A new attraction this year is the Mobile Mountain Aviation-Themed Kid Zone, just east of the Main En-trance.

The Kid Zone features jump cas-tles, and a state-of-the-art combina-tion that features a full rock climbing wall and a 200-foot zip line.

Meanwhile, other SUN ’n FUN Youth Activities are based at the new Piedmont Hangar, east of the Tom Davis Educational Center. This area is filled with a variety of interesting aviation-based activities, SUN ’n FUN volunteers said.

Children of all ages will be fasci-nated by the flight simulator lab fea-turing the HotSeat Flight Simulator. Visitors also can enjoy multimedia presentations and movies.

Plus, no visit would be complete without an opportunity to try out the Kid Air II or Scamp, always popular attractions.

And, just in case anyone is hungry, hot dogs and snacks are available.

School tours also begin and end in the Youth Activities Area, allow-ing hundreds of students, teachers, and chaperones to experience a ma-jor aviation event, many for the first time.

Check out the new Kid Zone


Part of the festivities this week includes a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Marine Corps aviation.

Marine Corps aviation took off May 22, 1912, when First Lieutenant Alfred Cunningham was assigned to Annapolis, Maryland, for flight training, followed by First Lieutenant Bernard Smith. Those two Marine officers became the first of a long line of Marine aviators.

While the first Marine aviators flew in the Navy’s B-1, designed by the Wright brothers, today’s pilots fly a variety of aircraft, including the Bell AH-1W Co-bra, the CH-46 Sea Knight, the MV-22 Osprey, and the Sikorsky CH-53 Stallion, as well as the F/A-18 Hornet, the EA-6B Prowler, and the AV-8B Harrier.

As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary, The Parris Island Marine Concert Band will perform Tuesday eve-ning at 8 p.m. at the AOPA Pavilion next to the Florida Air Museum. The 50 mu-sicians will perform selections including patriotic marches, overtures, and instru-mental solos.

MILITARY AIRCRAFT ON DISPLAY

Military aircraft expected to be on dis-play this week include the C-130J Hur-ricane Hunter, KC-135 Stratotanker, F-16C, T-34, F-5, MH-53 Sea Stallion, T-38, F-18, T-45 Goshawk, C9B Skytrain, and F-18C.

Celebrating 100 years of Marine Aviation

MV-22 Ospreys, with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepare to launch off the flight deck of USS Bataan.

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Want to stay on top of all the happenings at SUN ’n FUN? Tune in to SUN ’n FUN Radio on 1510 AM or listen worldwide on the Internet at LiveATC.net/SNF.

The radio station will have more than 30 volunteers covering every aspect of the fly-in, according to Volunteer Radio Chairman Dave Shallbetter.

“We’ll have updates on news and hap-penings around the fly-in, great interviews with aviation notables, up-to-date sched-ules of events, interviews with sponsors, vendors and guests,” he said.

New this year is “Today’s Highlights with Lites,” with new SUN ’n FUN Presi-dent John “Lites” Leenhouts, who will be on each day with updates about the fly-in.

Also new is “The Voices of Vintage.” A special location has been set aside in the Vintage area for a mock “old time studio” where SUN ’n FUN Radio volunteer host Jack Neubacher and others will chat with various guests about owning, restoring and flying vintage aircraft.

Returning this year is “The 99’s Pres-ent,” featuring the 99’s special guests, in-cluding the World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Women in Aviation also will return this

year with its special segment, “Women Shine at SUN ’n FUN.”

“AOPA’s Special Guest” will feature a special guest each day, including an ex-tended interview with AOPA President Craig Fuller on Thursday.

The station also will feature interviews with SUN ’n FUN sponsors, vendors and advertisers, guests and aviation luminar-ies, as well as remote broadcasts of the daily and night airshows, remote broad-

casts of select evening programs, and much more, Shallbetter said.

Also returning this year are live pod-casts. Tuesday will be Jeb Burnside, Dave Higdon and Jack Hodgson, the voices of The Uncontrolled Airspace Podcast (UCAP). Wednesday will be Flight Mon-keys and The Pilot’s Flight Podlog.

Thursday will be The Pilot’s Journey and the premiere of Powered Sport Fly-ing. Friday is the annual aviation podcast feature, The Gathering of Aviation Pod-casters (or The GAP), a kind of open mic night for aviation podcasters, Shallbetter explained.

Saturday is the virtual podcast, “Not at SUN ’n FUN 12” and the Stuck Mic Av-Cast. Wrapping up the week of podcasts will be UCAP on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

“The SUN ’n FUN Radio volunteer

staff does its best to bring you all the happenings at SUN ’n FUN, but we need your help,” Shallbetter said. “Please let us know of any special events, interest-ing stories, or neat people you think we should cover for our radio listeners. You can come by the studio, which is on the end of Club House Row, near the Sunset Grill, email [email protected], or message us on twitter @SnFRadio.

“Special thanks to Dave Pascoe and LiveATC.net for sponsoring the audio streaming (as well as streaming several Air Traffic Control frequencies) on Live-ATC.net/SNF, The Uncontrolled Airspace Podcast for sponsoring the station’s high-speed Internet, Sennheiser for providing equipment support, the SUN ’n FUN staff, and a very special thanks to the SUN ’n FUN Radio volunteer staff, who make it happen,” Shallbetter concluded.

Tune in to SUN ’n FUN Radio

SUN ’n FUN Workshops can help you learn all the skills necessary to build your own plane or work on any other project that uses the same tools and techniques.

Experienced instructors guide you through the techniques for each skill and answer your questions about specific projects.

Many of the workshops are approved by the FAA for credit towards the an-nual requirements for IA renewal and the A&P Awards Program. To get credit for attending, pick up a time sheet at the in-formation booth and have the Workshop Instructor sign it.

Workshops are ongoing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Workshops area, which is near the Buehler Restoration Center and the Florida Air Museum.

Workshops are held on everything from Engines, Aircraft Woodwork, Avionics/Electrical, Basic Sheet Metal, Cable Swaging, Composites, Computer Work-shop (flight planning to GPS navigation to computer-aided design), Fabric Cov-ering, Metal Shaping, Propeller Carving, and Welding.

In the evening, stop by the Compass Rose in the Core Area and stargaze during the Astronomy workshop.

Handicapped Services

Handicapped Services is located on the west side of the Admissions building in the Main Admissions Plaza. Information is available concerning all accessibility concerns.

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The folks at Flying High Coffee have prepared 500 pounds of top-grade coffee beans for this week’s airshow.

The company, founded by a pilot, is the new official coffee of the airshow.

“We’ve carefully combined a very special blend of top-grade coffee beans to bring to Lakeland,” notes Rob Rig-gen, the founder and president of Flying High Coffee, which donates a portion of its profits to non-profit aviation education efforts. “We chose three Arabica varieties from Central and South America to create a full-bodied and complex, yet accessible, cup of coffee for people to enjoy during the week.”

The company is serving brewed hot and iced coffee from three locations: Near the Main Gate, just east of the FAA building towards the flightline, and in Hangar E, where the location includes a sit-down WiFi cafe. Riggen expects to serve be-tween 8,000 and 12,000 cups of coffee during the week.

Riggen, who is a CFII and lover of fine coffee, has a personal goal of doubling the donation his company gave to the Able Flight and Girls With Wings programs in 2011. He also hopes to add another aviation not-for-profit benefactor to his program of funding aviation charities via coffee sales.

“The intention all along of Flying High Coffee is to provide stable and depend-able streams of funding to our not-for-

profit programs,” Riggen says. He esti-mates that millions of dollars of profit are “pumped out” of the aviation industry each year through aviation’s voracious appetite for caffeine. “If we can brew and sell all 500 pounds of our ‘#SnF12 Blend’ we will be in good shape for advancing our program.”

Besides selling coffee by the cup, Fly-ing High Coffee also will be selling coffee for pilots to take home. You can buy the whole beans or have the folks at Flying High Coffee ground the beans for you.

FlyingHighCoffee.com

Flying High Coffee to fuel SUN ’n FUN

The company combined three va-rieties of Arabica coffee beans to bring to the show, as well as de-signed a special label.


The Showcase Fly-Bys are featured daily from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

This is an opportunity for manufactur-ers and individuals to display their aircraft in the air in the Fly-By pattern at show center while having it described over the public address system.

Pilots and their announcers are given

a briefing at the Fly-By and Showcase Briefing building. Briefings are daily at 8, 9, and 10 a.m. and include a description of the Fly-By pattern, staging and launch-ing times. The Showcase crew will be on hand to stage, launch, and recall each air-craft on a discrete radio frequency.

Each aircraft or group of manufac-

turer’s aircraft have exclusive use of the Fly-By pattern for 6 minutes while their representative extols its virtues over the PA system. The same planes can fly on multiple days if times and slots are avail-able, and they usually are, SUN ’n FUN officials said.

