Sun N Fun 2022
Sun N Fun is one of the largest aviation gatherings in the country each year. There is everything from homebuilt airplanes to antiques, warbirds, military jets, and even brand spankin’ new airplanes! This has been on our calendar since we left Alaska last fall.
On the way to Sun N Fun we spent a couple of nights in St Petersburg at Harvest host locations. The first was The World Famous Ferg’s Bar and Grill.
They had a Pizza ATM out front that baked your pie to order. We did not try it, but those that did said it would have been better if they were drunk! It only offered cheese pizza and pepperoni. I heard someone say they needed to add a combo like the picture on the front
They were very dog friendly and Ruckus joined us for dinner and drinks. I am not too sure about the axe throwing in a bar…… What could go wrong? Especially if you were sitting in the big chair when they threw them!
The second night we stayed at a small farm with this crazy Ficus tree. A family with 2 young boys camped next to us and they played with Ruckus all evening while their parents, the hosts, and us enjoyed chatting.
We arrived at Lakeland Linder Airport a couple of days early and met up with Don and Penny Childs from Wasilla. We got to get this great site with shade trees and set up camp.
We had the place to ourselves for a while before this entire field filled up with campers.
We woke up each day to this nice view of the pond. It was chuck full of fish! The farmers cows roamed by the pond throughout the day and enjoyed the moss that hung from the trees as a snack
O.K. on to the airplanes! The A-10 did daily Legacy Flights with different warbirds like this P-51 Mustang.
S.T.O.L. (Short Take Off and Landing) are all the rage these days. This one looks like it stole its landing gear from a Monster Truck.
This is a Mustang 2 homebuilt. My friend Stretch Bachelor in Auburn, CA built and flies one he calls Lovely Lou.
I found this beautiful Beechcraft Staggerwing out in the parking area.
The night airshows are absolutely spectacular. They light up the sky with all the pyrotechnics.
This is the airplane that was flying in the picture above. He calls it a Yak-110. It is two Yak-55s joined together with a J-85 jet engine in the center. When he first flew, the sounds were very confusing!
How about four SNJs doing close formations aerobatics in the dark!
If one of these lottery tickets wins, I am taking this Waco YMF-5 on Aerocet Amphibs home with me.
If the jackpot is big enough this Grumman U-16 Albatross will be named Mz Dazy 2!
Doc, the only flying B-29 Super Fortress was on hand and flew several times a day. How would you like to be in charge of polishing that? I watched them refuel it once. It took 3 fuel trucks!!
A B-1B Lancer was open for tours. I was hoping for a high speed pass, but I guess they did not want to have to replace all the windows in the area!
How about the Navy’s turn at a Legacy Flight? A F-18 Super Hornet and an F-4U Corsair.
Penny felt bad that the cows got penned up so that we could camp in their pasture so she gave them snacks from time to time. There was a bit of rain one day and this was the result. Luckily we were on very slightly higher ground.
This Osprey was having a pretty easy time fishing in the pond next to us.
Out wandering in the airplane camping I came across this Cessna T206H that I used to maintain for the California Highway Patrol years ago. It now lives the life of luxury in West Palm Beach, FL.
No trip to an air show would be complete without a corndog!
With crumpled up Lottery tickets in my pocket, I guess I will have to find a 16 foot Lund to start my flying boat dreams!
With Sun N Fun coming to a close we had a great time with our Alaskan friends Don and Penny Childs, Dave and Ty Moore, and Robb Smart. Time to head up the road to Bristol, TN for the NASCAR races!