Sun ‘N Fun 2005

April 12 – 18, 2005
Article by Mike Whaley

Get Ready… Sun ‘N Fun is Coming!

Well, it seems like just yesterday that we were at Sun N Fun 2004, but it’s that time again. The shop crew is finishing up the loading of the truck, the front office staff is trying to take care of the usual business plus assemble all the info packs, plans, and supplies and making last-minute arrangements for various things, and we’re all getting into “airshow mode” once again. Most of us have been through at least 3 or 4 airshows by now… that experience has helped to insure that it’s a relatively smooth process, overall. The old hands know what needs to be done and what to expect, and the new folks are looking forward to it with great anticipation. This year the setup of our tent area will be a bit different than previous years, with both a Skybolt and Pitts Special on display. We are also looking forward to seeing many old friends, some of whom we usually only get to see once or twice a year at Lakeland and/or Oshkosh. We’re looking forward to kicking off a great summer with a great airshow. We hope to see you there! If you can’t make it, stay tuned to this section as we’ll be posting photos and text regularly right from the show.

Monday, April 11

Monday was the final setup day, and things went pretty well. We have a new layout for the tent area. This year, we have Rob Moler’s beautiful Firebolt on display inside the tent, and Steen employee Barrett Brummett’s Pitts S1-C outside on the corner. We also have a basic S1-C fuselage assembly on display. Our engine supplier George Coy of Gesoco brought us an exciting new radial engine that’s on display… a new 125hp5-cylinder engine based on the cylinders used in the M-14 series. This engine is aimed at the Sport Pilot market, and should be available around the end of this year. We also have the cutaway M-14P on display as in shows past. Our

Our Yellowbird Skybolt (N3HW) is parked right in front of the Aerobatics tent, and will be flying in the airplane showcases each day. We now have a smoke system installed in the Yellowbird.

The flight line was filling up pretty well, even though the show hasn’t started yet. The weather is absolutely beautiful… a light breeze, a few small cumulus clouds, and temperatures in the low 80’s. There’s a front to the north, which will hopefully clear out of the Southeast U.S. (and hopefully, points north and west as well) in the next day or so… hopefully that will lead to a very large turnout this year. At sunset, we were treated to seeing the P-38 Glacier Girl arrive. This plane was buried under over 200 feet of ice since WW2, and was dug out and restored a few years ago. Other interesting planes that arrived on Monday include a C-54 from the Berlin Airlift group and the very attractive Thatcher CX-4.

Tuesday should turn out to be a very good day. We’ll bring you more photos tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 12

Tuesday was a really beautiful day, weather-wise, and it turned out to be a great day all around. Turnout seemed to be pretty good in terms of attendees and the planes that arrived on the flightline. We saw quite a few old friends as well. One unexpected pleasure was meeting Don Fairbanks. He is the guy who built N5DF, the first Knight Twister Imperial. This plane was featured in many magazines in the 1960’s and it did so well on the race circuit that it is now on loan to the Motor Sports Hall of Fame where it’s on display. Don related that when Vern Payne was designing the Imperial to meet the then-new rules requiring at least 75 square feet of wing area, the first example (Don’s plane) had an airfoil that had a vicious stall. At Don’s urging, Vern revised this on the Imperial planes to use the M6 airfoil, which is what was used on the Gee Bee racers and many other airplanes. (The rule change was due to the first, second, and third places in the first biplane race all being taken by Knight Twisters with 55 sq. ft. of area, which was felt by race officials to present the possibility of people racing planes with too little wing area for safe flight.)
Barrett also performed fly-bys with the Yellowbird, a first for us at Sun N Fun. They went very well. Dave Stone announced, telling the crowd a little bit about the airplane, while Barrett flew by with the smoke on. They only give fly-by airplanes three passes, but each one was very impressive. We plan to show different things on different days.

We’re looking forward to seeing some of you here… stay tuned for more!

Wednesday, April 13

Wednesday was another good day. The tent was pretty busy, and Barrett put on quite a show with both fast and slow fly-bys of the Yellowbird. The airshow was good as well. The weather was nice and there were plenty of people attending the show. The rest of the week will be as good, hopefully!