Want to get a bird’s eye view of the

show, but don’t want to fly yourself? Try Ride Hoppers. You can fly with Fred Ca-banas in a Pitts Special; Mike Ginter in a T-6, Steve Oliver in a New Standard; or with Otto in a helicopter.

The Ride Hoppers tents can be found near the Warbird ramp. There is an extra fee for the rides.

See the latest in the air with Showcase Fly-Bys

Celebrate music and aviation all week with The Flying Musicians Association.

Members of the organization will be playing throughout the week at a variety of venues, including the Sunset Grill and the Sennheiser S1 Stage at the Corn Roast (near the campgrounds).

Flying Musicians Association member Ravi will be the opening act for Aaron Tippin’s “Red, White & Loud” concert Thursday at 8 p.m. at the AOPA Pavilion near the Florida Air Museum, while an-other member, Jeremy Brady, will be the opening act for Saturday’s Abbott & Cos-tello evening.

Another member, Elgin Wells, will perform the National Anthem at the be-ginning of the airshow Thursday through Saturday, while Friday he takes to the skies, performing his aerobatic routine in the Night Airshow.

Members also will present a number of forums and seminars throughout the week, so check the daily schedules.

Just added to the schedule are kid jam workshops at 10 a.m. each morning Tues-day through Saturday. Kids are invited to bring their musical instruments, including band instruments, to the Sennheiser S1 Stage near the Corn Roast, and learn how to jam, said John Zapp, FMA founder.

The musicians also will be playing near the three Flying High Coffee locations, at the Main Gate, just east of the FAA build-ing towards the flightline, and in Hangar E, which is a sit-down WiFi cafe. The idea is create a coffee house atmosphere at the coffee shops during the week.

Anyone interested in learning more about the association can approach the musicians at any of the venues or go to FlyingMusicians.org.

Flying Musicians to perform all week

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Pipkin Rd.

VeteransWelcome Plaza

The NEWKid Zone! SUN ‘n FUN

Welcome Center

Judges

Forums

Tram Depot

AircraftAircraft

Aircraft

Light PlaneExhibits

CampgroundHost

East Campground(Light Plane Camping)

Parts Exchange

Airshow Central

Supported By: Cleveland Wheels & Brakes

General Auto Parking

Central Florida

Aerospace

Academy (CFAA)

(Forums will be held in the

CFAA Classrooms)

Special Activities Tent 3

Media & ExhibitorParking

FoodserviceParking

GENERAL PARKING

Youth WorkshopsKids Activities

CAMPER REGISTRATION

Shipping Services

Aircraft CampingRegistration

AVBID AIRCRAFT AUCTIONSOVERNIGHT AIRCRAFT CAMPING

Special ActivitiesTent 2 Special Activities

Tent 1

MORE CAMPINGAND CAMPER EXIT

North Exhibits

Flight DeckComm Center

North EastExhibits

Florida Air Museum Pavilion Brought to you by:

YELLOW LINE INDICATES CAMPGROUNDTHUNDERBIRDS EVACUATION

20124175 Medulla Road Lakeland, FL 33811 863-644-2431 www.sun-n-fun.org

Trade-A-Plane Hangar A

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Hangar B

Sarasota AvionicsHangar C

Gulf Coast Avionics/GarminHangar D

CAMPGROUND STORE

ENTRANCE

ENTRANCE

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Club House Row

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EXHIBITSHOMEBUILT AIRCRAFTLIGHT AIRCRAFTROTORCRAFTSEAPLANESVINTAGE AIRCRAFTWARBIRD AIRCRAFTATM

CAMPING

CAR RENTAL

FIRST AID

ICE

MOBILITY RENTAL

PAYPHONES

SHOWERS

TRAM STOPS

XMWX WEATHER STATION

RESTROOMS

YOU ARE HERE

SUN ’n FUN Drive

Map Locations

Designated Smoking Area

FOOD LOCATIONSSee Key Below

EXIT

INTERNATIONAL

FLY-IN & EXPO

Official Generator

Hangar E

Supported by:

Official Souvenir Merchandise Tents

Seaplanes

HEAVY AIRCRAFT PARKIN

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Admissions (D-4)Aerobatic HQ (F-2)Aircraft Auctions – AvBid Aircraft AuctionsAir Operations (G-2)Blood Mobile (E-4)Camping – RV’s, Tents (A-1,2), (B-1,2), (G-4), (H-4)Camper Registration (C-4)Corn Roast and Sennheiser S1 Stage (C-2) Emergency Aircraft Assistance (H-3)Emergency Response Team (C-1), (G-2)Exhibits, Commercial (D-2,3), (E-2,3,4)Exhibits, Light Plane (F-4)FAA (E-3)Flightline Tours (E-2)Handicapped Hospitality (D-4)Homebuilt HQ (E-2), camping – see mapInternational Visitors Center (D-4)Supported by: The Islands of the Bahamas & Gulf Coast Avionics

Internet Cafe (C-2), (D-3) Supported by: Pacific Coast Avionics

Ladies Pavilion (C-2)Lightplane HQ (E-4)Lost & Found (D-4)Maintenance Facility (B-2)Media Center (C-4) Sponsored by: NIKON

Newspaper – SUN ’n FUN Today (D-4)Online Ticket Redemption (C-4), (D-4), (F-3)Parts Exchange (C-2)PilotMall (D-3)Preferred Airshow Seating (E-2)Radio Station (E-3) Supported by: Brighthouse

Rotorcraft HQ (H-4)School Tours (C-4)Seabird HQ (H-3)Security (B-2)Shipping Services (Guests) – FedEx (D-3)Showers (A-2), (C-2), (E-3), (H-4)Southeast Exhibits (E-3,4)Special Activities Tents - (C-4), (D-4), (F-2)SUN ’n FUN Fly-In HQ (D-4)SUN ’n FUN Library & Archives (D-3)Sunset Grill (D-3)Tourism Information (D-3) Supported by: Central FloridaVisitors & Convention Bureau

Type Club (F-3)Vintage HQ (F-3)Volunteer Center (D-4)Warbird HQ (G-2)Youth Workshops (C-4)

TAXI

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FOX

TRO

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TAXIWAY DELTA

TAXIWAY ECHO

VIP InformationCenterOnline Ticket

Redemption

PARKINGLocated in Lindbergh LotLocated in Lindbergh Lot

PreferredParking

Motorcycle Parking

New!

TAXIWAY PAPA

PreferredAirshow Seating VIP COURTYARD

Cl u b

Nikon MediaObservation Deck

(media only upper deck)

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02010

Pipkin Rd.

VeteransWelcome Plaza

The NEWKid Zone! SUN ‘n FUN

Welcome Center

Judges

Forums

Tram Depot

AircraftAircraft

Aircraft

Light PlaneExhibits

CampgroundHost

East Campground(Light Plane Camping)

Parts Exchange

Airshow Central

Supported By: Cleveland Wheels & Brakes

General Auto Parking

Central Florida

Aerospace

Academy (CFAA)

(Forums will be held in the

CFAA Classrooms)

Special Activities Tent 3

Media & ExhibitorParking

FoodserviceParking

GENERAL PARKING

Youth WorkshopsKids Activities

CAMPER REGISTRATION

Shipping Services

Aircraft CampingRegistration

AVBID AIRCRAFT AUCTIONSOVERNIGHT AIRCRAFT CAMPING

Special ActivitiesTent 2 Special Activities

Tent 1

MORE CAMPINGAND CAMPER EXIT

North Exhibits

Flight DeckComm Center

North EastExhibits

Florida Air Museum Pavilion Brought to you by:

YELLOW LINE INDICATES CAMPGROUNDTHUNDERBIRDS EVACUATION

20124175 Medulla Road Lakeland, FL 33811 863-644-2431 www.sun-n-fun.org

Trade-A-Plane Hangar A

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Hangar B

Sarasota AvionicsHangar C

Gulf Coast Avionics/GarminHangar D

CAMPGROUND STORE

ENTRANCE

ENTRANCE

ENTRANCE

EXIT

Club House Row

A

B

C

D E

F

H

G

I

J

K

L

EXHIBITSHOMEBUILT AIRCRAFTLIGHT AIRCRAFTROTORCRAFTSEAPLANESVINTAGE AIRCRAFTWARBIRD AIRCRAFTATM

CAMPING

CAR RENTAL

FIRST AID

ICE

MOBILITY RENTAL

PAYPHONES

SHOWERS

TRAM STOPS

XMWX WEATHER STATION

RESTROOMS

YOU ARE HERE

SUN ’n FUN Drive

Map Locations

Designated Smoking Area

FOOD LOCATIONSSee Key Below

EXIT

INTERNATIONAL

FLY-IN & EXPO

Official Generator

Hangar E

Supported by:

