Summer Camp on the SUN ‘n FUN campus is not your father’s summer camp. Here in sunny Florida on the southside of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (KLAL), during the seventh year of the camp, 96 students enjoyed learning about aviation from experts. One year, Patty Wagstaff dropped in to talk about unusual attitude recovery. “We […]
Couple build World War I fighter
Retired USAF Colonels Blake and Sandy Thomas met at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. On their first date Blake took Sandy on a ride in a 1944 BT-13, a two-seat military trainer with a radial engine. “It was love at first flight,” Sandy said. In December 2017, they will celebrate their 23rd anniversary. Their […]
Smoking fun Stearman
Gary Rower of Rower Airshows donated a flight in his Stearman to the SUN ‘n FUN Media pool drawing and on Friday morning, April 7, 2017, I won. Abandoning dignity, I raised my arms in the air and gave a whoop of joy. For the 24 hours leading up to the scheduled Saturday morning ride, I […]
It’s all about the plane
Flying a P-51 Mustang is the dream of many pilots. Owning a Mustang, according to businessman and pilot Andrew McKenna, is a way of honoring those who flew them. At SUN ‘n FUN this year, McKenna was flying the USAF Heritage Flight in his P-51 Mustang in formation with the F-16 Viper and an A-10 Warthog. […]
Chinese aviators honor the Flying Tigers
During this year’s SUN ‘n FUN, a group of Chinese and Americans gathered beside the B-25J “Panchito,” an aircraft similar to the one used during the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. The Chinese came to honor American airmen who fought with the Chinese against the Japanese in World War II. In particular, they commemorated the […]
E.T. and his Seabee: Sharing the joy
During a bright sunny day at this year’s SUN ‘n FUN, the people sheltered in the shade of the Seaplane Pilots Association (SPA) tent on Taxiway Echo all knew who owned the brightly-colored Seabee parked nearby. Built in 1947, the Republic Seabee RC-3 (N713ET), is a four-place amphibious aircraft. A plush toy from the movie […]
Repo Man Mike Kennedy: Aircraft and adrenaline
His hobbies include performing motorcycling stunts, skydiving, weapons trading, extracting venom from snakes, catching crocodiles, and oh, by the way, he owns a leopard he calls Spot. He is as comfortable in a wingsuit as a businessman is in wingtip shoes.
Love at first flight
Braylon Faulkner, 6, fell in love with airplanes on his first flight. Traveling with his mother Michelle Faulkner and grandmother Carol Faulkner-Davis in September 2012 from Orlando to Providence, Rhode Island, his excitement came to the attention of the Southwest Airlines pilot who invited him to the cockpit before the flight. His father, Brian Faulkner, […]
Zen and the art of circumnavigation
What does it take to fly around the world? Pilot Robert DeLaurentis recently took time to share what he learned during his historic 2015 solo circumnavigation of the world. His new book, “Zen Pilot: Flight of Passion and the Journey Within,” details the historic 98-day, 26,000-mile ultimate cross-country. It Takes Courage Flying around the planet is a daunting […]