Thursday, April 14

Thursday was a busy day, with beautiful weather. The only hitch in the day was when a T-6 managed to ground-loop on a taxiway near the end of the day… nobody was hurt but the plane suffered significant damage and takeoff/landing operations had to be moved to a taxiway for a couple of hours while the plane was hoisted up so it could be towed off the runway. KLAL actually had to be closed for about 10 minutes between sunset and the re-opening of the runway. We were listening to air traffic control at the end of the day, who were handling a landing about every 45 seconds. ATC communications at Sun N Fun are mostly one-way, except when the controller specifically asks a plane to reply. Generally, though, traffic control is nothing like what you’re used to hearing. A decent paraphrase of the conversation would run like this: “Yellow Cub, you’re fourth to land behind the blue T-6. I want the T-6 to turn a hard left onto the downwind right now. Everybody, fly as far down the skinny little runway as you can, the farther you fly the shorter you taxi. We’re all going for the taxiway of 27 Right, wou’re all doing great, hot damn you’re all doing a great job today. The KR-2 about to touch down, you’ve got 4,700 feet of runway to go before the turnoff, I need you to get down there as fast as possible for a T-33 on short final right behind you. Yellow Cub, follow the T-6 onto the downwind. Cessna Skymaster, stretch your downwind out for about another 10 seconds before turning base, you’re behind a Pitts and a T-33. Red Knight, please give a quick shot of smoke for the Skymaster. Thank you. You’re all doing a great job today and making this look easy, you all deserve a beer tonight. Skymaster, do you see the T-33, please go ahead and respond.” “Roger, jet’s in sight and I can use that beer about now.” “Thanks, better land first though. Just go on and turn when you’re clear, and follow the biplane in. Remember, when you folks get over the runway, you need to go long, long, long, just like a Hail Mary pass in the Super Bowl. Long-EZ, turn right for downwind and follow the Yellow Cub one mile ahead of you, watch out for overrunning him, I don’t think he can go much faster. KR-2, you’ve still got 4,500 feet to go. Red Knight, lookin’ good. Skymaster, the farther down you land the closer the beer is. Yellow Cub, …” And so it went, the controllers calling out directions that sounded almost like an auctioneer. “Glasair, Glasair, turn base, turn base, turn base, turn now, now, now… sold American!”

Friday, April 15

Friday the 15th dawned cool and clear. We saw a few folks scrambling around trying to find out where to get their income taxes done, but otherwise, it was a typical day at Sun N Fun.
The last part of the day was spent preparing for the traditional Friday night biplane builder cook-out. This is a low-key social gathering for various friends and customers… it’s always good to catch up with everyone and do some hangar flying. The party went well, our chief cook (and bottle-washer) Jeff Long cooked up a ton of delicious burgers, dogs, and chicken and there were large quantities of other food and drink to be enjoyed. Everyone had a great time and we’re looking forward to the next one!

Saturday, April 16

Saturday turned out to be cool and windy… windy enough to force the cancellation of the sunrise balloon race. Shortly after we officially opened the tent, our friend Jim Taylor (who heads up the Acro area for SNF) came over and asked us if we could fill in for a forum presenter who had to return home earlier than planned. While it didn’t turn out to be a huge throng of people, it went well and we enjoyed the opportunity to talk informally with people and answer some questions about Steen and biplanes in general. We even had the good fortune of seeing Barrett make some flybys during the forum time. The rest of the day wasn’t incredibly busy, but it wasn’t dead either. So far, attendance seemed to be fairly good… what the attendance lost in terms of sheer numbers seemed to be balanced by the apparent “seriousness” level of many of the people we talked to… many folks were beyond the stage of just seeing all the sights, and had very specific inquiries about our planes and products. There were also many current and former owners of our aircraft who stopped in to say hello. “I wish I had never sold my Skybolt” (or Pitts) is a phrase we hear many times each day during airshows… as is “Before long, I started to look around for another one!”
Jeff Long and Rick McGahee spent much of the day in the RV cooking up some of the most incredible spaghetti and sauce you’ve ever tasted. Jeff won’t tell us what the secret recipe is, but so long as he keeps coming to airshows and cooking stuff like that, we’ll let them keep their secrets. After a very hearty dose of pasta and garlic bread, it was time to head back towards the flight line for the Saturday night airshow. They made two large pots full of sauce, which paid off later when we were able to feast on meatball subs for lunch. For all the hard work and stress that comes along with attending an airshow like Sun N Fun, it can never be said that we ever have a shortage of excellent food to enjoy!

The winds again cancelled the traditional balloon glow that usually launches the night airshow. With the temperatures dropping into the 50’s and a direct crosswind gusting up to 20 mph, it got really cold, really quickly! We discovered that we could sit on the taxiway and soak up some of the residual heat from the asphalt, but that didn’t help all that much… the die-hard airshow fans managed to stick it out through the whole show, which was very good, but many other folks who hadn’t brought blankets or good jackets ended up retreating to warmer areas or cowering behind aircraft, vehicles, buildings… anywhere they could block the wind. Even here in sunny Florida, April weather is generally fickle as we transition from winter to summer, so you never know quite what to expect.