Official Souvenir Merchandise Tents

Seaplanes

HEAVY AIRCRAFT PARKIN

G

Admissions (D-4)Aerobatic HQ (F-2)Aircraft Auctions – AvBid Aircraft AuctionsAir Operations (G-2)Blood Mobile (E-4)Camping – RV’s, Tents (A-1,2), (B-1,2), (G-4), (H-4)Camper Registration (C-4)Corn Roast and Sennheiser S1 Stage (C-2) Emergency Aircraft Assistance (H-3)Emergency Response Team (C-1), (G-2)Exhibits, Commercial (D-2,3), (E-2,3,4)Exhibits, Light Plane (F-4)FAA (E-3)Flightline Tours (E-2)Handicapped Hospitality (D-4)Homebuilt HQ (E-2), camping – see mapInternational Visitors Center (D-4)Supported by: The Islands of the Bahamas & Gulf Coast Avionics

Internet Cafe (C-2), (D-3) Supported by: Pacific Coast Avionics

Ladies Pavilion (C-2)Lightplane HQ (E-4)Lost & Found (D-4)Maintenance Facility (B-2)Media Center (C-4) Sponsored by: NIKON

Newspaper – SUN ’n FUN Today (D-4)Online Ticket Redemption (C-4), (D-4), (F-3)Parts Exchange (C-2)PilotMall (D-3)Preferred Airshow Seating (E-2)Radio Station (E-3) Supported by: Brighthouse

Rotorcraft HQ (H-4)School Tours (C-4)Seabird HQ (H-3)Security (B-2)Shipping Services (Guests) – FedEx (D-3)Showers (A-2), (C-2), (E-3), (H-4)Southeast Exhibits (E-3,4)Special Activities Tents - (C-4), (D-4), (F-2)SUN ’n FUN Fly-In HQ (D-4)SUN ’n FUN Library & Archives (D-3)Sunset Grill (D-3)Tourism Information (D-3) Supported by: Central FloridaVisitors & Convention Bureau

Type Club (F-3)Vintage HQ (F-3)Volunteer Center (D-4)Warbird HQ (G-2)Youth Workshops (C-4)

TAXI

WAY

FOX

TRO

T

TAXIWAY DELTA

TAXIWAY ECHO

VIP InformationCenterOnline Ticket

Redemption

PARKINGLocated in Lindbergh LotLocated in Lindbergh Lot

PreferredParking

Motorcycle Parking

New!

TAXIWAY PAPA

PreferredAirshow Seating VIP COURTYARD

Cl u b

Nikon MediaObservation Deck

(media only upper deck)

17

MAIN ENTRANCE

ADMISSIONS

12

5

1

2111

413

7

6

86

1

7

93 15 2

10

1 7

11

1819

1422

12

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Fly into Kissimmee Gateway Airport for the ultimate in aviation history thrills. Check out our warbird museum, and watch a Luftwaffe fighter restoration in progress. Then strap into a T-6 Texan for an adventure flight, or conquer the sky in a P-51 Mustang—or sit side by side with a friend in an open cockpit biplane and see the sites of Orlando.

Do you have what it takes?

Find out at www.kissimmeeairport.com/rec.htm

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The SUN ’n FUN Splash-In will once again be held at Fantasy of Flight on Lake Agnes in Polk City, Florida.

The Splash-In, an event dedicated to seaplanes and float flying, is held every year as part of the fly-in.

A few years ago, Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks invited the sea-planes to his facility and it has been there ever since.

This year’s Splash-In will be held Thursday, March 29.

The Splash-In site at Lake Agnes will be operational Wednesday, March 28, through Friday, March 30.

There will be a fly-by briefing at 9 a.m. March 29 for seaplane pilots who want to participate in the fly-by, slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. All seaplanes in the fly-by will fly from Lake Agnes to Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport, home of the SUN ’n FUN campus.

After returning from the fly-by, pilots will compete in a variety of contests, in-cluding water-bombing and spot landing. Friday, March 30, has been designated the rain date for the Splash-In festivities.

A seaplane banquet will be held, rain or shine, Thursday, March 29, in the Fantasy of Flight banquet hall. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at Sun-n-Fun.org.

Find out more about Fantasy of Flight and Kermit Weeks’ collection of airplanes at FantasyOfFlight.com.

Splash-In at Fantasy of Flight


AvBid Aircraft Auctions has teamed with SUN ’n FUN for two live aircraft auctions on Friday, March 30, and Sat-urday, March 31. The two-day event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is located on the south side of Lakeland Linder Re-gional Airport near Chopper Town.

AvBid will offer a variety of Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA), turbine, piston sin-gles, and light twins. Also up for bid will be several vintage and collector aircraft from the Florida Air Museum. New this year is the addition of aviation memora-bilia items, according to AvBid officials.

Many aircraft will be offered absolute to the last and highest bidder, with no minimum bid, auction officials note.

The AvBid auction facilities include

ramp space for more than 100 aircraft, in-door seating, plasma screen monitors for previewing aircraft information, and live video streaming for bidders who are un-

able to attend the auction in person. Av-Bid also offers live one-on-one bidding with a personal bid assistant via telephone during its auctions.

“Our auctions are patterned after the auto auction industry with each aircraft being brought through a showroom han-gar and presented to potential buyers. The aircraft’s specifications are shown on large flat screen monitors as the auction-eer describes the aircraft in detail,” said Sam Sirani, AvBid’s operations manager.

Potential bidders have ample oppor-tunity to inspect the aircraft prior to the auction and most aircraft have their logs digitized for online viewing. AvBid uses a quick closing process that allows buyers to accept delivery in as little as 24 hours, officials add.

For more information and to see the air-craft slated for this week’s auction, go to AvBid.com.

AvBid Auctions returns to SUN ’n FUN

Located near the main gate, SUN ’n FUN’s International Visitors Center pro-vides a “home away from home” for the hundreds of international visitors who come from around the globe to participate in the airshow each year. Each year, 30 to 40 multi-lingual volunteers greet more than 1,000 visitors representing more than 60 countries.

“At any given time, visitors may hear five to eight languages being spoken in the tent, including German, French, Por-

tuguese, Spanish, and Japanese,” says Michele Van Dorn, International Visitor chairperson.

The center provides assistance with ev-erything from medical needs, hotel and transportation arrangements, and trans-lation services. There is also a message board so international guests can post messages ranging from planes for sale to saying hello to someone they met last year.

This year, Gulf Coast Avionics will

sponsor the International Welcome Party, which will be held Friday, March 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the International Pavilion, located next to the Florida Air Museum. All registered international visitors are in-vited to attend.

“Every year we see more and more in-ternational visitors attending the show,” said Gulf Coast Avionics’ Rick Garcia. “They are a significant part of the total at-tendance and many of them come looking to fill specific needs from various exhibi-

tors and vendors. We feel it is important to make this special hospitality available to them.”

Gulf Coast Avionics will also support the international attendance by giving away a limited number of T-shirts and hats at its booth in Hangar D, Space 28-33. A gift redemption card will be included in the international visitor registration pack.

In addition, Gulf Coast Avionics will have its interactive showroom open and staffed during the show.

International Visitors Tent is ‘home away from home’

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By JOHN BURTON President, Florida Air Museum

This past year has been exciting and challenging at the Florida Air Museum (FAM). Exciting because we added and/or enhanced several exhibits, expanded our educational activities, and added a new facility to our campus: the Piedmont Hangar Aerospace & Technology Lab.

Challenging because we continue to face an increase in the demand for educa-tional programs offered through FAM at a time when our nation — and the world — continue to recover from a prolonged economic recession. Even so, our suc-cess in our first year operating under our new charter has been simply outstanding. Highlights of the past year are clearly in-dicators of more great things to come.

The new “Aerospace & Technology Lab” at the Piedmont Hangar is put into use daily. This 4,000-square-foot facility provides a multi-functional teaching en-vironment, a computer lab, teacher work-space and support facilities for the adja-cent Tom Davis Education Center. Thanks to a generous donor’s additional support, we’ll also be receiving a kit aircraft that will become the focus for our “hands-on” educational activities in this new space.

Education programs presented at vari-ous locations throughout the year reached more than 10,000 elementary and middle school students, sharing our focus on sci-

ence, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Under the leadership of our edu-cation team supported by volunteers, we enhanced FAM’s STEMtastic program-ming, including Saturday Camp; a School Holiday series of camps; and an extensive summer camp program. We’re also in the final stages of launching two web-based outreach efforts with engaging curricu-lum modules and online learning with our unique STEMtastic teaching concept.

Destination Aviation is truly our mar-quee program and 2011 was a huge suc-cess. This intense summer experience

stimulates a true aviation experience for participants. After several days of study, field trips and classic instruction in flight principles, the program culminates with a cross-country flight. Demand for this unique approach to teaching has extended from our original youth target to now in-clude a special weekend camp for adults.

Guided tours and daily admissions con-tinue to advance as guests marvel at the unique collection of aircraft and memo-rabilia at FAM. Records continue to fall as attendance during SUN ’n FUN — and year round — continues to climb.

