By ANN Correspondents John Ballantyne and Kevin O'Brien
At the end of every
show, we try to do a little bit of a wrap-up and see how things
went overall. This year at Lakeland, we sent our most experienced
guys to their respective ends of the field to assess the show. We
talked to exhibitors, attendees, happy campers, and a couple of
just plain campers. Here's what they told us, and what we saw with
our own eyes.
The "Ultralight" (Or Light Plane?) Area
During the last days of the week-long event, ANN taped a series
of interviews with Sun 'n Fun’s major exhibitors and
long-time volunteers in the ultralight (sport pilot?) area which is
often called Paradise City. By this time of the week staffers are
tired, hot and want to go home. So they are most likely to say
exactly how they felt.
They all liked it, with only a few minor reservations. All
interviewees commented that the Sun 'n Fun show was very well
organized, that the ultralight flying patterns were appropriately
supervised, the general level of the pilots was at least as good as
any past year—and probably better. Except for one well-known
company, interviewees agreed that traffic was less. Surprisingly
Friday’s attendance was significantly more than Saturday. No
one knew why the weekend would be down although a few guessed about
Saturday’s cooler temperatures (high 60’s). Yet all
agreed that the weather had been spectacular, if not a little
windy, for enjoyable ultralight flying. Sunday was definitely low
key, which is not unusual. Monday, the last show day, was a ghost
town.
The manufacturers reported somewhat fewer sales or the same as
past years. Their thoughts for a reluctant buying public included
the hit to aviation from September 11, 2001; state of the US
economy; unfavorable foreign exchange rates; and confusion about
sport pilot regulations. One aircraft manufacturer commented that
attendance (therefore sales) have been a little less each year for
the past four years. Others agreed for the most part. Yet vendors
of parts and after-market suppliers reported good sales, even
better that last year. A theme throughout those surveyed was that
Wing-Thumpers were more educated and more likely to buy things than
before. (The terms "Tire Kickers, Wing-Thumpers & Ice cream
Lickers" affectionately apply to those who dream, take a
salesperson’s time, ask a bazillion questions, but do not
take action.) Aircraft manufacturers always expect some follow up
sales as a result of capturing customers’ interest during the
show. Therefore, the actual value of exhibiting is not truly known
for several months.
The overwhelming, all-encompassing question is, "What’s
next?" Referring to the new Sport Pilot Rule, it was agreed that
this year's fly-in marks the end of an era in ultralight aviation.
To quote one aviation pioneer, "Ultralighting at Sun 'n Fun (and
elsewhere) is going someplace that it ain't yet."
Experimental Aviation
Sun-n-Fun may have its roots in experimental, homebuilt,
aviation, but those roots seem to be getting more and more
subterranean. This show is less an XA show and more a GA trade show
with an airshow attached. Booths that in the go-go nineties were
occupied by experimental companies now sell kites, T-Shirts, or GA
items like hangar doors. Despite that, the kit companies that
remain, especially the industry leaders like RANS, Van's and
Lancair, were having a great show.
Van's has given up trying to track the exact number of Van's RVs
flying worldwide -- they can't keep up with the drumbeat of
completions. Their famous sign now reads "4200+."
We still saw new vendors taking a shot at it -- look for a story
on Advanced Aero soon -- and old vendors emerging from periods of
instability, such as Europa. But the world of kit aviation seems to
be increasingly squeezed, with only the biggest fishes, or highly
specialized shops such as Jim Kimball Enterprises which offers the
Pitts Model 12, thriving.
Another clearly observable trend is towards more and more
complete kits and away from less-inclusive kits, and even more so,
away from plans-built aircraft.
Airshow
The airshow this year was as varied as ever, including many of
our favorite performers, like high-style glider acro pilot Manfred
Radius. Two highlights were Lee Lauderback's aerobatic Mustang
performance, and the Air Force Heritage Flight, which we've
previously covered.
Because there are a week's worth of shows to fill, long fly-ins
like this are important to new airshow acts trying to break into
the business.
There was also an incredible act which paired a John Mohr in a
stock 220 HP PT-17 Stearman biplane with Roger Buis in "Otto," a
Schweizer 300C helicopter. The highlight of this act came when Buis
landed *inflight* on the Stearman's upper wing, and stunt man Todd
Green left the cockpit of the plane and climbed onto the helicopter
skid. They call this act "the Untied Team," because Green is untied
to either aircraft. For an audience, most of whom think getting in
a helicopter at all is a bit of derring-do, then getting into a
helicopter at a couple hundred feet in the air is definitely a
riveting experience.
Warbirds
In general terms, the numbers appeared to be down. The presence
of a strong showing from Stallion 51 in nearby Kissimmee, with the
twin Crazy Horses, and the gorgeous, atmospheric Glacier Girl,
helped. One very unusual type flying was a two-seat conversion of a
Russian Yak fighter -- not the common trainer, but the wartime,
piston-engined fighter plane. Somehow I doubt that the Red Air
Force actually painted it in blue and white camouflage in that
period, but it was a pretty plane. A P-40 was also flying.
Fans of specific types could see static displays of a 2-seat
Spitfire, a TBM Avenger, a J2F Duck, an FM-1 Wildcat, a B-25 and
the usual array of liaison and observation planes. Interesting jets
included the Red Knight T-33 and Ed Shipley's F-86 Sabrejet. Unlike
many shows, show-goers had excellent "up close and personal" access
to the aircraft -- enough that some of them had to be chased off by
irate crew chiefs after carelessly thumbprinting polished metal or
waxed paint.
One rarity was the USAF Air Combat Command F-4 used in
connection with the training of allied airmen. The machine
participated in the above-mentioned Heritage Flights.
If you were interested in modern aircraft, the Air Force
displayed several potent airplanes, including the renowned
A-10.