Warbird Information Exchange

Published Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006

Sun 'n Fun Crowd to Get an Up-Close Look

By Rick Rousos
The Ledger

LAKELAND - The Sun 'n Fun Fly-In experience will improve immeasurably when the Fly-In opens its flight line in April, at no extra charge, to all of its customers. The flight line features the most enticing attractions.

The majestic warbirds, mostly fighter planes that date back as far as World War I, have always been one of Sun 'n Fun's most popular exhibits.

The warbird area will be open to the general public, along with "Choppertown," the vintage aircraft area and the experimental, or homebuilt, area. The change will allow people to get closer to planes on the runway. And because pilots tend to hang out by their planes, there will be much more interaction between customers and pilots.

Opening the flight line was obviously a business decision for Sun 'n Fun. But Sun 'n Fun President John Burton said it was also a common-sense decision.

"Our mission is to expose aviation to the general public," particularly children, Burton said. "This was the way to do it."

Wayne Boggs, Sun 'n Fun's director of operations, put it another way. "If doing this attracts just one child to a career in aviation, then it's worth it," he said.

At past Fly-Ins, only visitors who were members of the extended aviation family or the Florida Air Museum on the Sun 'n Fun campus were given special armbands that served as admission through the gates at the flight line, which were watched by security guards.

Or, members of the general public could take a tractor-powered tram tour of the flight line for $3. But the tram doesn't get people as close to the powered-off airplanes.

The areas always open to the general public included workshops, ultralights, aviation concessions, the food court and a good, if not great, view of the daily air show.

One of the biggest gripes of people was that they couldn't get near the flight line, with the complaints going something like this: "I'm paying all this money and don't get to see the whole place."

A general admission ticket in recent years has gone for $30, $25 with an Experimental Aircraft Association or Air Museum membership. Burton said ticket prices this year won't be raised. He said there will be another incentive to attract local residents to the 2007 Fly-In, but details haven't been finalized.

There are a number of reasons Sun 'n Fun had maintained a policy that kept the general public at a distance. The first is safety and the second is "the belt buckle factor."

Burton said the safety concern of bigger crowds on the flight line has been about the well-being of the public, the pilots and the airplanes.

"But we've got about 200 volunteers on the flight line," Burton said. He said those workers will be instructed to keep customers out of danger and from getting too close to the airplanes.

That's where the belt buckle factor, sometimes known as the suspender factor, comes in. Cockpits in airplanes can be very cool, but quite high off the ground, and people want to see them. So they climb up on the plane, Burton said, and scratch it with their belt buckle.

The 2007 Fly-In is April 17-23.

Rick Rousos can be reached at rick.rousos@theledger.com or 863-802-7516.

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