Aviation Expressions continues to be one of the most interesting and enduring programs at FAM. During the fall and winter months, we’ve entertained some of America’s most outstanding aviators as part of this exciting Speaker Series.

The annual “Wings ’n Things” Week-end held in November also proved to be a huge success. We moved the popular Fri-day evening program to Hangar E where we thrilled the kids (and many adults, too) with a presentation on space by Astronaut Dr. Lee Morin. The remainder of the weekend combined camping, merit badge work for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and a chance to take a first flight in a GA air-plane for hundreds of young people.

The “Future Eagles Aviation Club” is one of the many programs that reflect the close ties between FAM and the Central Florida Aerospace Academy (CFAA).Students in grades 8-12 meet on a weekly basis and explore every aspect of aviation through hands-on activities, plus guest speakers, field trips, flight simulators, community service projects and more. Open to all students in the region, this program is certain to grow.

FAM’s Restoration Club is gaining mo-mentum. Students get hands-on experi-ence in aircraft construction, restoration and maintenance, including working on engines, fabric covering, and more.

This has been a banner year — and we’ve only just begun!

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By MEG GODLEWSKI

The crowds on the flightline are expect-ed to be bigger this year due to the ap-pearance of the Thunderbirds. While this means more people will see your pride and joy, it also can put your airplane at greater risk for inadvertent damage.

Although you can’t be there all the time, there are some things you can do to protect your airplane when you aren’t around.

“Do not touch” placards are a must. These are provided for display aircraft when you register. These cardboard sleeves slip over the propeller.

Verify the security of your aircraft tie-downs. If you use single stakes, insert them into the ground at a diagonal. A stake inserted on a diagonal takes more force to lift out of the ground than one driven straight into the ground. You may want to invest in the “claw” type of air-craft tie-down. Instead of a single stake in the ground, there are three at different angles. As the name implies, it resembles a claw when used properly. According to pilots who use them, they are easier to in-stall and remove, yet provide sturdier pro-tection than the one-stake varieties. Make sure gust locks are installed correctly.

Do not leave anything near your air-plane that can be thrown, such as a foot-ball or a Frisbee, a model glider or even extra tie-down stakes. Also don’t leave

any cleaning products that have a spray trigger around. One unsupervised kid is all it takes to do damage. Put these items out of sight.

Be careful of the position of your pro-peller. In camping areas experienced campers recommended that you turn the propeller so the blades are vertical. Some-one walking between rows at night is less likely to hit the blade.

In adverse weather, such as high winds, do not try to “save your airplane.” If the wind is blowing hard enough, the plane could flip over and land on you. The air-craft can be replaced. You can’t.

Take all the expensive portable items, such as yoke-mounted GPS and headsets, out of your cockpit. Either lock them up or hide them well. Although most people are honest, there are some folks who see large events as an opportunity to steal.

Taxi a little bit slower than you would normally, especially if there are lots of people around. Some of them may be aviation novices and may walk with their backs to the aircraft or on taxiways in-stead of on footpaths, and could step into the line of a wing.

Supervise the refueling of your air-craft.

Protect your planeGetting up close to an airplane is

privilege, not a right. For first-timers, here are some rules to remember when you visit the flight line:

Do not walk in front of an airplane • that is taxiing toward you.Do not walk with your back to a • moving airplane. When an aircraft approaches, step off to the side, well clear of the wings, and turn to face the pilot. Wait until the aircraft moves by before you start moving again.Don’t touch the airplanes without • the owners’ permission. Be careful about walking beneath • the wings of airplanes because sometimes oil and fuel drip. Be careful that you do not walk • into a propeller or pitot tube or trip over wheels or tie-down ropes.Hold small children by the hand • to make sure they don’t dart out in front of a moving airplane.Do not let your children play with • things that can be thrown, such as toy airplanes. If a thrown item hits an airplane, it can damage it.If you are looking into an airplane, • be careful not to lean against it.Be careful about jewelry, watch-• es, belt buckles, cell phones and cameras. These can accidentally scratch or even tear the skin on an aircraft.Do not sit on aircraft.•

Behave yourself!

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www.classicaero.info


Check out the Parts Exchange in Hangar E

Do you need a particular part for that restoration project in your hangar? Is the sport of the hunt for that item part of the fun for you?

If the answer is yes, then you should stop by the Parts Exchange (PX), located in Hangar E.

The PX opens to the public at 9 a.m., Tuesday, March 27. Hours of operation through April 1 are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sales stop at 12 noon, Sunday, April 1.

Items for sale come from individuals and aviation businesses from around the country.

All items must be related to aviation. Traditionally that means you’ll find every-thing from parts to books and tools at the tent. State law prohibits the acceptance of tires or batteries.

In previous years, misfortunes caused by hurricanes and other weather-related events boosted the number of damaged aircraft, which meant a wide selection of airframes and parts, according to PX vol-unteers.

All transactions are cash only, as there is no way to run credit cards at the Parts Exchange. However, there are a number of cash machines on the show grounds.

In previous years, people who were af-ter larger ticket items, such as part of an airframe that cost $300, made daily trips

to the cash machines until they had the right amount of cash to make the pur-chase, according to volunteers.

Consignors willing to take a personal check will make a notation on the tag af-fixed to the item, volunteers noted.

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SUN ’n FUN and Nikon are hosting a photo contest for attendees to share their visions of flight.

To enter the contest, register online at EventBrite.com (http://sunnfunnikonpho-tocontest2012.eventbrite.com) and then meet Friday, March 30, at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy located on the SUN ’n FUN campus, across from the Florida Air Museum. Registration is lim-ited to 35 people.

Contestants will receive a briefing on contest rules and categories. You must have your own camera, as well as access to a computer and Internet to submit your images. Three entries are due no later than 10 p.m. on Friday, March 30, from each participant via email for judging.

Winners will be announced Saturday, March 31, at 9:30 a.m. by Nikon avia-tion photographer Bill Fortney and José Ramos, SUN ’n FUN’s resident photog-rapher. The grand prize is a Nikon P7100 camera. There will be other prizes as well.

A few of last year’s winners are pic-tured here.

AN AIRSHOW OASISTake a moment from your hectic day

to discover the Nature Trail. Experience Florida’s natural beauty with 16 stations located along the boardwalk.

The entrance to the Nature Trail is be-hind Hangar E.

Calling all shutterbugs

Peter Funk, founder of B & F Technik and designer of the exciting FK12 Comet and popular FK9 light sport aircraft, will be attending Sun-n-Fun 2012, Thursday and Friday. See the Comet with the new Lycoming AEIO-233 and the FK9 in the Hansen Air Group booth (N7&19) near hangar D. The Comet and Lycoming AEIO-233 will also be displayed in the Renegade Light Sport booth (SE 21) in the southeast aircraft display area.

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U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), per-haps one of the most ardent advocates of GA in the U.S. House of Representatives, will host an “Aviation Issues” Town Hall-style meeting Saturday, March 31, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. in the production studio of the FAA Building.

Top leaders from GA’s alphabet groups, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Asso-ciation, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, National Business Aviation Association, and the Commemorative Air Force, are expected to attend the meeting

as well, according to SUN ’n FUN offi-cials.

Graves, a long-time pilot who owns a Stearman and is restoring a rare Beech Model AT-10, is co-chair of the General Aviation Caucus, sharing duties with Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.). Founded in 2009, the GA Caucus is one of the largest cau-cuses in the House of Representatives, with 167 members. The mission of the caucus is to educate the entire Congress on the importance of general aviation to both national transportation and our econ-omy.

The Town Hall meeting will be held in the FAA Production Studios so that it can be streamed live to a global audience over the Internet.

If you plan to attend the Town Hall meeting, you may want to get there early. Unlike the AOPA Pavilion, which has plenty of seating, the FAA studios has just 150 seats.

If you can’t get into the Town Hall meeting, you can watch it online at FAA-ProductionStudios.com. Click on the “View Safety Seminars LIVE” link on the home page.

Congressman to host Town Hall meeting

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Sam Graves

The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lind-bergh Foundation will hold its third annu-al Lindbergh Foundation Day and Avia-tion Green Alliance Forums on Thursday, March 29. A series of hour-long forums and panel discussions will be held at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy start-ing at 9 a.m.

“This full day of forums will highlight exciting developments where aviation and the environment intersect, as well as pro-vide an historical retrospective of where we’ve come from, and what lies ahead in the future of aviation,” said Lindbergh Foundation board member and forum or-ganizer John Petersen. “We are especially

pleased that 2012 Lindbergh Award Re-cipient, Dr. Forrest Bird, and Erik Lind-bergh will be joining us as featured pre-senters for this year’s program.”

“The topics covered this year are at the very core of the Lindbergh Foundation’s desire to encourage solutions, acknowl-edge progress and communicate ideas that affect general aviation,” said Erik Lindbergh. “My grandparents would have been intrigued to have heard these lively and informative sessions, all of which ad-dress aspects of the past, present, and fu-ture of aviation.”

