“Training in Alaska will establish a solid foundation for flying anywhere else in the world,” he said. “Pilots here learn to ‘wear’ the airplane, which makes them safer and more capable aviators. Alaska demands respect from its pilots due to its immense vastness and remoteness. One small mistake could result in a number of different life-threatening outcomes.”

Alaska pilots are familiar with the double whammy in the state: Weather is unpredictable, while ATC radar and radio reception is minimal, “which means that much of the flying up here is done VFR,” he said.

It’s essential that all pilots have the right equipment for each flight, including a survival pack, a handheld GPS, and extra fuel. Always file a VFR flight plan and ensure you complete proper pre-flight planning, he advises.

After a decade of instructing in Alaska, Haag sees a lot of pilots making the same mistakes: “Over confidence when operating off airport, complacency, inadequate training, not filing flight plans, and inadvertent flight into IMC” are the biggest ones, he noted.

For pilots who dream of flying in Alaska for a career, not just an adventurous vacation, Haag has these tips: “Earn as much tailwheel time in Alaska as possible,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what type of flying, just that is Alaska tailwheel time. Most operators require this type of time for employment.”

He notes that “outsiders” typically lack tailwheel experience. “They need to learn the ‘rudder dance,’” he said.

When we asked our Facebook fans what they would like to know about flying in Alaska, Warren Bennett was quick with his question: “How much time do you need to be a single-engine bush pilot? Opinions seem to vary and I like hearing from guys who have actually done it.”

“The reason you hear so many different answers is because the term ‘bush pilot’ is a broad one,” Haag noted.

He was able to give some specifics, however: “You need around 500 hours to fly a 207 hauling freight in western Alaska, around 1,000 hours to fly passengers in a float plane, and around 1,500 to land a Beaver or Cessna 185 on glaciers,” he said. “Hope that helps.”

Meanwhile, another Facebook fan, John Roe, had this question: “With the cost of flying going way, way up, how do most of the pilots in Alaska afford to use their aircraft like we use our cars? Do they just absorb the increased costs as part of necessary transportation in that magnificent state?”

“In short, yes,” answered Haag. “Those who actually use their aircraft as a necessity tend to make fewer trips than ‘lower 48s’ would in their cars and tend to fly fuel-efficient aircraft — most have auto fuel STCs. They also use more of the money-free resources to feed their families, resulting in lower grocery bills.”

For more information: AboveAlaska.com

The tires are sold around the globe, but retain a special connection to Alaska, with Alaskan pilots making up about a third of the company’s customer base.

But when Bill Duncan bought the company in 2000 from Alaska Tire and Rubber Co., he moved it Joseph, Oregon.

Like so many companies — not just in aviation but in other industries —Duncan was a satisfied customer who first bought the company’s product, then the company.

“The year before we started the company here in Oregon, Bill had traveled to Alaska to purchase an airplane,” recalled Nicole Winn, office manager. “Upon seeing the tires and going about purchasing a pair for himself, one conversation lead to another.”

Moving the company to Oregon was fueled by the bottom line. “The logistics for the availability, as well as transportation of raw materials, was less expensive to Oregon than to Alaska,” she noted.

Once the new owners learned the techniques involved in building such unique tires, they started upgrading the building technology, rubber formulas, retesting and tire construction.

The range of products now include Alaskan Bushwheel and Airstreak tundra tires, Maule heavy duty and extended gear, tailsprings, 10-inch Alaskan Bush Wheels that run with the 8:50 or 29-inch tire and tube combination, tailwheel parts and assemblies that are direct replacements for the Scott 3200 and 3400 series, as well as its “baby Bushwheel” tailwheel assemblies. Also available are the new Performance STOL slotted flaps.

“Those are just the major items we produce,” Winn noted. “We also have many safety items, logo’d products, and tire treatment products.”

The folks at Alaskan Bushwheel pride themselves on helping general aviation pilots get to where they need to go: “Whether it is the backcountry of Idaho, the deserts of Utah, the Alaskan tundra, your favorite gravel bar for that prize fish or you just need to go check on the ranch, we’ve got what it takes for your airplane to expect the unexpected,” she said. “All of our products are FAA approved parts and we have Supplemental Type Certificates available for a number of different airplanes, including the Cessna, Piper, Husky, Scout, and Maule, just to name a few.”

