Another Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In is behind us. Most of my week was spent at Sun ‘n Fun Radio performing my duties as Editor-In-Chief. We really stepped things up at the radio station this year. Admittedly, we bit off more than we should have. The listeners were probably oblivious (at least I hope so), but those of us that were working behind the scenes to make it all happen were constantly busy. Too busy. It left many of us, myself included, overly stressed. In spite of that, we accomplished some pretty awesome stuff, like live internet streaming of the radio station thanks to our friends at LiveATC.net.
Near the end of the week, things really started to look up for me. On Thursday, I was host for Stephen Force on the “Not At Sun ‘n Fun” podcast. Stretching the capabilities of technology, the Internet, and our tiny little pipe to the outside world, we used Skype to bring Captain Force and all of his guests into the radio station, through the board, over the AM radio waves, and back out to the Internet to be streamed live for the listening audience. Crazy, but well worth it … and a whole lot of fun in the end.
Many of my friends began to arrive on Friday, some of whom met on the deck of Sun ‘n Fun Radio for the second annual Gathering of Aviation Podcasters. While there were not as many podcasts represented this year as there were last year, we did welcome some newcomers. Uncontrolled Airspace, CopterCast, and Flight Time Radio appeared on the show. Of course, I was there to represent The Pilot’s Flight PodLog.
As soon as the GAP was finished, it was time to head over to the Piper Aircraft tent for the myTransponder party. Piper provided the food. Ace and ForeFlight provided the beer. And there were a whole bunch of door prizes. I’m sure I’ll forget something, but here’s a list of the door prizes:
- Piper Aircraft: 1 Flip video camcorder, 1 box of golf balls, and 2 PiperJet books signed by the test crew.
- Cessna Aircraft: 1 model of a Cessna Citation Mustang with a display stand.
- ForeFlight: 3 one-year subscriptions to ForeFlight Mobile 3.
- Pilot Getaways: 2 one-year subscriptions to the magazine.
- Scheyden Precision Eyewear: 1 pair of Sonoma Classic Flip-ups and 1 pair of Jet-A Hybrids.
Look at all that suff! It’s nuts! I want to personaly thank each and every one of the companies that brought stuff to give away. That said, the real highlight for the party was the fellowship. Friends interacting and having a great time together with the sounds of the night airshow providing the background music. Eric from ForeFlight was busy all night giving demos of ForeFlight Mobile 3 HD on the iPad, and I’m here to tell you, it’s gorgeous. Our friends at Piper Aircraft were amazing hosts to the 65 guests guests who arrived.
On Friday, the USAF Thunderbirds did their first full show. Will and I decided to go find a place from which to just watch the airshow. Now, I’ve known Will a long time now, and we both love the Thunderbirds and airshows in gerenal. I mean, that should be obvious, right? Then how is it that we’ve never actually sat down and watched an airshow together? The two of us just watched as the ‘Birds tore open the very atmosphere that was supposed to be supporting them aloft. Okay, we didn’t just watch; we were pumping our fists in the air, hollaring and cheering like the two ten-year-olds seated in front of us. It was epic!
Near the end of the show, we headed back to the radio station to get ready to perform an episode of The Pilot’s Flight PodLog live on the air … and on the ‘net. Our guests included Mike Douglas of the Mile High Flyers Podcast, his wife, David Thurlow of CopterCast, Phil Clark of The Modern Day Nomad, Rod Rakic of myTransponder, and Roger Bishop of the Indy Transponder. Rico Sharqawi also made a cameo apperance … a hilarious little cameo at that. The show was fantastic. The shownotes and audio are available here.
As soon as the show wrapped up (and the final hits of Jeremiah Weed were downed), I headed out to get my family settled in. After having been without my wife and boys for a week, even Skype video just wasn’t enough. I drove them around the field in a golf cart for a bit to see the airplanes on the field. Then we headed over to the outdoor theater to see Will and Rico present “A Pilot’s Story“. Nick Spark, a previous guest on the podcast, was also there to present his film “The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club“.
The evening was wrapped up with a group excursion to Outback Steakhouse for some grub and good times. Yes, this is what Sun ‘n Fun is all about. It’s about the people, the friendships old and new, the stories, hangar-flying, and the ocassional tall tale about the time I flew the F-16 at mach 2.2 with my hair on fire.
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