Later that day, the Lindbergh Founda-tion will hold its 35th annual awards cer-

emony at nearby Fantasy of Flight, hon-oring Dr. Forrest Bird as 2012 Lindbergh Awardee, and James Ray as this year’s Spirit Award winner.

“This is a particularly significant year for the foundation,” noted Chairman Lar-ry Williams. “We are celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Lindbergh Foundation, as well as the 85th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s New York-to-Paris flight.”

The Lindbergh Foundation Day pro-gram schedule includes:

9 a.m. Will You be Flying in 2022? Half of GA will be Grounded, presented by Rj Siegel, CEO, LoPresti Aviation En-gineering;

10 a.m. The Future of Aviation: A Futurist Looks Toward the Horizon presented by John Petersen, founder, The Arlington Institute;

11 a.m. Making Flying Environmen-tally Friendly: A Review of 35 Years of Progress, a roundtable review presented by Lindbergh Foundation Directors Larry Williams (CEO, BRS Aerospace) and Da-vid Treinis, Vice Chairman, Lindbergh Foundation;

12 p.m. From Aircraft Oxygen Sys-tems to Infant Ventilators presented by Dr. Forrest Bird, a veteran pilot and pio-neer of the respirator industry;

1 p.m. Electric Airplanes: What’s Happened, What is Coming, presented by Erik Lindbergh, LEAP Electric Flight Program, and Electric Aircraft Develop-ment Alliance (EADA). LEAP includes the LEAP Electric Flight Program and the

LEAP Education Program. Inspired by the legacy of Erik’s grandfather Charles Lindbergh, the X-PRIZE Foundation and pioneers throughout history, LEAP was founded to stimulate the ingenuity of modern innovators, Lindbergh said. LEAP does this through video showcas-ing, international events, prize philanthro-py, and its education nonprofit.

EADA’s mission is to advance the de-velopment of electric flight. It is support-ed by an international alliance of those involved in electric flight from kitplane manufacturers to multinational corpora-tions, from pilots to engineers, to students, from amateurs to professionals, officials explained.

The Lindbergh Foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on techno-logical breakthroughs to address aviation-environmental issues. Its programs are devoted to supporting, honoring, and edu-cating individuals, through three major programs: the annual Lindbergh Award, presented to individuals for significant contributions toward balancing nature and scientific innovation in their work; the Lindbergh Grants program, which provides grants in amounts up to $10,580 (the cost of building the “Spirit of St. Louis” in 1927) for research or education projects that will make contributions to the technology/environment balance; and a variety of educational events, including the new Aviation Green Alliance.

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Third Annual Lindbergh Foundation Day Thursday


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The 2012 FAASTeam Safety Stand-down — Loss of Control: Don’t Be Sur-prised, Be Prepared! — makes its debut during this week’s airshow.

The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee identified loss of control-inflight as the #1 cause of fa-tal general aviation accidents over the last decade. Consequently, this year’s FAASTeam Safety Standdown of-fers a multi-layered ap-proach to help pilots re-duce the risk of an inflight loss of control.

The recently videotaped program is hosted by FAA Research Psychologist Dr. Katrina Avers and includes inter-views with FAA Director of Flight Stan-dards John Allen, accident survivor Bar-ry Hyde, and three loss of control subject matter experts, including Dr. Janeen

Kochan, a human factors research scien-tist and Designated Pilot Examiner, who discusses aeronautical decision-making issues; FAA airworthiness expert Steve Keesey, who addresses aircraft preflight issues and introduces the FAA’s new Ad-vanced Preflight Program; and CFI Rich Stowell, a seven-time Master Instructor and the 2006 National Flight Instructor of the Year, who talks about techniques for recovering from loss of control events.

“This program is incredibly rich with practical information, and includes natu-ral breaks where program participants can engage in discussion before moving on

to the next scenario,” said the FAASTeam’s Kevin Clover. “This is the best Standdown program the FAA has produced to date.”

The 2012 Safety Standdown will debut March 31, in the FAA Building starting at

11 a.m. The program will then be pre-sented at more than 90 locations across the country in April. Feature articles by the on-camera talent will also ap-pear in the March/April edition of FAA Safety Briefing magazine, and addition-al resources will be made available at FAASafety.gov.

Safety Standdown debuts this week

Sporty’s has created a mobile app for the 2012 show, which is now available for both Apple and Android devices.

The app can be downloaded free at Sportys.com/Apps, through the iTunes App store, or Google Play (formerly An-droid Market).

New this year is an interactive exhibi-tors list with detailed hangar and exhibit area maps. When you click on an exhibi-tor’s company name, you will instantly see a map pinpointing the exhibitor’s lo-cation on the show grounds.

“This feature is so useful in that you no longer have to figure out what something like C-090 means as a location,” said Sporty’s Vice President John Zimmer-man. “You’ll be able to see quickly on a map where you want to go.”

The complete SUN ’n FUN NOTAM is included for arrival and departure proce-dures, as well as a local airport directory and special FBO offers. It works for in-flight reference as it does not require an Internet connection, he added.

Another new feature allows you to pull out the exhibitors, seminars, workshops and other activities you don’t want to miss and compile the list into a “My SUN ’n FUN” section. The app also has plenty of maps, including the convention grounds,

the campgrounds, an aerial map, Splash-In map, and more.

The app works on all Apple devices, including iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Another version of the app is designed for Android users, including tablets and the Kindle Fire.

Free SUN ’n FUN app available from Sporty’s

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Hot air balloons will be showcased ear-ly Saturday morning with a spectacular balloon launch.

Pilots participating in this launch are seasoned airshow veterans from around the world. Hot air balloon pilots carry an FAA-issued pilot’s license in the Lighter than Air category. In addition to pass-ing the traditional written tests, a pilot is specially trained in balloon mechanics, safety, procedures, and the unique flight characteristics of balloons. Rated as pri-vate or commercial, pilot competence can only be attained by extensive experience in actual flight, officials note.

Balloon events at SUN ’n FUN include limited daily demonstration flights from the ultralight field, also known as Paradise

City, by commercial firms, usually around 7 a.m. The balloons also will participate in a “Balloon Glow” on Friday during the night air show. This is when the balloons inflate, but do not launch.

On Saturday morning, weather per-mitting, balloons will be launched in a traditional “Hare and Hound” race. This involves chasing a single balloon after it takes off. This balloon acts as the hare and floats in the air for a short while before other balloons are allowed to take off. The balloons that follow are the hounds. The winning balloon is the one that lands clos-est to the hare.

If you want to catch all the action, you’ll have to get up early. The Balloon Launch takes place between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.

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Ever wonder what’s involved in mak-ing your aircraft an award winner at SUN ’n FUN?

The first step is to get in the game. When owners register their aircraft at ar-rival, they can request a Judging Registra-tion Form. To be eligible for judging, the aircraft owner must be a member of the Florida Air Museum or the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), said Leonard Kress, chief judge at SUN ’n FUN. There is no charge to register for judging.

The SUN ’n FUN judges follow the cri-teria outlined in the Official EAA Judging Standards Manual, which is available at AirVenture.org, he added.

“Our judges are judging the aircraft based on their experience as aircraft build-ers, restorers, and aircraft maintenance technicians as to what constitutes quality, authenticity and safety,” Kress said. “Rest assured that all the judges are veterans in their respective areas.”

Kress notes that the time it takes to judge an aircraft varies.

“In some cases it is obvious that the air-craft, although a nice airplane, just does not meet award-winning standards. The time spent will minimal,” he said. “In other cases it is obvious that an aircraft is a real prize and much time is spent going

over the airplane. The better it is, the more time it takes. When two or more aircraft are very nice in the same category, much time will be spent to ensure that the most deserving aircraft wins.”

Want to increase your chances of win-ning? Kress offers these tips: “Be there when it is judged. Be prepared to explain questionable areas. Make sure that it is clean. Have the aircraft opened up so the judges can see all the aircraft’s qualities. Have presentation documentation, such as pictures, aircraft paperwork, etc., handy. Have proof of authenticity, if it applies. Old airplanes may have many mods. In many cases, we are looking for aircraft as they came out of the factory when they were built. Authenticity is King.”

Warbird judging has been suspended this year by the EAA Warbirds of Ameri-ca, who have conducted the Warbird judg-ing for a number of years at SUN ’n FUN. In recent years, participation in the War-bird judging program at SUN ’n FUN has declined, association officials said.

“The SUN ’n FUN aircraft judging team plans to continue to judge aircraft as it has in the past, always trying to improve the quality of our work,” Kress noted. “We are hopeful that Warbird judging will resume with minimal delay.”

Judging airplanes:Is yours a winner?

You’ve just spent a wonderful day at SUN ’n FUN and are ready to fly home.

