43 Million in Four Days Come to Do Business at Orlando
Convention Center
[No, wait -- that attendance figure must be a typo. We
apologize; we got it at the last minute, from the folks who are
calculating the Sun 'n Fun attendance numbers. The real
numbers are below --ed.]
The National Business
Aviation Association (NBAA) 56th Annual Meeting & Convention,
last week at the Orlando/Orange County Convention Center in Orlando
(FL), closed with a total of 28,574 attendees' viewing the products
and services of a record 1,068 exhibiting companies,
that occupied nearly a million square feet of exhibit space.
In addition, 111 aircraft were on Static Display at Orlando
Executive Airport and 75 Informational Sessions were offered
throughout the week.
New NBAA President
Shelley A. Longmuir (right), presiding over her first Convention,
hosted the Opening General Session on October 7, which commemorated
the 100th anniversary of powered flight and featured several
luminaries from the aviation community, including FAA Administrator
Marion C. Blakey, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John L. Mica
(R-7-FL), astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, and Wright
Brothers National Memorial park ranger Darrell Collins.
"If the NBAA Convention is a bellwether for the industry,
business aviation is rebounding nicely," said NBAA Vice President,
Conventions & Seminars Kathleen Blouin. "Aside from the
encouraging numbers, we've been told the Opening General Session
was the best ever, which is a wonderful testament to Shelley's
first appearance at the Convention."
Also in celebration of 100 years of flight, the NBAA Convention
featured "EAA's Countdown to Kitty Hawk" exhibit through special
arrangements made possible by Eclipse Aviation. Presented by Ford
Motor Company, the exhibit showcased an authentic replica of the
1903 Wright Flyer. The Experimental Aircraft Association
(EAA) commissioned the replica, which adheres to the original
design specifications of the Wright brothers. (Sponsors for this
exhibit included Eclipse Aviation, Microsoft Flight Simulator,
Northrop Grumman and NBAA.)
"This was an extremely popular exhibit and we can't thank EAA
and Eclipse Aviation enough for helping NBAA celebrate 100 years of
flight," said Blouin. "It was the perfect centerpiece for the
Convention."
Also on display at the Convention were vintage aircraft
simulators and the Wright Again program. (NBAA is a co-sponsor of
the Wright Again program.)
The Convention closed on October 9 with the traditional NBAA
Safety Awards Banquet, where in addition to recognizing the
recipients of the 2003 NBAA Flying Safety Awards, the Association
honored Sam B. Williams with the Meritorious Service to Aviation
Award, Byron M. "Skip" Reed II with the Doswell Award, Fred
McIntosh with the Staff Lifetime Achievement Award, and six
recipients with a special First Century of Flight Award: Serge
Dassault, David Ewald, Edward King Jr., Jerome F. Lederer, Ray H.
Siegfried II and John Tucker.