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Observations From SNF '09

bsacks05

bsacks05

Well Known Member
What follows is a short synopsis of my personal experience at SNF this year.

My 13 year old son, Bruce, and I departed Perry, Ga. (PXE) around 1645 last Thursday. The time was chosen in order to arrive after the air show and to take advantage of the nice, late afternoon air. The two hour ride was very enjoyable especially since I planned on 140kts and was easily seeing 155kts g/s at 2300 rpm. I even throttled back a little so we wouldn't arrive too early!:eek:

At Lake Parker we were converging with three other aircraft and I was directed to take a turn 'round the lake for separation. Following the others into SNF, we complied with instructions to land on 27R and that's when I made my best SNF landing ever! What a way to start the experience. :)

Tied down in the homebuilt parking area and was promptly met by Dana Overall. Great meeting you Dana and good to see Black Magic back in service! I have a feeling we will meet again…..OSH?

Bruce and I carried our personal bags to our EAA chapter campsite where we set up the tent and I quickly grabbed a cold beer. This year, I had one of the members carry down all my camping gear in his truck instead of stuffing it all in the plane. That worked out great and we will definitely be doing this from now on.

The next two days were spent doing the SNF thing…..eating, drinking, walking, talking, and our annual biplane ride in the 1928 New Standard. I was planning to leave for home Sunday morning but decided to leave after the show on Saturday to again take advantage of the early evening conditions.

Aircraft attendance seemed to be down this year. I have been attending since 2000 and can remember times when there was always something flying overhead and no down time during the airshow. Also, fewer freebies at the vendor areas. :(

Falcon Flight was perfect as usual. Great job guys!

LSA and Ultralights were full of variety. Coolest was the Bleriot and Eindecker from Aerodrome Aircraft. Check them out.

All the dirt and dust was a drag. Plane got a bath yesterday, she was filthy. :(

I will attend next year and have ideas to maximize our camping experience and make it more comfy for those mid afternoon siestas.

Also, I will plan to arrive and depart after the airshow from now on. That really worked out well and landing after dusk on Saturday night was incredible. I need to do more night flying.

SNF, for all its faults, is still an annual destination for us and I strive to improve the experience each year. Best thing is that I can depart PXE with full tanks and return with around ten gallons left! I'm already planning for next year and what I will do differently.

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I ran into Bob Smith, and Rick Gray. For anyone that can get a chance to see Rick's new Harmon Rocket it is worth a "look see".


Another great SnF.
 
bsacks05 said:
What follows is a short synopsis of my personal experience at SNF this year.

we complied with instructions to land on 27R and that's when I made my best SNF landing ever! What a way to start the experience. :)

Tied down in the homebuilt parking area and was promptly met by Dana Overall. Great meeting you Dana and good to see Black Magic back in service! I have a feeling we will meet again?..OSH?
Click to expand...

Nice to "run into you";) while tying down......and yes, plans are already made for OSH.

After launching out on Sunday as a three ship with Speedy and Chatterbox, we flew to Cedar Key. By the time we got there, I had already checked the winds aloft and found what was a 3:45 trip down was going to be a three hour trip back home so we bugged out, up to 10,500 and rode 40 knot tailwinds all the way back.

I say all that to say this, I'm seeing my time machine down your way several times before OSH comes around..................
 
Hi Dana.....

....and a slight left turn to 2J3 on your way to Macon would be most welcome.:)

Unfortunately, I was very busy this week and didn't make Sun 'n Fun:(

Later,
 
Horrible

I thought it was horrible.
Many reasons.
1. Sand sand and more blowing black nasty sand. Gets all over and into everything. Tailwheel was all gored up. took 2 days to clean the plane out and Im still not done.
2. Turnout was abysmal. You could count the top shelf show planes on one hand. 5 years ago it was packed by Wednesday. This year, half full on Saturday.
3. Nothing to look at in the vendors. 5 years ago there were all kinds of new cool technologies to play with. Now, its all ho hum. 5 years ago "Now thats cool" . This year, "Yawn"
4. Air show. If I never see another Extra 300, MX-x, look alike plane do an aerobatic routine it will be fine with me. 5 Years ago it was Reinbeck bi-planes duking it out, all kinds of warbirds and vintage planes flying around, just a lot of neat stuff. This year, just a long list of look alike, fly alike planes. There were a couple of cool routines. The AeroShell guys are awesome. Stearman did a nice job, as did the Citabria.
5. I call it the "cool" moments. 5 years ago, Stealth, F-4's, Corsairs, DC-3's in formation, Avengers, and on and on, just one "cool" fly-by after another. This year, I cant even remember one "cool" moment.
6. Where are all the stunning planes? 5 years ago there were lines of those stunning Lancairs 4's, tandem turbo prop Legends, workmanship galore to walk around and admire at every turn. This year, I could count on one hand.