During your preflight inspection you notice the nose strut of your mighty Cess-na 182 is completely flat. All is not lost — one quick call to the Emergency Main-tenance Team can get you on your way.

The team doesn’t do big repairs, but can help with smaller repairs, such as replac-ing fluids or charging a battery. Most of the volunteers are Airframe and Power-

plant mechanics so they can at least tell you which tool you will need to borrow to take care of the problem. Tools are kept in the emergency repair kiosk, which is at the approach end of Runway 5. Inside the mobile building are tools the team loans out to pilots to help them get their aircraft back into the air.

Hours are from 8 a.m. to an hour or so after the air show.

If the aircraft is too heavily damaged or

sick beyond their capabilities, the volun-teers can tow it to one of the FBOs at the airport for more extensive repairs.

JUST YOUR TYPEThe Type Clubs tent is located adjacent

to Vintage Headquarters.Members of organized clubs dedicated

to a particular aircraft are in the Type Club Tent, ready to answer your questions.

Angel Flight Southeast, which coordi-nates free air transportation for children and adults with medical or compelling humanitarian needs, will host a charity Texas Hold’em Tournament March 31 on the airshow grounds.

For more than 25 years, Angel Flight Southeast has been helping people throughout Florida and the Southeast. All pilots donate their time, aircraft, fuel and experience for each mission, so there is never a charge to the patient. Last year the organization coordinated more than 2,500 missions throughout the six state region it serves.

Proceeds from the tournament go direct-ly to Angel Flight Southeast’s mission.

The tournament will be held at the Cen-tral Florida Aerospace Academy on the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL). Cost per player is $90, with early regis-tration of $45 if registered by March 27. Registration, which begins at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the tournament, includes entry to the event, dinner and initial chips.

You can find out more at PilotMall.com or call 352-326-0761.

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While at SUN ’n FUN, John and Mar-tha King of King Schools reported they will release an online Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC) by the end of April.

The course follows the latest guidance from the FAA recently released as revi-sion “G” of FAA Advisory Circular 61-83, which specifies more up-to-date top-ics for flight instructors and puts emphasis on teaching risk management. The FIRC includes the option to have King Schools handle all of the instructor’s certificate re-newal paperwork, making it unnecessary for a CFI to visit their local FSDO to re-new their certificate.

“Solving the two major problems in general aviation, the student dropout rate and the fatality rate, requires a fundamen-tal change in the way we teach,” said John King. “And this program is designed to give renewing flight instructors fresh in-sights into ways they can help their cus-tomers to both become good risk manag-ers and long-term members of the pilot community.”

The King Schools FIRC program has been designed to run on the iPad and on all Windows and Mac Web browsers. It will sell for $99 without CFI renewal

processing or $124.95 with processing included.

The Kings also released a new online Crew Resource Management Course, de-signed for all pilots flying as part of a two-pilot crew. It satisfies the newly published FAR 135.330, that requires CRM training for all part 135 operators, company offi-cials said.

“Flightcrews can be safer and more ef-ficient when they are trained to work to-gether well,” said John King. “Many gen-eral aviation and military pilots have not had this important training, and without the training they can often work at cross purposes as a two-pilot crew.”

The CRM course runs on the iPad and on all Windows and Mac Web browsers and sells for $199.

King Schools is running a show special for visitors to its SUN ’n FUN booth in Hangar C, Booth 22, of 25% off any King Schools course. In addition, King Schools will be giving away an iPad 3 plus Dual Universal Bluetooth GPS and a one-year subscription to WingX with Synthetic Vi-sion. There will also be daily drawings for a King Schools Knowledge Test Course.

KingSchools.com

New courses from King Schools

Hawker Beechcraft, which featured its entire Beechcraft product lineup at this week’s airshow, including Premier IA, King Air 350i, King Air 250, King Air C90GTx, and Baron G58, as well as a Bonanza G36 debuting the new interior package announced last fall.

“SUN ’n FUN is a great venue to debut this new interior package that will take the comfort, styling and functionality of the Barons and Bonanzas to a level simi-lar to that of top-of-the-line vehicles,” said Keith Nadolski, HBC vice president, Beechcraft Americas. “We’ll also have several aircraft on display with a striking new exterior look — a new Beechcraft paint scheme with a bright red ‘B’ and striping on the tail.”

The new interior package — available

on Barons and Bonanzas — improves cabin comfort and functionality with con-temporary design elements, cleaner lines and improved ergonomics, according to company officials. The upgrade also in-cludes an automatic climate control sys-tem and an LED external lighting pack-age. The new features will be phased into production in the second quarter of 2012.

The company also is offering a King Air promotion now through the end of SUN ’n FUN: a free synthetic vision (SVS) up-grade for the standard Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system (a $75,000 value) with the purchase of a King Air 350i, 250 or C90GTx.

Find out more at the company’s ex-hibit in the Manufacturer’s Display Area, Spaces 7B and 8A.

New Bonanza G36 interior

The 67th annual reunion of the World War II 325th Fighter Group “Checkertail Clan” will at the “Wings Over Camarillo” Air Show Aug. 15-19, in Camarillo, Ca-lif., reported Checkertail veteran pilot Frank Bolek and his daughter, Gayle, who were at SUN ’n FUN yesterday.

The Checkertails, a legendary World War II unit with more air victories and fewer losses than any other in the Medi-terranean Theater of operations, are look-

ing forward to seeing all three of their World War II aircraft at the airshow — the P-40 Warhawk, the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang — and to sharing stories and memorabilia of their famed exploits with the public in the Veteran’s Booth on Saturday, Aug.18. A dozen or more Checkertail veteran pilots and crew are expected to attend this year’s reunion.

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What do you get when you combine a rock star with an aerobatic team? The best examples possible of people who are living their dreams.

That’s why Sennheiser Aviation chose Ravi and the Aerostars aerobatic team to help kick off its Live Your Dream program at SUN ’n FUN.

The focus of the program is flight train-ing scholarships, according to Sennheiser Aviation’s Christian Pulm, who noted that the company plans to give away eight scholarships of $1,500 each, along with other prizes donated by Live Your Dream sponsors.

Additionally Sennheiser will begin sup-porting presentations by Live Your Dream ambassadors, including Ravi the Raviator, a musician and pilot, and the pilots who make up the Aerostars aerobatic team.

The presentations by these experienced pilots from the general, commercial, and the aerobatic aviation communities will cover a variety of topics, including the ex-citement of aviation, the educational value of learning to fly, hearing safety, and com-munication in the cockpit.

Ravi, who had always wanted to learn to fly but kept putting it off, didn’t take the plunge until he met David Sennheiser at a party. A long-time pilot, Sennheiser told Ravi “if you don’t do it, you will never be happy.” In 2008, Ravi got his sport pi-lot ticket. Getting a $1,500 scholarship is a great way to kick off flight training, he said. “That’s about 25% of what I paid to get my ticket. Once we get people hooked, they will find the money to complete their training.”

Nurturing that passion to become a pilot is essential, added Paul Hornick, left wing on the Aerostars team.

“I’m the only one in my family who is a pilot,” he said. “I am living my dream based on a visit to an airport where I saw people living on the airport and I thought, ‘how can this be?’ Now I live on an airport with a taxiway in the back of my house and I still think, ‘how can this be?’

“We are passionate aviators — we fly for a living and we fly for fun,” he continued.

Those who want to apply for the scholar-ship must submit a video essay.

Sennheiser is also inviting flight schools to take part in Live Your Dream, Pulm

said. The flight schools where the winning students are enrolled will receive prizes, including a flight simulator, as well as the ability to host one of the Live Your Dream lectures exclusively for their students.

“Last year, we were astounded by the interest and enthusiasm generated by Live Your Dream, and we are committed to reaching even more aspiring pilots in 2012,” Pulm said.

Last year, Sennheiser award seven $1,000 scholarships for flight training.

You can find out more at Sennheiser’s exhibit on the grounds in Hangar B, Spac-es 84-85, or at Sennheiser-Aviation.com/LiveYourDream.

Live your dream

Phot

o by

Gil

Will

iam

s

Ravi signs autographs at the Florida Air Museum after telling students at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy that they can “live your Dream.”

Aspen Avionics, manufacturer of the Evolution Flight Display, and Avidyne report that certification is imminent for the interface between the Avidyne DFC90 Digital Autopilot and the Aspen Evolution

Pro Primary Flight Display. Certification is expected in the next 90 days, officials reported at SUN ’n FUN.

Initial certifications will be in Avi-dyne’s Cessna 182 and in Aspen’s Cirrus

SR22, with additional plans to seek instal-lation approval on the Beech Bonanza in the second quarter of 2012. Find out more at Aspen’s exhibit in Hangar B or at Avi-dyne’s in Hangar C.

Working together

Thanks for Attending Sun ’n FunSee you July 23-29 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2012.

