Category Archives: SUN ‘n FUN

SUN‘n FUN Home Edition 2020

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SUN‘n FUN Home Edition 2020

SUN‘n FUN Fly-In Launches Home Edition 2020 with Video Link

For Immediate Release
April 27, 2020
Revised

Lakeland, Florida: The SUN’n FUN Home Edition 2020 launches today and will excite aviation enthusiasts across the globe by delivering the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo in a new venue – Cyberspace. The SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo has faced its share of challenges over its 46-year history overcoming snow, a tornado, flooding rain, sequestration, and extreme heat. Now having to cancel its 2020 event due to coronavirus, the team at SUN ‘n FUN was not going to be deterred from their mission to Engage, Educate and Accelerate the next generation of aerospace professionals.

“We didn’t sit back and give up” said John “Lites” Leenhouts, President and CEO of the Aerospace Center for Excellence. “We got to work on alternative ways to bring the excitement and comaraderie that our SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo is known for to people around the world. Our partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and the whole airshow community are working alongside us which is why SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 will be a great experience”. Lites went on to say, “Our theme for this year was Experience Flight in 2020 and little did we know that it would be a virtual experience!”

SUN ‘n FUN hopes the concept will keep their audience engaged until the Fly-In can return in 2021. Proceeds from sales and donations will benefit SUN ‘n FUN’s Aerospace Center for Excellence. Without their annual event, this non-profit 501c3 organization has lost over 80% of its annual funding, placing many of its scholarships and award-winning STEM education programs on hold.

“The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 is all the parts of the annual Aerospace Expo that attendees have come to know and love and a whole lot more”, says Greg Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer and Airshow Director. “The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is an overall experience that will be accessed via a web portal at FLYSnF.org right from our home page. Once you click into the Home Edition, you’ll have access to tons of online content including some things that you have never seen before!”

The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is more than just a website, it’s a whole new SUN ‘n FUN Experience, including a series of online interviews with performers and show attractions over the next several weeks, leading up to a four-hour live online airshow May 30th. The website has hundreds of hours of video, photo galleries, and an interactive virtual expo where patrons can visit exhibitors and even buy from a selection of online specials those exhibitors will be promoting on their websites linked from the virtual SUN ‘n FUN. There is even 2020 collectible SUN ‘n FUN merchandise from “The Greatest Airshow That Never Happened”. Every area of SUN ‘n FUN is represented, including Warbirds, Homebuilt, Aerobatic HQ, Vintage, and Paradise City.

Content for this new virtual experience has begun starting to roll out and is available on its website FLYSnF.org, and social channels including Facebook and Instagram. Micheal Goulian is the first scheduled guest to take part in a live online interview as part of Performer Profiles. Scheduled for May 1st at 6:00 pm EST, Michael will share how he became one of North America’s most decorated aerobatic pilots and recognized aviation professional.

SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In Home Edition 2020

Sun ‘n Fun Cancels 2020 Expo

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Sun ‘n Fun Cancels 2020

For Immediate Release
April 1, 2020

Lakeland, Florida: Sun ‘n Fun Cancels 2020.  For over 45 Years, SUN ‘n FUN has brought millions of aerospace professionals, businesses, supporters and enthusiasts together each spring to celebrate the incredible wonder and limitless opportunities of flight. In 2014, we proudly unveiled that the annual SUN ‘n FUN event would become the primary fundraiser for the Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE), our STEM-based learning campus created to Engage, Educate, and Accelerate the Next Generation of Aerospace Professionals. At SUN ‘n FUN, serving our local Lakeland, Florida as well as the global aviation community has always been our ultimate mission.

This year, we will serve those same communities by assisting in the defeat of the COVID-19 pandemic. We stand with our local, state, and national leaders in supporting the social distancing and other health practices that will bring this outbreak to a halt as quickly as possible. Unfortunately supporting these initiatives will mean that the 2020 SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo will be unable to proceed as originally planned. Our website, www.flysnf.org, will soon have complete details for ticket holders and event partners.

The annual SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo provides over $2 million annually for STEM education programs, flight training and aerospace-related college scholarships, and hands-on learning facilities. Based on the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campus, this year-round institution reaches over 50,000 students annually, and provides free resources for educators to assist them in delivering high-quality STEM learning material.

To continue providing these critical resources, our team is working hard on hosting the 2020 Aerospace Expo in a much different way. We will be utilizing digital technology to bring you exciting events and content online in new and innovative ways. While we are of course disappointed that our traditional show must wait until 2021, we are invigorated and excited to announce several things to look forward to in the coming weeks in our brand new “SUN ‘n FUN at Home” Series. Please visit www.flysnf.org for details. @SunnFunFlyIn

Coronavirus and Flying

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Coronavirus and flying your own aircraft.

Coronavirus and flying.  If you haven’t heard, Coronavirus is causing a few issues with aviation events, like Sun ‘n Fun (go to their website to get the details), which have been postponed or cancelled.

And of course, there are non-aviation events around the world that are being closed, postponed or cancelled.  It appears that traveling on airlines and crowds are two of the big issues.  Most of the “news” right now is about Coronavirus and flying on the airlines. The risks associated with large terminals with hundreds or thousands of people in close proximity.

While that is a problem for the majority of the public, there is more to aviation than just the airlines. Which brings up how important personal aviation is now! General aviation is a great way to fill in the gaps of travel.

Sure, we all need to practice safe behaviors and “social distancing” to protect ourselves and others.  Which is why flying your own aircraft is a way to actually keep you away from the crowds. For example, you only fly with known passengers and crew instead of people you have never met. It really gives a pilot a lot more control in this situation.

Just think, no more long security lines, mingling with hundreds or even thousands of other people, waiting to get on a commercial flight.

Remember, small local airports have fewer people and easier access.  Think about it, you can usually go through the gate to your airplane and fly out without much, if any, personal contact.  Yes, walking through the FBO there may be people, but its a lot fewer than at the commercial terminals.

Even in a time when the rest of the media would have us stay isolated and locked inside our homes, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to sneak out to the airport, stay away from crowds and go fly around the pattern, maybe make a few landings, just to relax and clear your head. Oh and don’t forget to wash your hands.

coronavirus and flying