Wings, Wheels and Water

SUN‘n FUN Home Edition 2020

Posted on by

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

AIRCRAFT ANNIVERSARIES AT EAA

Posted on by

AIRCRAFT ANNIVERSARIES AT EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2020 COVER A CENTURY OF FLIGHT

Aircraft commemorations at Oshkosh include wide spectrum of aircraft

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (April 8, 2020) — Aircraft across the entire spectrum of personal flight will be gathering this summer at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to celebrate anniversaries of some of the most remarkable airplanes of the past century. The annual Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in convention is scheduled for July 20-26 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The aircraft anniversary commemorations include airplanes that are part of EAA’s homebuilt community, as well as vintage airplanes, warbirds, aerobatic aircraft, and more. Programs vary depending on the aircraft group, but at times include everything from special presentations to group parking along the AirVenture flightline.

“As we continue to plan for AirVenture this summer, one of the most remarkable events each year at Oshkosh is the gathering of aircraft arriving to celebrate historic anniversaries of specific aircraft models,” said EAA vice president Rick Larsen, who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. “Sometimes those anniversaries include more than 100 airplanes while others may be an unmatched reunion of the few surviving examples of a particular type. However large or small the assembly, these moments again show how Oshkosh truly is the place for aviation’s annual family reunion.”

Among the aircraft already committed for anniversary reunions at AirVenture 2020 are:

  • 100 years: Stinson Aircraft Company
  • 85 years: Taylorcraft
  • 75 years: Aeronca Chief, Cessna 120 and 140, Pitts Special
  • 70 years: Cessna L-19 Birddog
  • 50 years: Skybolt and Bakeng Deuce, as well as the International Aerobatic Club (IAC)
  • 45 years: American Aerolights Eagle
  • 40 years: Kolb Aircraft
  • 25 years: Van’s RV-8 and AirCam

Additional anniversaries at Oshkosh will be announced as they are finalized by owner groups and type clubs.

About EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration” and EAA’s yearly membership convention. Additional EAA AirVenture information, including advance ticket and camping purchase, is available online at www.eaa.org/airventure. EAA members receive the lowest prices on admission rates and all those age 18 and under are admitted free. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or visit www.eaa.org. Immediate news is available at www.twitter.com/EAA.

Sun ‘n Fun Cancels 2020 Expo

Posted on by

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