> Opening night concert with the Steve Miller Band presented by the Ford Motor Company

> 75th anniversary celebration of the Piper Cub

> “The Greatest Generation in the Air” with salutes to the Doolittle Raiders and Tuskegee Airmen

> 40th anniversary of Van’s RV Aircraft

> “Super Saturday” featuring the spectacularnight air show and fireworks


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8:30 a.m. Non-Denominational Church Ser-vice with Missionary Aviator at the Flori-da Air Museum AOPA Pavilion

FORuMSThe forums are held at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy across from the Florida Air Museum in 11 classrooms. Volunteers are near all the entrances and exits to help you find the right classroom for the forum you are seeking.

8 a.m.8: FARs for the A&P/IA*, Thomas Black

* FAA-IA renewal accreditedA few years ago the educational forums

department and workshops implemented a program titled FAA/IA Renewal Credits that allowed SUN ’n FUN to schedule fo-rums that had an FAA course acceptance number. By attending one of these forums, an FAA licensed mechanic could attain one hour credit towards their continuing education requirement. This year the only eligible date for 2012 credits falls on Sun-day, April 1. To accommodate those seek-ing a full eight hours credit, SUN ’n FUN has extended the forum hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (8 on this day only. Forums in

Room 8, marked with an *, are eligible for the credit.

9 a.m. 8: Aircraft Woodwork & Glue*, Vic Boyce

10 a.m.1: AOPA’s Aircraft Partnership Program, David Kruger2: How to plan a Cross Country Trip, Michael Combs3: iPad takes flight!-Presented by MyG-oFlight, Charles Scheider4: On and off airport emergency land-ings, David Joseph7: Care and maintenance of Parker/Cleveland brakes, Vern Rodgers8: Cylinder Anatomy: What’s in there?*, Tim Morland SPEAKER

11 a.m.1: Weather Wise…NTSB Meterolo-gists, D. Eick/R. Suffern2: u.S. Customs Aviation…Modern Day Spartans in the War on Drugs, Rich “Dog-man” Sharfer4: IAC Forum8: Aircraft Inspection Techniques*, Bill Evans

12 p.m.8: Aircraft inspection techniques*, Bill Evans

1 p.m.8: Precision Fuel Injection*, Cliff Ives

2 p.m8: Turbocharged Engines Systems*, Cliff Ives

3 p.m.8: Continental Motors..Normally aspi-rated fuel injection systems, Cliff Ives

FAA FORuMS In the Production Studios in the FAA Building9 a.m. Weather Wise, Paul Suffern and Don Eick, NTSB meteorologists10 a.m. Maintenance Documentation, Barry Byrd, FAASTeam Program Man-ager11 a.m. The DNA of Airport Safety, Dan Cilli, FAA Office of Runway Safety12 p.m. Flying in the Florida Airspace, Dennis Whitley, FAASTeam Lead Repre-sentative1 p.m. Going Beyond Preflight: Let’s Take a Walk, Mark Laughridge, FAASteam Program Manager

No Forums at the Florida Air Museum Today.

lADIES PAvIlION10 a.m.: Non Denominational Church Service1 p.m.: Pampered Chef presentation with Katherine Branch2 p.m.: Donna Roller, owner of DSO Soapery and Such features her soaps, hand creams and spa products made from natural ingredients.

Schedule subject to change.

What’s happening todaySUN ’n FUN 2012

AIRSHOW Chuck AaronAeroshellBlack DiamondsF-18 DemoKyle FranklinMichael GoulianHarrierMichael Kennedylarry Kinglegacy FlightSoComGene SoucyStewart/MohruSAF Thunderbirds

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Don’t miss the Volunteer Parade, which kicks off at 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

The parade starts at the “old” announc-er’s stand in front of the FAA Building, goes out through the campground, then back to the announcer’s stand. It usually takes about 15 minutes.

The parade was started many years ago “as an early morning antic” by Freddie Quinn and the Ground Safety Crew, ac-cording to Suzy Eickhoff, a SUN ’n FUN volunteer and Quinn’s daughter.

“They were all staying in the Back Acres Campground and were getting ready to go out to the field to work,” she recalls. “You know how guys on motorcycles can get — one races his engine and they all have to do it. They decided my dad should lead the group as the Grand Marshall and it be-came a parade.”

Over the years the parade has evolved.

Today, all volunteers are invited to partic-ipate. “They are encouraged to decorate their work vehicles and join the fun and foolishness,” she says.

When Quinn passed away several

years ago, the tradition of Grand Marshall changed. Now, a committee decides at the end of each parade who will be Grand Marshall for next year’s parade. This year’s Grand Marshalls are the Emergen-

cy Response Team.Suzy Eickhoff encourages everyone to

watch the parade. “It’s great fun in a very short period of time!” she says.

Don’t miss the Volunteer Parade

Phot

o by

Ben

Scl

air

If you are an active pilot or want to get back into flying, the AOPA Aviation Sum-mit is the place to be. General aviation’s premier trade show and convention will take place at the Palm Springs Conven-tion Center Oct. 11-13.

AOPA Aviation Summit has something to offer all pilots, whether you are an air-craft owner, a pilot who rents, or are try-ing to get back into flying after a hiatus.

The AOPA Summit experience includes new pilot learning sessions, interactive educational content, aviation exhibitors with new technology, and brand new evening events, including jeep tours, live music and surprises so guests can unwind after the show. Pilots will walk away with knowledge on how to get the most out of their flying.

In addition to all the interactive dis-

plays, educational opportunities and hun-dreds of exhibits, there will also be time for more social events. The goal in Palm Springs is to offer a range of activities that will allow pilots to connect in a meaning-ful way while taking advantage of the best the city has to offer, AOPA officials said. If you cannot attend in person, pilots and members will still be able to participate by watching AOPA Live coverage.

The return to Palm Springs also means the return of the popular Parade of Planes, traveling the mile from Palm Springs In-ternational Airport to the convention cen-ter. Palm Springs is the only city that al-lows for this option.

AOPA will also use the Aviation Sum-mit to reveal the lucky winner of this year’s Tougher Than A Tornado Sweep-stakes aircraft, the 2011 Aviat Husky.

AOPA Aviation Summit in Palm Springs

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AntiqueGrand Champion: 1938 Lockheed Electra Jr 12A, NC18097, David Marco, Atlantic Beach, Fla.

Reserve Grand Champion: 1938 WACO AGC-8, NC2312, J. Michael Ar-aldi, Lakeland, Fla.

Best Cabin: 1946 Fairchild 24R46, NC8124, Johnathan Martin, West Grove Pa.

World War II-Era Champion: 1942 Boeing A75N1, PT-17, N59293, Mike and Andy Porter, East Liverpool, Ohio

World War II Military Trainer/liai-son Outstanding Aircraft: 1944 Stin-son Reliant AT-19 Mark 1, N60058, Tom Bullion, Memphis, Tenn.

World War II Military Trainer/liai-son Preservation Award: 1942 L-2 Taylorcraft L-2A, N57504, Mark Watson, Pensacola, Fla.

Outstanding Custom: 1930 Great Lakes Special 2Tie, N108CH, J. Michael Araldi, Lakeland, Fla.

ClassicGrand Champion: 1950 Cessna 170-A, N5752C, Stephen Jacobson, Fort Worth, Texas

Grand Champion Custom: 1946 Aeronca 7AC, NC3066E, John Murray, Tampa, Fla.

Best Custom Over 165-hp: 1948 Globe Temco Swift, N2380B, Frank Sub-lett & Rick Catlett, Winchester, Va.

Best Custom 0-100-hp: 1946 Tay-lorcraft BC12-D, NC43281, Melinda & Rusty Barnes, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Best Restored Over 165-hp: 1952 Beech 18, N52DN, Timothy Patterson, Annapolis, Md.

Best Restored 0-100-hp: 1946 Piper J-3C, N88667, Gerel Crosby, Clearwater, Fla.

Outstanding: 1947 Aeronca Champ 7AC, NC3894E, Bill Thompson, Lake-land, Fla.

Outstanding: 1946 Aeronca Champ, N84851, Robert Montedonico, Trenton, N.C.

Outstanding: 1951 Cessna 190, N190VV, Robyn, Richard, Landon & Lauren Flick, Vero Beach, Fla.

Honorable Mention: 1946 Cessna 140, N3743V, Mark White, Vero Beach, Fla.

ContemporaryBest Restored: 1957 PA 22-150, N7845D, Leslie Cowling, Mulberry, Fla.

Outstanding in Type: 1968 Cessna 150H, N22615, Elwood Walker, West Milton, Ohio

Outstanding in Type: 1957 Cessna 172, N7928B, Lynn Dawson, Madison, Va.

SeaplaneGrand Champion: 1978 Cessna 206 Amphib, N305KW, Julie Ann Floyd, Key West, Fla.

Reserve Grand Champion: 2007 Glasair Sportsman, N767JL, John Lund-blad, Wilmington, Ohio

Champion: 1971 Thurston Teal, N897TB, Tom Beck, Crescent City, Fla.

