Midwest Flyer Magazine

Experience What Sun 'n Fun Has To Offer
Fly-Ins & Air Shows
by Matthew Olafsen
Every year pilots from around the country begin to
shake off those cobwebs, shovel their planes out of
their hangars, and make that annual migration south
to Lakeland, Florida. The 39th annual Sun 'n Fun Fly-in was
finally here and for one week, April 9 - 14, 2013, Lakeland
Regional Airport was transformed into the world’s busiest
airport.
This year would mark my seventh time attending the show
and I was eager to set off on what would become a six-day
aviation marathon looking for interesting stories.
I started my first day by exploring the show grounds and
at first glance couldn’t help but notice the lack of aircraft
on the field. Large gaps could be found in every section
from warbirds and vintage aircraft areas, to the homebuilt
and seaplane areas, but hey, this was day one; what could I
expect Everything else was in place though – vendors filled
every nook and cranny of the grounds, aircraft manufacturers
were on hand ready to push their latest aircraft, and the
marshalers were buzzing around on their red scooters starting
to orchestrate the arrival of planes expected for the event.
Day two and three passed and I found that the grounds
had not changed much – still a lot of barren areas on the
grass, taxiways and the ramp. I continued my search for
articles to write, but couldn’t find anything or anyone from
the Midwest to write about. It seemed that most of the pilots
were snowbirds from Canada living down here in Florida for
the winter, local Floridians themselves, or a few pilots from
neighboring states. I knew that the economy was still hurting
and that there was a cold front moving across the country, but
this was turning out to be a bust for me in regards to finding
something to write about. I decided that maybe if I stopped
looking so hard and enjoyed the show, then something might
jump out at me.
I hit the ground running and this time, with no
expectations, I set off to just enjoy the show. I began to talk
to some DC-3 pilots about their adventure flying their South
African-registered DC-3 from Africa to the United States. I
have flown extensively throughout Africa over the years and
enjoyed comparing notes about places we had both visited on
that side of the world.
I met Rick Robinson from Ontario, Canada, who, with
photo album in hand as if a proud parent showing off a
newborn, went over the story of his Seabees restoration,
including how he mounted a Corvette engine on the top of
his wing. I hesitantly took my first-ever ride on an ultralight
flown by Lavern Dence of Sebring, Florida, not knowing if
my fear of heights would allow me to enjoy the flight or have
me screaming for solid ground. Luckily, I had the time of my
life and learned about how Lavern spends most of his week
there giving volunteers free rides as a personal thank you for
Lavern Dence of Sebring, Fla., flies his MaxAir Drifter ultralight over the
light sport/ultralight area at Sun ‘n Fun, Lakeland, Fla.
Photo by Matthew Olafsen
their hard work.
I woke up early on Saturday morning and watched the
Boy Scouts from Troop 356 become the lucky few who
eagerly assisted pilots launch their hot air balloons into the
morning sky. I was able to take a ride with the Army Aviation
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JUNE/JULY 2013 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE 31
2612 Wicks MF Everything 2 Ad.in1 1 3/17/10 2:00:24 PM