mstull
R.I.P.
I just got back from Sun-n-Fun. Here's my report. Since this is "The Light Stuff" forum, I'll only talk about the things in the U/L area, Paradise City. I didn't attend last year. So I can only compare to two years ago. Dennis (from Tennessee) and I got there Monday just after noon so we could start to fly first thing Tuesday. The weather was comfortably cool and nice through Saturday.
It was too breezy for the para-winged aircraft Tuesday through Thursday. So us fixed wing and trike pilots got extra flying time. It was very breezy and bumpy by late morning. There was a short flying time available in the evening after the air show performances. But it was too windy for U/Ls the first couple evenings. Only the LSA flew then. I saw more than one bent gear from rough landings. I couldn't believe some 2-seaters were using just 5/8" axles.
The weather improved for Friday and Saturday, allowing the para-winged aircraft to fly. The balloon launch was huge this year, with over 20 drifting away untethered early Saturday morning. The U/L pattern never got as full as 2 years ago. Dennis and I flew a lot. We flew away and did a short tour, and landed at nearby South Lakeland air strip. That strip wasn't as busy this year during SnF. I landed there several times and did a few tours. The first time I flew away, I heard they were looking for me, wondering if I had crashed. After that, they got used to my departures.
Aircraft and vendors gradually arrived through Wednesday. Most all the vendor spots were filled. And it seemed like there were a couple more planes parked in Paradise City than 2 years ago. There was a very good turn out of GA aircraft of all sorts too, that I could see from the pattern and taking the shuttle busses.
As usual, Tuesday was pretty slow with spectators. It gradually picked up through Friday, but didn't seem near as busy as 2 years ago. This year, Saturday was dead. I heard Sun-n-Fun didn't give the locals a discount this year. So they stayed away. Some LSA vendors took naps in their lawn chairs. The lack of drive-in spectators and sunburn were the two biggest problems.
Most LSA vendors were disappointed. There were very few people in the market for LSAs. It was nothing like 2 years ago, when there were long lines of potential buyers waiting for test rides. It seemed like most of the spectators had flown in, and strolled around Paradise City at some point of their stay. So most spectators were knowledgeable. The parking lots seemed just half full on the busiest day, Friday.
There were only a couple mild crashes that I heard about. One Titan T-51 had engine failure, and landed gear up (intentionally) in a farm field in the U/L pattern. I talked to the owner later. He said the exhaust header on the Honda engine fell off and shorted the wiring. Another LSA had a bad landing and broke its nose gear and prop. John Moody was there with his Easy Riser and 2 Eagles. One Eagle's engine died on its first climb out, but landed with no damage in the field just past the U/L strip.
Dennis had a For Sale sign on his Kolb UltraStar, and got a lot of interest and a couple offers. There were few true U/Ls at all. So ASC's promoting this as a BIG U/L fly-in flopped. I saw the Pitcairn autogiro fly a couple times.
One of the PPC vendors was selling their planes exclusively with Generac 4-stroke twins. The new company that makes Powerfin props was there. He said they were keeping up with demand, but had just gotten a couple huge orders from China that would cause back orders. Parajet was there with their PPGs, including the 40 Hp rotary one. HKS was showing their turbocharged engines.
My plane was a hit. The first thing people noticed about it was that the tail twists, making it look flimsy. I didn't realize it was so obvious. In the gusty cross winds, I was using a lot of rudder which twists the tail. It's not a problem, but something to think about when I some day rebuild the tail. Otherwise, my plane showed real well. People were amazed with its performance. It won an award. The guys in charge of the U/L pattern were always glad when it flew, since it was the only new design U/L. Many people recognized me and the similarities of my biplane from 2 years ago. And I remembered some of the most interested people's faces.
Dennis left Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to turn showery on Sunday, so I left Saturday evening. 2-years ago, I left SnF all enthused to build something new. I'm not feeling that now. Hauling a plane all the way to SnF from west Texas, and flying it there, is a monumental amount of work and expense. After last time, I doubted I would attend again. I'm doubtful after this time too. If it was twice as well attended it would be more worth it. I'm still not inclined to haul to Oshkosh.