Sorry for the nasty report. I wish I could have done better. If it were not for hangin out with my buds, there would have been no upside what so ever.

End of rant.
 
I attended almost EVERY Sun-N-Fun from 1984 until 2005. In my opinion, the fly-in started down hill around 2000.
Fatal accidents every year, and almost total lack of safety, especially in the light plane area. I gave it up.
 
Take a break

I attended SNF for several years running. Last year, I walked around for a day and said - "I've seen it." I was tired of it.
I decided to sit it out this year. I'll probably go back next year, but I'm perfectly happy to fly-in, pitch a tent in the shade next to a buddy's camper (the best kind of camper - someone else's:D) and sit in the hamock with a cool one and a magazine. Walk around and see the flightline airplanes after the show when the crowds and the heat die down.

Don't do it the same way everytime. Find something new. You don't HAVE to follow the crowds.

My $0.02
 
Mel said:
I attended almost EVERY Sun-N-Fun from 1984 until 2005. In my opinion, the fly-in started down hill around 2000.
Fatal accidents every year, and almost total lack of safety, especially in the light plane area. I gave it up.
Click to expand...

Speaking of which, I believe this year's fly-in was accident-free, no?
 
something to do

Just a suggestion: Maybe next year try to volunteer a day or two. go to the sheet metal class and share some of your metal skills with someone who is just starting.... Or come on down to the volunteer kitchen. we made 2,500 sandwiches per day during the show and were cleaned up and out of there by 11:00 a.m. every day. It would get you a free day pass for the event. If you volunteer for 4 days it gets you a week pass and free camping. Just something to think about and put a new spin on your Sun-N-Fun experience.


Rich Denton
 
accident free

we only had one incident in paradise village. an LSA came in a little hot and went off into the ditch, no one got hurt.
 
Kahuna said:
2. Turnout was abysmal. You could count the top shelf show planes on one hand. 5 years ago it was packed by Wednesday. This year, half full on Saturday.
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Any thoughts about whether this was due to the Florida use tax? Yes, the Fla Department of Revenue said they weren't going to ramp check every airplane to see if tax was due, but good luck with that.

TODR
 
Kahuna's post about the dust is true every year. The fine grit down there is a nightmare.

Otherwise, I really enjoy SnF. For ~$60/day plus consumables I am around one of the nicest groups of people in the world. My thought on fly-in's is that if you go to meet new people and see old friends, you'll never be disappointed. The show planes, displays, forums, and airshows are secondary.

As usual, I had a great time. And this year, fly-in pilots got a decent free hat and a free beer just for registering. Nobody has mentioned that yet. Not a reason for going, but certainly a nice perk.
 
Noooooooooooooo.............

Kyle Boatright said:
And this year, fly-in pilots got a decent free hat and a free beer just for registering. Nobody has mentioned that yet. Not a reason for going, but certainly a nice perk.
Click to expand...

We got the free hat, but no one offered me a free beer upon registration. :confused: Now I'm really mad.
 
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I gotta say that the commercial food on offer this year at Snf was very good and reasonably priced for an event of this nature. The salad place across from AOPA had a huge, fresh Greek salad for $7. I had a tasty jambalaya for $5. Nice to be able to have a beer on-site as well.
 
all the noise on Friday Morning......

chaskuss said:
Rich,
Was that what all the sirens and commotion was about Friday morning?
Charlie Kuss
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All the noise and sirens on friday morning was a volunteer group called the Raiders..... They are the group that pick up the garbage... Sun-N-Fun wouldn't work without them, they have the hardest job on the field and they do a very good job, every year they have a parade...



Rich
 
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Free beer...

Let's see...

I opened the canopy on Monday and someone handed me my first free beer. Every night there seemed to be a lot of free beers floating around. Then there was the VO Gold added on top of the beer. Wednesday night's pool party with a pool full of free beer and the $10 steak dinner on Friday night which included, you guessed it, more beer. Oh, and there was even more free beer on Saturday night.

