SUN ’n FUN has received $225,000 in funding from the Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust to be used towards the completion of the Piedmont Aerospace Experience on the SUN ’n FUN Campus on the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) in Florida.
The Emil Buehler Trust was established in 1984 to perpetuate the memory of Emil Buehler and his commitment to aviation science and technology as an aviation visionary, architect and engineer.
The new grant allows for the completion of a new learning center on the SUN ’n FUN Central Florida Aerospace Academy (CFAA) high school campus. A fully functional Boeing 727, donated in 2012 to SUN ’n FUN from FedEx, will house the Bernie Little Classroom and is dedicated in memory to Piedmont Airlines founder Tom Davis and Buehler.
Students in the classroom will be able to monitor the students in the cockpit as computer displays of all activity will be available. Students from CFAA, Polk State College and Traviss Career Center will be able to use the new classroom.
A dedication to Little, Davis and Buehler, as well as a SUN ’n FUN education advocate, Joe McGlothlin, a member of the Piedmont family, will be given on Thursday, April 23, at 10 a.m. during the 41st Annual SUN ’n FUN International Fly-In & Expo.
As a qualifier to my comment, I know nothing about the name, the trust nor those who were involved in this process.
I feel it is important to recognize this is a PRIVATE grant-not a public grant that comes from your and my tax dollars. We have all become so accepting of and complacent with the term “grant money” that we have forgotten that most of the time this means “our money”. In my humble opinion, when I see a private grant or trust donating their hard earned money to an aviation cause, IT REALLY MEANS SOMETHING!! Money still doesn’t grow on trees so when we see a donation like this, the show of appreciation should come from all of us. Thank you Buehler Trust for making this contribution to an important aviation endeavor!
There are plenty of tax dollars floating around. The DoD has sunk $50 billion into development for the F-35, and further development & procurement costs are expected to exceed $300 billion, not counting operations and maintenance.