Here's a few pics. Dennis got better ones.
It was too breezy for the para-winged aircraft Tuesday through Thursday. So us fixed wing and trike pilots got extra flying time. It was very breezy and bumpy by late morning. There was a short flying time available in the evening after the air show performances. But it was too windy for U/Ls the first couple evenings. Only the LSA flew then. I saw more than one bent gear from rough landings. I couldn't believe some 2-seaters were using just 5/8" axles.
The weather improved for Friday and Saturday, allowing the para-winged aircraft to fly. The balloon launch was huge this year, with over 20 drifting away untethered early Saturday morning. The U/L pattern never got as full as 2 years ago. Dennis and I flew a lot. We flew away and did a short tour, and landed at nearby South Lakeland air strip. That strip wasn't as busy this year during SnF. I landed there several times and did a few tours. The first time I flew away, I heard they were looking for me, wondering if I had crashed. After that, they got used to my departures.
Aircraft and vendors gradually arrived through Wednesday. Most all the vendor spots were filled. And it seemed like there were a couple more planes parked in Paradise City than 2 years ago. There was a very good turn out of GA aircraft of all sorts too, that I could see from the pattern and taking the shuttle busses.
As usual, Tuesday was pretty slow with spectators. It gradually picked up through Friday, but didn't seem near as busy as 2 years ago. This year, Saturday was dead. I heard Sun-n-Fun didn't give the locals a discount this year. So they stayed away. Some LSA vendors took naps in their lawn chairs. The lack of drive-in spectators and sunburn were the two biggest problems.
Most LSA vendors were disappointed. There were very few people in the market for LSAs. It was nothing like 2 years ago, when there were long lines of potential buyers waiting for test rides. It seemed like most of the spectators had flown in, and strolled around Paradise City at some point of their stay. So most spectators were knowledgeable. The parking lots seemed just half full on the busiest day, Friday.
There were only a couple mild crashes that I heard about. One Titan T-51 had engine failure, and landed gear up (intentionally) in a farm field in the U/L pattern. I talked to the owner later. He said the exhaust header on the Honda engine fell off and shorted the wiring. Another LSA had a bad landing and broke its nose gear and prop. John Moody was there with his Easy Riser and 2 Eagles. One Eagle's engine died on its first climb out, but landed with no damage in the field just past the U/L strip.
Dennis had a For Sale sign on his Kolb UltraStar, and got a lot of interest and a couple offers. There were few true U/Ls at all. So ASC's promoting this as a BIG U/L fly-in flopped. I saw the Pitcairn autogiro fly a couple times.
One of the PPC vendors was selling their planes exclusively with Generac 4-stroke twins. The new company that makes Powerfin props was there. He said they were keeping up with demand, but had just gotten a couple huge orders from China that would cause back orders. Parajet was there with their PPGs, including the 40 Hp rotary one. HKS was showing their turbocharged engines.
My plane was a hit. The first thing people noticed about it was that the tail twists, making it look flimsy. I didn't realize it was so obvious. In the gusty cross winds, I was using a lot of rudder which twists the tail. It's not a problem, but something to think about when I some day rebuild the tail. Otherwise, my plane showed real well. People were amazed with its performance. It won an award. The guys in charge of the U/L pattern were always glad when it flew, since it was the only new design U/L. Many people recognized me and the similarities of my biplane from 2 years ago. And I remembered some of the most interested people's faces.
Dennis left Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to turn showery on Sunday, so I left Saturday evening. 2-years ago, I left SnF all enthused to build something new. I'm not feeling that now. Hauling a plane all the way to SnF from west Texas, and flying it there, is a monumental amount of work and expense. After last time, I doubted I would attend again. I'm doubtful after this time too. If it was twice as well attended it would be more worth it. I'm still not inclined to haul to Oshkosh.
Here's a few pics. Dennis got better ones.