Customers include GA pilots all over the world, including sport pilots, outfitters, missionary pilots, and pilots with government agencies, such as Fish & Game, the Forest Service and the Department of Interior.

“We have products in Europe, South America and all over the U.S.” Winn said. “Alaska makes up about a third of our business.”

Under the new ownership, the business has grown from a four-man, one tire per day operation in a single hangar to a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Joseph State Airport (JSY) with 12 employees, producing hundreds of tires per year, along with its other many products and assemblies.

And expect more: “We’ve always got new products on the research table,” Winn said.

But you may have to wait.

“With the changes in the way the FAA is run, 10 years ago we could get products approved in a much faster fashion,” she noted. “We have products just itching to be released that have been on the approval trail for two years and some longer. This year we’re hoping to present our direct replacement Cessna tailsprings and Maule axles, along with one other common item on all general aviation aircraft.”

For more information: AkBushwheel.com

Like so many pilots at the time, he was using Microsoft Flight Sim, but “I wasn’t happy with its flexibility,” he recalled. “I was having a heck of a time passing my currency check.”

That’s when he turned his dorm room into a computer lab and created his own flight simulator, now known as X-Plane, which actually predicts how an airplane will fly.

A pilot since he was 16, Meyer studied aerospace engineering at Iowa State University and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. He combined all that to create his first sim called Archer-II IFR to simulate almost any airplane imaginable by plugging in aircraft blueprints.

He then wrote simulator code called “blade element theory” that creates aerodynamic forces in the computer to accurately model the flying characteristics of an aircraft. He continued to test various designs, eventually renaming the simulator program X-Plane in honor of a series of aircraft tested at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1960s.

His company, Laminar Research, recently released X-Plane Version 10.20, a 64-bit version that solves the challenges of customers unable to keep up with the larger memory requirements of the sim due to the more complex aircraft models, higher resolution textures, and improved scenery.

While X-Plane is a “great tool for pilots of all levels looking to learn or maintain currency,” it has expanded far beyond that, according to Meyer. He notes that officials at Cirrus Aircraft used X-Plane to virtually fly the Vision Jet while it was in development.

On another new design, the Visionaire Vantage, Meyer was a bit skeptical about the predicted performance characteristics. “The numbers sounded optimistic to me,” he said, “so I flew the airplane before it even existed.”

The sim can serve as a “sanity check,” he noted. “X-Plane doesn’t care what you hope the plane will do.”

That’s why “countless” organizations are using the sim to test aircraft ranging from an autogyro in Texas to what it would be like to fly a glider over Mars, he said.

Of course, for most people, the sim is a way to indulge their love of aviation. Pilots can practice, doing everything from shooting VFR and IFR approaches to improving navigation skills and preparing for emergencies. It also lets you fly your airplane from your home airport. Feel like flying something different? Aircraft range from the Cessna 172 to F-22 to the Space Shuttle.

X-Plane has a “couple of hundred thousand” users who are quite loyal, according to Meyer.

“Once they start flying X-Plane, they don’t stop,” he said.

That’s because the sim is “more fun to fly,” he added.

“The airplane flies like a real airplane,” he said. “And there is unending variety and unending appeal. As long as people keep dreaming up new airplanes, they can fly them.”

And what’s cool is that you’ll never have the same flight twice.

“You’ll never have a perfect flight,” he said. “There are so many variables — wind, flight controls, the input from the pilot. X-Plane does a better job than any other sim to give the feeling of interacting with all that randomness.”

X-Plane will continue to evolve, thanks, in part, to feedback from its customers, he said. “Everybody has different ideas of what makes the perfect sim,” he said.

He’s also heard from many customers who began flying on their computers and are now flying real airplanes. He tells the story of Jay Oliver, the keyboardist for the rock band the Eagles, who honed his skills on X-Plane, then flew an instrument approach the first time he ever flew a real airplane.

“X-Plane flies like the real thing,” he said. “People can get so much practice flying it — that’s what it was initially designed for.”

The fight of his life

Last year while at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Meyer got a call from a lawyer in Texas. That’s how he found out he was being sued by Uniloc for patent infringement. The Texas company claims that the X-Plane app for Android infringes on its 2001 patent for software that checks computer databases to ensure a program has been paid for.