I think I have consumed my yearly allotment of beer.

Bruce, bummer we didn't catch up.
 
Ouch.........

I flew from Conroe to Snf in a Beech Barron.

Cost for fuel my share .........$328.00
Hotel for 4 days................... 360.00
Rent Car..............................300.00
Food...................................300.00


Didn't see anything new. Bought nothing.

Met Van..........Priceless (??)
 
Geico266 said:
Say what? :mad: I didn't get a beer mug either and I landed and registered on Monday! :mad:
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Not a beer mug, a free beer!

If you registered as a pilot who flew into the show, you got a package including a hat, a window sticker, and a couple more things, plus a coupon for a free beer from one of the tents along the main drag.

They could have made it a bit better by having someone hand me the beer as I stepped out of the airplane on arrival, but maybe I'm asking for too much. ;-)
 
The free beer must have been in HBC. I parked in the HB area. I am going back to HBC next year. That is a better place to camp because you don't have to schlep back and forth to and from the other camping area, and......there's free beer.
That's where I'll be next year, but right now I'm getting psyched to go to OSH for the first time. :)
 
For those of you in HBC, did your airplanes get covered in dust as well? I've been to Sun-n-fun many times but never to the HBC area. Just wondering if the dust in that area was just as bad. I'm going out this afternoon to finally wash my airplane. It's gonna take a while.
 
Yes, HBC has the same dust but it appeared to be much less than HBP. HPB has more people coming and going with the big fan running. No one in HBC starts the engine from the parking place. They are all pull out and then start.
 
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HBC vs. GAC

I parked in HBC (as did my son and his wife), and my plane definitely needs a wash. The first time we saw an airplane start up (a Swift in the Classic area) I thought he was burning oil big time! Then we realized it was just the dust. This was my first SNF, so the black dirt was a new experience.
I thought the HBC was quite far from the action, but never ventured over to the GAC area. Which one is better? It was nice having the volunteer trailer and canopy, with water and beer, right there, and coffee & donuts in the morning. The showers were a bit of a hike, but not terrible.
 
Lucky for us, they did not burn the grass in HBC before the show so we only had dust to deal with.

My plane still needs a bath and polish, it is FILTHY!

As for the free hats, by accident I found the trick. The first day I walked around talking to vendors with my VAF hat in my backpack and was handed four different hats.

After that, I wore the VAF hat the rest of the week. The only problem I have is that the thing is DIRTY!

Also, someone stopped me and asked where I bought the hat and I told them to contact Doug, not knowing that Avery's had them in their booth. Sorry about the bad info, whoever that was.

[Edit]One last thing... On Monday two matching RV-8's were parked in HBC. One red and the other blue. Nice planes and the pilots were very cool. Unfortunately one of the guys (sorry, I'm not so good at remembering names) kneeled in a fire ant nest as he was setting up his tent. They had to call the EMT's out who worked on him and then took him away. Word is he was returned to HBC around 2 or 2:30. I hope all is well and that they took good care of you.

Bee (;))careful out there, airplanes aren't the only thing that can harm you.
 
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Dust? Sun N Fun? Free Beer?

I attended Sun N Fun fm Tues noon to Fri late pm. Parked the motorhome in the back 40, attended numerous forums, walked all the vendors, flight lines, etc. Had a blast. Been going since 2003, camping there for 2nd year. Very nice camping experience, no doubt based on a lot of hard work by volunteers.

Then I returned on Sun with my RV6. I do not think the IP traffic at Lake Parker is ever as orderly as say RIPON, in a given year, but that's not the fault of ATC or the Sun N Fun organizers. Ditto fm the IP to touchdown. Simply put, you really have to pay attention for folks not following the NOTAM'ed arrival procedures.

The ladies at homebuilt registration said that I was homebuilt number 493 for the week as of approx 730 am Sun.

I thought it was a very well run show, and really appreciate the efforts of the volunteers. I'll be back next year.

Dust? I fly from, live on, a grass strip. I have a water wand brush that works great. The Sun N Fun staff even had water trucks out there wetting down the roads. One of the considerations of camping is adequate cover from the elements. I imagine you could rent a camper/motorhome at Sun N Fun, just like OSH, but don't know.

Lastly, I did not run into one single person that I would classify as rude or obnoxious the entire week in Lakeland. Monday morning it was back down to MIA, and the reality of South FL.
 
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