Jeanie and I spent a day and a half at Sun 'n Fun last week...
We loaded up the dogs and left around noon on Thursday. Because we had the dogs and made the reservations relatively late, there were no hotels available in Lakeland, so our options were to stay either near Tampa or Orlando. I elected to stay near Orlando, since it was on the way, rather than having to drive past Lakeland to Tampa and then double back to go to the show on Thursday.
The drive down was nice and uneventful. It took about three and a half hours.
We ended up staying at a Hampton Inn in Clermont, which is on the west side of Orlando, about half an hour from Lakeland. I like Hampton Inns. We have stayed at quite a few, and in all but one situation a number of years ago, have been quite pleased. In that one situation, the Hampton Inn had been "rebadged" from some other property and so it was not a typical Hampton configuration. The thing I like about the Hampton Inns is that each one is the same - so you know exactly what to expect: decent sized inside rooms, complimentary wireless Internet access and hot breakfast, and moderate rates.
After taking our bags upstairs and getting the dogs settled, we headed off to Lakeland.
My plan had been to get to Sun 'n Fun right at 5:00 PM so we could get the "$5 after 5:00" tickets (as opposed to the $35 all day ones) and maximize our time before it got dark. We ended up not getting there until almost 6:00 PM, but we still able to accomplish the primary objective which was to get a feel for the general layout so we could maximize our time on Friday.
We started out just walking around to get a general sense of where things were. We ended up in the ultra-light area, and spent a fair amount of time watching a series of powered paragliders, trikes and powered parachutes fly circuits around the ultra-light runway. Of the three types, I liked the powered parachutes the best. They seemed to offer the best balance of comfort, safety and fun. But, why would someone spend $15,000 - $20,000 for a powered parachute when for the same money, they could buy a used Cessna 150 or similar?
By the time we headed back to the car, it was well after dark, and I was extremely grateful that I had my Blackberry and Nav-4-All and that I had remembered to mark our parking spot before heading into the show.
We ended up stopping at a Hardees for dinner and by the time we got back to the hotel, it was almost 10:00 PM. Upon entering the room, we noticed the message light was flashing, and were horrified to learn that there had been complaints about the dogs barking while we were gone.
The rest of the night was pretty miserable. Between being upset about the complaints, and the dogs starting to bark every time they heard someone in the room next door or in the halls, we didn't sleep very well.
Next year, we will leave the dogs at home.
We arose at 6:00 AM on Friday so we could get to the show by 8:00 AM when the gates opened. We fed and walked the dogs, then grabbed breakfast at the Hampton before heading off to Lakeland. Jeanie had the bright idea to put the dogs in the bathroom and place pillows against the bottom of the bathroom door. The thought was that in the bathroom, the dogs wouldn't hear quite as much room/hall noise which would hopefully prompt less barking, and if they did bark, it wouldn't be as easily heard - at least in the halls.
There are a number of routes to choose from between Clermont and Lakeland. On Thursday, we had stayed on I-4 until exit 27 to avoid the toll road. I decided to try the toll road thinking it might be faster; it was not. For the relatively short distance we had to travel, we had to pay three $1 tolls, and for part of the way, the road was only two lane.
Next year, we will stay on I-4.
Once again, we didn't quite arrive as early as I had hoped, but it was still before 9:00 AM, when the vendors "opened."
We spent a fair amount of time walking through the LSA mall, which was situated right after the main entry gate. It is amazing how many LSAs are now available. Most seemed to have one of two designs - mini standard airplane (with high wing and low wing variants) or flying egg. Most have almost no room for bags - definitely not enough room for dogs. The one exception we found to that was the Jabiru. We were amazed at the size of the luggage area in it. There were a few sea plane LSAs; the SeaMax LSA amphibian was quite cool.
I can see the appeal of an LSA if you don't think you can pass your FAA physical, but spending $80,000 - $140,000 for an LSA when one could buy a pretty nice Cessna or Piper for that much money is an interesting thought experiment. Of course, with an LSA, you get a brand new airplane with all sorts of cool stuff in the panel, that you can work on yourself, that cruises faster, on 5-6 gallons per hour.