Meyer, who used source code from Google for the Android app, has vowed to fight the lawsuit against Uniloc, which he calls a “patent troll.”

He’s initiated a White House petition to persuade the government to make it more difficult for companies to file frivolous patent lawsuits. He estimates fighting the lawsuit will cost $2 million and two years of his life. That’s why most companies settle these kinds of lawsuits, he noted. But not Meyer.

“I will spend everything I have or will have because I believe this is wrong,” he said. “We should not have to pay extortion.”

He hopes by not settling it will alert people to what is going on with these patent trolls. Besides the current economic costs, these kinds of lawsuits also hinder innovation, he noted.

“I won’t do any more apps for Android,” he said. But there’s more: Fighting this fight means there will be “other products that don’t get created, revenues I won’t make and tax dollars I won’t pay,” he said.

“It’s a mathematical equation that tells us that we have a real problem,” says Ravi the Raviator, a pilot and motivational speaker who has been named “Honorary Outreach Ambassador” by SUN ’n FUN.

Outreach is exactly what GA needs right now, he notes. “We keep trying to bring people to aviation, rather than bringing aviation to people,” he says. “That’s my focus from this point forward.”

He believes that to save GA, we need to show kids there is a career path from learning to fly to working in aviation. “That’s how we’re going to grow the pilot population,” he says.

He notes it’s difficult to get people to come out to a GA airport that may be out of the way and difficult to enter due to increased security. “We have to go somewhere where people are already comfortable to introduce them to the magic of flight,” he says.

In that vein, he spent a good part of his time at this year’s SUN ’n FUN  sharing his message with students in the area in his presentation “You Can Do It.”

Sponsored by Sennheiser, he’s also slated to speak at the Cannes AirShow in France in June. He’s hoping these efforts will lead to a “You Can Do It” tour of 24 cities around the country.

As he strives to inspire a new generation of aviators, he advises those already involved to look at the bigger picture.

“We as an industry really need to start looking at the world — not just how we save GA in America, but how we can export our talents to an emerging market,” he says.

For more information: HeyRavi.com

It all began when Columbus, Ohio, pilots Dan Kiser and Steve Wathen offered to help Steve’s son and some friends earn their Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badges. They enjoyed sharing their love of aviation with the boys so much, they began recruiting scouts from other nearby troops and offering the program twice a year.

They knew they were on to something when 80 kids showed up to one of their events, said Kiser.

“We realized this was more than two guys could handle, so we recruited more pilots,” he said.

With more pilots on board, the program began to take shape. It’s a fast-paced day with kids rotating among 10 stations, such as aerodynamics, powerplants, aircraft instruments, airport operations, careers in aviation, and preflight. The programs are held on airports, with the chance for kids to get up close with aircraft. Some events partner with a local EAA chapter to offer Young Eagles flights “to give the kids the whole package,” Kiser said.

One of the reasons the program has grown so quickly is that it uses realistic teaching aids, according to Kiser. For example, the preflight, aerodynamics and police helicopter stations use actual aircraft. At the instrumentation station, leaders pass around real aircraft instruments for the kids to handle. The powerplants station uses a cutaway jet engine as a teaching aid. For the airport operations station, which is held in a location that has a view of the entire airport, a handheld radio is variously tuned to ATIS, ground control and the tower so the kids can hear live communications and then see what the planes being communicated with do next.

As the program evolved, Wathen came up with the idea of packaging it up and helping other pilots put it on in other cities. A non-profit was created, a curriculum developed with help from Ohio State University and the men began promoting Youth Aviation Adventures.

One of the first calls they made was to Hal Shevers, founder of Sporty’s and a huge supporter of the Boy Scouts. Sporty’s became YAA’s first partner program and continues to put the program on once a year.

One of the latest to become a partner is the Sports Aviation Foundation in Minden, Nevada, which held its first event in January at the Minden-Tahoe Airport. Other partners include Civil Air Patrol squadrons, Women in Aviation chapters, the National Park Service and “a whole raft of other organizations,” according to Kiser.

YAA officials realize that as the program grows, each partner will want to put its own stamp on it. To be considered a YAA program, however, the partner must offer the eight stations required for the Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badge: Aviation in the Know, a game show style competition; powerplants; airport operations; aerodynamics; aircraft instruments; careers; preflight; and FPG9, which is building a glider from a foam plate.