Sunday, April 17

Sunday dawned all too early, with the noisy (but fun to watch) volunteer parade making sure that everyone was up bright and early (whether they wanted to be, or not!) There was no Sunday balloon launch as in years past, as it was moved to Saturday (and unfortunately it was cancelled due to winds) but the ultralights started up at 7:30AM, so those who wanted to commit aviation at daybreak weren’t disappointed. As usual, Sunday’s attendance was significantly lower than Saturday, as many folks head back home by plane, train and automobile to face the office again on Monday morning. The weather remained nice, though it was still a little breezy. The airshow at the end of the week generally leans towards the lesser-known (yet still very good) acts, and since the flightline virtually becomes a ghost town by the afternoon, many folks make Sunday the day to see all the other things besides the flight line… such as the vendor displays, the Florida Air Museum, and Paradise City. There were still some decent crowds going through the exhibits, and the ultralight area was quite busy. (Since many of the ultralighters come to the show in trailers rather than flying their craft in, they seem to squeeze every last ounce of flyable time out of the event.) Generally speaking, though, Sunday is the last “real” day of Sun ‘N Fun.

Monday, April 18

Monday is like the lost day of Sun ‘N Fun. It has very, very few visitors, and all the vendors are open for only a few hours. By noontime, everyone in sight is busy packing up and trying to get back home as fast as possible. The good part of all this is that if you’re willing to wait until the last day, you can get some great deals on items that various vendors are trying to avoid carting back home with them. (The Flying Magazine booth had some nice t-shirt for $5 each and other good gift-type items by 11AM…) Though the show was essentially over by Monday at noontime, it was evident that it had been a good show. Saw lots of people, the weather was good, there were no serious accidents and only a very few incidents (there was another minor runway problem at about 10AM but it wasn’t anything too serious.) We must admit that John’s van did manage to lose a hubcap along Route 192 between Holopaw and Melbourne (thus continuing the long-running tradition of unforseeable and bizarre episodes that we have come to know as “airshow truck tire roulette”.) Otherwise, we were very pleased that everything went more smoothly this time around than at any show before. The experience we’ve gained with all the airshows we’ve attended (and the fact that most of our folks now have been to at least one or two airshows) has really helped to smooth out the whole process and avoid major problems. It’s not quite to the point of feeling like a vacation, but it’s gotten a lot more comfortable and much more enjoyable (not to mention more productive) than it was when we first started!
We are especially thankful to Rob and Pat Moler as well as Barrett Brummett for the use of their airplanes in our display area, as well as to SNF Acro Chairman Jim Taylor for his assistance.

It almost goes without saying that there are literally thousands of people who have to do a lot of hard work every year to make an event like Sun ‘N Fun happen, and though we can’t thank each of them individually and personally, if you are one of these fine folks, please accept a heartfelt THANK YOU from our entire organization for your work. Sun ‘N Fun is truly an enjoyable and worthwhile event, and we have a great appreciation and admiration for those folks who give back to the aviation community by helping to make it happen. You guys and gals have again done an excellent job and we had a truly enjoyable and productive time. Though it’s a long, hard, and tiring week in so many ways, it’s also an energizing, educational, and wonder-filled week as well. We’re tired, but it’s that good kind of tired. We are already looking forward to next year… SNF 2006 will be here before you know it, and we bet it’s going to be even better!

Attendance was fairly good throughout the week… though the numbers have been down a bit since 9/11, all in all the industry has clearly regained its strength and is continually improving even more. While we don’t directly manufacture personal jets, light sport aircraft, or various other types of aircraft whose potential and popularity are exploding, these things are definitely helping us and everyone else in the general aviation industry. The Sport Pilot rule, the dawning age of less-expensive executive/corporate transportation, and to some extent even the realization that some of the post-9/11 aviation policies did more harm than good are all coming together into a tangible renewal of General Aviation. Yes, there are many wolves howling at our door: the industry-killing threat of user fees, the crumbling aviation infrastructure, the myriad of mis-guided security policies, the pop-up, permanent, and commercially-purchased TFRs, idiotic press reports slandering aviation, the rising costs of aviation in general, etc. While it would be easy to get down about these things, we believe that they can and will be dealt with appropriately by the aviation community. We’re quite optimistic that these issues can legitimately be seen as the growing pains that must be dealt with by a thriving industry, and industry that’s moving rapidly forward and not looking back. SNF seems to back that belief up… there’s a whole lot of good news right now in the aviation world and a lot of momentum. It’s a good time to be an aviator.

See you in Oshkosh!

Bonus Photos

We had some interesting photos that we couldn’t quite squeeze into the daily reports, but which deserve to be seen… here they are (roughly in chronological order.)

Best Of

We take a lot of photos at Sun ‘N Fun, and every so often, an elusive “great” shot sneaks in. Sometimes we just capture a funny or touching moment, and sometimes you just have to be in precisely the right place at precisely the right time. Most of them don’t need a caption to tell some kind of story.
So without further ado… here’s part one of this year’s collection of our favorite shots from this year. They are not arranged into any particular order, timeframe, or theme. Many of these haven’t yet appeared elsewhere in our event reports.