Happy 50th Anniversary!

That time of the year has come around again- it’s airshow season! Every year, the Sun n’ Fun airshow is held at KLAL in Lakeland, Florida. I got to go for the first time in sophomore year, and I unfortunately had to miss it last year. But this year I went back- for both days- with different people.

The thing I like about attending airshows is how the lineup will change every year, and even then, it’s still unlikely to be the exact same aircraft. This year I saw a C-17, just like two years ago, from Charlotte, but the tail number was different. They let us tour a lot of the larger military planes, and I definitely took them up on that offer.

Saturday had both a day and night airshow, and I stayed for both days. I also love how the airshow changes every so often. The Thunderbirds performed again this year, but the show itself was different. I also got to see the F-35 demo team and various acrobatic performers. It was definitely worth it!

One of the night show performers was the Polaris Ghost Squadron, which Jared Isaacman is part of. He’s an ERAU alumni who came back last year to speak to students, and it was awesome to see just how connected ERAU is to the industry. I enjoyed the airshow. The day airshow lasted for four full hours, while the night airshow lasted two and a half hours. And yes – I made sure to reapply sunscreen as needed.

The static displays were also a lot of fun to walk through. I noticed that a lot of the people were selling mission patches and T-shirts with their aircraft on it. There’s also a vendor area outside the warbird section, and I ended up buying a pink aviation lanyard with a seatbelt buckle attachment on it. I was really tempted to buy the KC-135 “remove before flight” tag, though…

I got to see aircraft that I’d never seen up close before, the KC-135 was one of them. They let us tour the flight deck, cargo component, and the boom operator station, which was cool to see. The KC-135 has a window in the back for the boom operator, unlike the newer KC-46 which has a refueling screen near the front of the plane that relies on cameras. I was able to look out the back of that window, watching people walk by under the aircraft. It was awesome!

I also toured a C-130 with skiis that is able to land on snow, and it’s crazy for me to even think about that. I hate the cold, so I don’t like snow, but the fact that a large airplane can land on snow is awesome. I got a picture of me waving through a window of the C-130, and the breeze up there felt nice. Sun n’ Fun is just one of many things I’m going to miss when I move away, but there are airshows all over the country.

I’m very glad I went to Sun n’ Fun this year, and I’m excited to go to the Orlando Airshow next weekend! That’s one of the cool things I love about the ERAU Daytona location – there are so many airshows around here within driving (or flying!) distance. Maybe I’ll be write about the Orlando Airshow next… but whatever it is, I’ll see you in the next post!