YAA offers the program to its partners for free, but organizations that do have funds “are expected to pick up the tab,” Kiser said. “If it’s a a little organization, like a Women in Aviation chapter, we’ll finance it for them. But we do ask for donations.”

To get the ball rolling on a program, you just have to contact YAA through its website, YouthAviationAdventure.org. Depending on what kind of resources a group has available, it will take between three and six months to pull together the program, he noted.

While YAA’s program now is geared toward between 50 and 200 kids with several volunteers, officials are in the process of developing a small group program. This would allow one or two people to put on a program for six to 10 kids. “We hope to release that this year,” Kiser said.

For more information: YouthAviationAdventure.org

The premise is simple: Introduce kids to aviation through a flight in a general aviation aircraft and — hopefully — inspire the next generation of pilots. And it’s working.

“There has been no other nationwide program as successful at creating pilots as Young Eagles,” says Brian O’Lena, manager of the Young Eagles and Youth Pathways for the Experimental Aircraft Association.

As the nation’s best-known program for inspiring an interest in aviation in youngsters, Young Eagles and EAA officials are regularly tapped by individuals and organizations around the nation for information and inspiration. Some want to add a Young Eagles rally to their events to give kids the actual experience of flight, while others hope to emulate the successful program.

“While there are many good local programs around the country, we explain that our program is designed to operate as a stand-alone EAA program through our chapter network and through EAA-member pilots,” O’Lena notes.

The participation of EAA members are volunteer pilots is essential as those pilots are the best ambassadors for aviation. And increasingly those volunteer pilots are former Young Eagles, according to O’Lena.

“Many of our former Young Eagles are now Young Eagles pilots paying it forward,” he said. “It’s gratifying to see young people who discovered aviation through Young Eagles returning to the program to share their experience with today’s young people.”

Many are like Bradley Bormuth of Morgantown, N.C., who went on an Young Eagles flight on Sept. 2, 1995, when he was just 8. Earlier this year, Bormuth gave young Jeremiah Ford his first flight in the Bormuth family’s Cessna 172, marking his 500th Young Eagles flight.

Of course, volunteer pilots do not have to have been Young Eagles to inspire a love of flight. “We have thousands of great volunteers who make the program the success it is,” O’Lena said.

A few years ago, EAA officials realized there needed to be some kind of follow up to that first flight. It teamed with Sporty‘s to offer a free Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course to all Young Eagles in what has grown to be called the Young Eagles Flight Plan. Besides the free course, Young Eagles also receive a free EAA student membership, a free first flight lesson, reimbursement for passing the FAA knowledge exam, and the opportunity to apply for flight training scholarships. More than 18,000 kids have participated in the Sporty’s program, according to O’Lena.

“Each week we hear of more success stories of students becoming pilots,” he said. “We have confirmed more than 18,000 former Young Eagles who have earned various aviation certificates, from private pilots to air traffic controllers. Young Eagles are now in every collegiate aviation program in the country, as well as in all U.S. military academy flight programs.”

So what’s next? “Our goal is to continue to grow the Young Eagles Flight Plan by increasing participation in the Sporty’s program and growing our flight training scholarships,” he says. “It’s all about increasing the pilot population and growing participation in aviation.”

For more information: YoungEagles.org

Then her thoughts wandered to a story her husband told her about being given a helicopter ride one summer at the beach when he was 8 years old. “While he didn’t pursue his pilot’s license until he was in his 30s, the experience never left him and fueled the passion he has for aviation,” she recalls. Putting the two ideas together, the veteran teacher, with more than 21 years in the classroom, came up with the idea for an aviation summer camp called ASCEND (Aviation Summer Camp: Exploring New Dimensions).

She brought the idea up at the annual planning meeting at EAA Chapter 1083 at Rowan County Airport (RUQ) in North Carolina.

“The idea was well received,” she said. “We have lots of energetic volunteers who were ready to help however they were needed. We began planning sessions and had our members volunteer to instruct or help in ways they would be most beneficial.”

Now in its third year, the week-long program, slated this year for June 17 to June 22, is for kids between the ages of 13 and 18.

Fueling the program is a grant from the Taco Bell Graduate to Go program. “One of our members has a son who was a CEO of the program,” Brown said.

