It was different this year. The feeling of it. I am not sure if it was merely the fact that the crowds were smaller, I cannot quite place my finger on it. However, I can say with surety that the numbers will be way down as compared to recent years. No doubt due to the economy, new found parking fees, cost of fuel, etc.

Otherwise, we did have a blast. My wife and I go every year, this is our 8th time going as a couple. We bought our tickets online, saving $10 between the two of us. You are supposed to have a pilot’s license (I do, she doesn’t) to take advantage of the rate. But, we risked it with her ticket and they didn’t even ask for support when we got there. We had packed our lunch (as we do every year) to save money and thoroughly enjoyed the break to sit down in the cushioned seat (car) and eat and listen to 1510AM Sun N Fun Radio. She makes a mean sandwich!

With no particular agenda or requirement to see it all, we did more or less see it all. We didn’t make it out to chopper town, but caught everything else.

The performance airshow was as it always is, but was enjoyed to a greater degree due to the fact that my wife’s father was there for a while with whom we visited during the show.

The highlight of the day was after the airshow. My wife and I went to the ultralight area to watch them fly for a while. After setting up our chairs, I was offered a ride in an Apollo Fox around the patch. I don’t know very much about the airplane except that it is not an ultralight, but rather a light sport aircraft. It was interesting to hear the Rotax engine running at some 5,500 RPM through a gear reduction, as opposed to the 2,400 RPM or so of your standard issue production airplane – quite a different sound. The best part was just getting up there, even for just a few minutes. 8 minutes of flying will do more for me than 10 hours on the ground gawking at airplanes – so it certainly added something new this year. Seeing the airport from the air during Sun N Fun is a sight to behold. I’ve flown into the show one time in the past, but it was a long time ago!

My wife and stayed for the night airshow and were driving out of the parking lot during the fireworks finale which put us ahead of the crowd and GONE!

We REALLY enjoyed it this year. But after 12 hours in the sun and on our feet, we were ready to crash!

As usual, we’ll be back next year in 2010. It is earlier next year than this year and falls between April 13th-18th.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 10:23 am and is filed under Day to Day Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.