After getting our fill of LSAs, we went to browse the booths in the 4 hangars. I spent a fair amount of time looking at ANR headsets. I felt the David Clark X-11's were the most comfortable although the ear seals could have been a bit thicker. I also looked at flight bags - the Sporty's bags were too big. I did like either the ASA AirClassics Flight Bag or the AirClassics Flight Bag Pro (couldn't tell because there was only one and I can't remember whether it was the standard or pro model). We also looked at handheld radios. The Icom A-6 seemed to have the best balance of size, features and price. Ultimately, I didn't actually purchase anything, as I don't really have a compelling need for any new flying stuff. One of these days, maybe I'll break down and treat myself to something I just want, rather than really need.
We did to rush a bit through the booths because there was so much to see and do and only one day to do it. I would have liked more time to really compare the products I looked at. I would also have liked to have spent some time at the Lowrance booth talking to someone about the Airmap family compared to the Garmin x96 family. Not that I need (or plan to buy) a portable GPS - it just interests me. Maybe next year...
After leaving the hangars, we walked around and looked at the production aircraft.
In the lustful dreams category, the Lopresti Fury was a strong contender. The idea of a fast comfortable airplane that is just as happy being upside down as right side up is quite appealing to me.
We made time to visit the AOPA tent, where I voted for my two top issues facing general aviation. My picks: the cost of flying and protecting our GA airports (from closure). We picked up a few nice AOPA freebies - a couple of water bottle coozies and a couple of small ponchos. Other than those, the only other freebies we picked up were a couple of XM Satellite Radio cloth bags and a 2008 Florida aeronautical chart and airport directory. Jeanie complimented me on my restraint.
After picking up a couple of sandwiches and a soda, we walked to the airshow area and got a good spot for the airshow. Jeanie had brought a picnic basket and an umbrella, thankfully, so we had some shade from the burning sun and our bottoms stayed dry. Thankfully, I had remembered to bring ear plugs as the piston planes were uncomfortably loud, and the jets were even louder.
Next year, we will bring chairs.
The airshow was great. My favorites were the USAF Thunderbirds, Matt Younkin's Beech 18 and Patty Wagstaff.
After the show, we walked over to the Warbirds area and marveled at the amazing aircraft.
For dinner - we both had pork butt on a stick. It was quite good.
After dinner, we headed back over to the show area for the night airshow. It was amazing - especially the glider. As if aerobatics isn't challenging enough, imagine doing them just feet above the ground. Now imagine doing them at night. Now imagine doing them with pyrotechnics shooting out of the wing tips!
To cap off an amazing day, we were treated to a truly spectacular fireworks display. It was probably the best I've even seen live and in person.
We got back to the hotel well after 10:00 PM. We didn't even bother listening to the messages. Fortunately, the dogs were somewhat better behaved than the previous night. I got some sleep - more than Jeanie.
Our original plan had been to stay in the hotel Saturday night also, but we decided to cut the trip short due to the stress I was feeling because of the dogs.
Hilton was very accommodating in changing the HHonors award from three nights to two.
I got up, and went down for breakfast and brought coffee and a danish up for Jeanie.
After getting quick showers, we packed up and headed back home.
On the way home, we went by Daytona Beach. We drove past the race track and the airport and then drove to the beach. We didn't actually go to the beach at Daytona, but instead decided to drive up A1A. The drive was nice in that the road hugged the beach - no houses between the road and the ocean all the way to Ormond Beach.
We continued along A1A and went into St. Augustine to get some more of the glass flowers we had found last time we were there (with Andrew and Laura) and some more air plants (which hadn't been available last visit).
We arrived back home around 5:00 PM, already looking forward to next year's Sun 'n Fun, April 21-26, 2009.
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Posted by David at April 15, 2008 08:47 PM