En route to Sun N Fun we took a quick stop at KISM Kissimmee to see John and Amanda and their Mooney. John was gracious enough to give us a tour of his office (an EC135 helicopter). I had been trying to line up the kids in Kissimmee for a while to get a tour and the schedules finally aligned. Added bonus was Lucy got to see it too. After departing KISM the approach to Sun N Fun was empty. In fact I can say I have never seen the procedure void of aircraft before! Never the less we enjoyed our time at Sun N Fun with the kids leading the way. As usual they make friends everywhere they go.
This year we stopped by to see the Aerospace Center for Excellence. This is a facility that provides STEM education and scholarship programs, paid for by Sun N Fun revenue. The building was impressive and I now know where all the money from SnF goes!!! In one room they had a large suspended orb that had projectors on it where they could show various planets or current weather patterns on earth among other things. They had 20 Red Bird trainers there too.
The vendors seemed a bit more sparse this year than those in the past. Sadly Vans didn’t even bring shirts to sell, although I did buy a $10 orange hat! The fancy Icon booth had been relegated to popup tents. I hope this decline at SnF was some remnant of Covid and not a downward trend although each year it seems that SnF is geared toward an airshow and not a fly-in.
RV-10 friends meet Mooney friends.
John giving the kids a tour of his office of his Eurocopter EC135
The back office of the Eurocopter.