Best Float Plane Metal: 1957 de Havilland Beaver, N31357, John Justad, NW Hackensack, Minn.

Best Amphibian: 1978 Lake Amphib-ian LA-4 200, N616RW, David Walter, Orange Beach, Ala.

Best unique: 1956 Piaggio P136, N40022, John & Lyn Mohr, Vadnais Heights, Minn.

RotorcraftBest Helicopter: 2009 Safari, N488NB, Dan Suddeth, West Union, S.C.

Outstanding: 2011 Mosquito XEL, Ul-tralight, Kerry Kerwin, Livingston, Texas

light Sport AircraftGrand Champion: 2011 Krotie RV-12, N122PK, Pete Krotie, Bell Buckle, Tenn.

Reserve Grand Champion: 2010 Rans S-12S, N12DX, Thomas J. Cauen-do, Woodside, N.Y.

Outstanding Commercial Weight Shift Control: 2011 Revo, N129BD, Phil Mednick, Odessa, Fla.

Best Commercial: MTO Sport 2011, Auto Gyro, N446NH, Roy T. Hanan, Edgewater, Fla.

Outstanding Fixed Wing: 2011 Bows-er Lightning, N4815SL, Mark Stauffer for Gary Bowser, Shelbyville, Tenn.

Outstanding Commercial Fixed Wing: 2011 SeaMax M-22, N885PR, Richard Rofe, Great Neck, N.Y.

Outstanding New Design: 2011 Pip-istrel Virus SW, N447XS, Paul & David Randall, Maplewood, N.H.

Special Award for Technical Inno-vation: 2011 Comet N452JH, Renegade Light Sport, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Outstanding Powered Parachute: 2009 Powerchute, N424XY, Roy R. Harper, Edgewater, Fla.

Special Award for Innovation: 2004 Breeze Mod M-2, N8TU, Raymond V. Anderson, Live Oak, Fla.

ultralightGrand Champion: 2011 Sky Cycle Trike, Michael Theeke, Wildwood, Ga.

Reserve Grand Champion: 2012 Be-lite TD, James Wiebe, Wichita, Kan.

Best Type Trike: 2011 Maverick Leg-end, Kamron Blevins, Wenatchee, Wash.

Innovations: 2012 North Wing Solai-rus, Ron Dixon, Lynchburg, Va.

Award winners

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*Not all coverages or products may be available in all jurisdictions. The description of coverage in these pages is for information purposes only. Actual coverages will vary based on local law requirements and the terms and conditions of the policy issued. The information described herein does not amend, or otherwise affect, the terms and conditions of any insurance policy issued by Avemco. In the event that a policy is inconsistent with the information described herein, the language of the policy will take precedence. 93% customer retention based on average 2011 monthly renewal data for the Direct Approach Aircraft Insurance Policy.

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TERMINAL SPACE with Aircraft Parking for rent. Kissim-mee Gateway Airport. Call Terry Lloyd. 407-518-2516

Real Estate/Airport Property - 9650

SPRUCE CREEK FLY-IN REALTYSERVING THE SPRUCE CREEK

COMMUNITY SINCE 1985America’s Premier Fly-In & Country Club Community,

Daytona Beach, (East Coast of Florida). Taxiway homes from $450,000, non-taxiway homes from $200,000, con-do’s from $139,000. Lots-available. Long and short term rentals available. SPRUCE CREEK FLY-IN REALTY, Pat

& Lenny Ohlsson, 800-932-4437. www.fly-in.com [email protected]

SARASOTA FLORIDA Hidden River Airpark, 2640’paved+ lighted runway, lots w/homes 5-20acres. Katty Caron, Realty Executives [email protected] 941-928-3009 www.floridaaviationproperties.com

Colorado - 96505,000’ RUNWAY on 2565 Acre Ranch. Close to I-25 & Colorado City. Post card views! $1,800,000 772-971-5157, 772-464-1994. Pics: www.DiamondStarRanch.com

Florida - 9650

Florida - 9650

FLORIDA, OCALA, Leeward: 2 homes w/ large hangars, 3bed/2bath. $299K & 5bed/4bath $599K. owner 305-992-0812, [email protected]

NO MORE Winter. Direct Ocean Front Estate near Vero Beach/Florida. 5BR-5BA. $1,800,000. 772-971-5157, 772-464-1994. Pics:www.perfectbeachhouse.com Close to SunN’Fun. Come & see it.

ORLANDO AREA Aviation-properties, hangars, hangar-rentals, Some priced like bank-owned. Chandelle Proper-ties. Call Ron Henderson 407-712-4071 Keller Williams/Advantage II Realty www.chandelleproperties.com


Best Antique: 2006 Demoiselle Rep-lica, Sean M. Sweeney, Reunion, Fla.

HomebuiltGrand Champion-Plans: 1972 PJ-260, N703MT, George Terwilliger, Mer-ritt Island, Fla.

Grand Champion-Kit: 2011 Pitts, N112DZ, Herb Clark, Weirsdale, Fla.

Reserve Grand Champion-Kit: 2011 Van’s RV-7, N56RK, Robert Kurrle, Port Orange, Fla.

Best Metal: 2008, RV-8, N546LP, Lar-ry O’Brien, Northridge, Calif.

Best low Wing: 2010 Alan Davis RV-7, N241RV, Alan Davis, Huntsville, Ala.

Best Owner Design: 2009 Savor, N219SC, Christian Christiansen, Mesa, Ariz.

Best Workmanship: 2011 Van’s RV-8, N1981J, Jim Wilson, Williamstown, Ky.

Best Composite: 2010 Europa Mono-wheel Class, N120EU, Troy D. Maynor, Weaverville, N.C.

Best Auto Engine: 2009 Spitfire MK 26B, N7612, Mike O’Sullivan, Cisco, Texas

Best Wood: 2009 Pietenpol Aircamper, Andke Ben Charvet, Titusville, Fla.

Best Interior: 2011 RV-9A, N90GB, George Baker, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

Best Fabric: 2011 Rans S7, N645TM, Mike Angell, Belleview, Fla.

Outstanding: 2011 RV-10, N711JG, John Goodman, Peachtree City, Ga.

Outstanding: 2011 RV-7, N668ME, Michael T. Cooper, Manson, Iowa

Outstanding: 2009 RV-10, N829GW, Geoff Combs, Canal Winchester, Ohio

Outstanding: 2011 RV-8, N83RC, Bob Christiansen, Danville, Iowa

The Rv legacy Begins: 1965 RV-1, N5827N, Friends of the RV-1, League City, Texas

Commercial Displays

Best Indoor: Women in Aviation, A-34

Best Outdoor: Cessna, SNF 1,2&4

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Photo by George KounisPhoto by George Kounis

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Since being introduced to the Cirrus fleet, the DFC90 Digital Autopilot has received rave reviews from industry pundits and customers alike. Now, the DFC90 is being offered to anumber of aircraft and autopilot configurations as a simple plug & play solution. Since its introduction, it has become the number one attitude-based, digital retrofit autopilot sold intoaircraft in the last year. Please visit www.ilovemydfc90.com to see what pilots are saying abouttheir new autopilot. Call 800-AVIDYNE to find out if your aircraft is eligible for an upgrade.

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At Sun ‘n Fun 2012

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Say Again? A Musician’s Insight into Pilot Hearing LossFriday, 11:00 • Florida Air Museum

Live Your DreamFriday, 12:30 • Sun ‘n Fun/AOPA Pavilion

How to Get More Flight Students Saturday, 11:00 • Central Florida Aerospace Academy, Room #8

From Strings to Wings - Tales of a Flying Musician Saturday, 13:00 • Florida Air Museum

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By MEG GODlEWSKI

“Barbie called — she wants her air-plane back.” Ray Watkins of Jackson-ville, Fla., is used to hearing jokes like this about his hot pink Velocity with the green and teal accents, and he’s fine with it.

“This is my second pink Velocity,” he said. “It took me seven years to build. The only way I could afford to go as fast as I want was to build my own airplane.”

According to Watkins, when his two daughters were growing up, they re-ferred to the Velocity as the Barbie Air-plane. These days the Watkins Velocity is often mistaken for a conveyance for Mary Kay Cosmetics or the Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

“It does get attention,” says 18-year-old Luke Watkins, who joined his father at the show, noting that real men can fly pink airplanes. The younger Watkins has his private pilot’s license with high per-formance and complex endorsements.

The airplane seats five with an inte-rior as plush as the exterior. The seats are done in sheepskin. There are tray tables in the back seat. There are inde-pendent DVD players in the front and back. The cockpit has dual AHARS as well as back-up analog gauges.

The Barbie airplane

Phot

os b

y M

eg G

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wsk

i

Visit the Cessna Exhibit at SNF 001, 002, and 004

Cessna Sun n Fun ad.indd 1 2/23/2012 8:24:52 AM



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April 1, 2012 SUN 'n FUN Today