That opened the door, giving them the opportunity to apply for grant. “We, of course, had to meet their guidelines and philosophy of their program, which is to keep kids in school and give them a reason to graduate,” she says. “Our goal is to help students gain knowledge of aviation in general, as well as specific aspects of aviation in order to lead them to explore careers in aviation. We try to empower students to continue their education in whatever field they decide to pursue and continually stress the importance of higher education.”

Receiving the grant “helped us to be able to give the kids an awesome experience,” she continues. “We provide them with shirts, hats, backpacks, and supplies for note taking and flight planning.”

The camp’s curriculum is based on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Path Curriculum, she notes. Brown and another certified teacher plan how the camp will flow, aided by volunteers who teach the different aspects of the curriculum.

“We teach the phonetic alphabet, parts of the airplane, the four forces of flight, flight controls, covering techniques, instruments, weather, flight planning, CG and weight and balance, riveting, traffic patterns and flight simulator,” Brown says, ticking off all the items on the agenda. “All of these activities have a hands-on aspect to them in order to keep students engaged. We also give the students a right seat flight during a Young Eagles rally following the camp where they take the controls and offer them an online ground school through the Experimental Aircraft Association. Taco Bell has made it possible to present them with a certificate for a Discovery Flight with a certified instructor after the camp has ended in order to explore flight training.”

Every moment of the day is planned, she notes, with volunteers in charge of providing lunch from various restaurants in the area — along with life lessons.

“During lunch, we have our volunteers talk with the students about their careers and experiences in aviation. This includes our airport manager, who is a commercial pilot but chose to make a change so he could be home with his family. We have had talks about building homebuilt aircraft, a World War II veteran spoke of his experiences in aviation, and others have discussed air and rescue operations, the military, and more.”

The week also includes a tour of the airport to show the students the day-to-day operations, as well as up close looks at a Highway Patrol helicopter, as well as several jets and other unique aircraft. Also on the agenda are field trips to local museums.

So is all the hard work worth it? Absolutely, says Brown.

“After our first camp, one of our students who had just finished her sophomore year in high school was truly bitten by the aviation bug,” she said. Now a licensed pilot, she is already giving back, flying Young Eagles during rallies while she prepares to enter Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University next fall.

“Another of our students from the first year who was only 14 soloed right after his 16th birthday and is working on his license,” she continued. “Still another girl from the first year who was only 13 at the time joined Civil Air Patrol and has become very involved. Two girls from our 2012 camp are pursuing careers in aviation, while a 14-year-old boy already has more than 10 hours towards his license.”

Many of the former campers return as interns for the next year’s camp, she said. The chapter’s goal is the eventually double the number of students attending the camp — which is now limited to 25 — and increase the percentage of those who wish to pursue aviation as a career, she added.

“It is crucial to the future of aviation to involve kids in our programs,” Brown declares. “Without kids, we cannot continue to grow aviation in the 21st century.”

She encourages other EAA Chapters “not to be afraid to take that first step.”

“There are many talented people in every group who would like to share their knowledge and expertise with others,” she says.

Brown and the folks at EAA Chapter 1083 are more than happy to share, as well.

“If there are other groups who are interested in considering an endeavor of this type, we would be glad to help them get started,” she says.

For more information: AviationSummerCamp.net and 336-752-2574

To commemorate his memory, several volunteers gathered at the pond behind the exhibition hangars on Monday and set little rubber ducks afloat.

Ducks were his thing, according to Joyce Sanborn of the Florida Air Museum.

“He loved ducks,” she says. “He’d come in and say good morning, then press a duck into your hand. I have 76 of them.”

“I have 90,” adds Robyn McFarland, SUN ’n FUN’s volunteer coordinator.

The ducks were cherished by those who received them.

“He was loved by everyone and he loved everybody,” notes Sanborn.

As the ducks floated across the pond, Borchik’s fellow volunteers reminisced about the man who meant so much to them.

The Cleveland, Ohio, native had a storied career in the U.S. Air Force, enlisting in 1950. He served as a B-29 navigator during the Korean War and as an F-4D pilot during two combat tours in Vietnam.

He retired in 1977 as Chief of Plans, Fighter Test Directorate, Tactical Air Warfare Center, at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

After his retirement, he served as town manager for Cinco Bayou, Florida, and earned a Ph.D. in Public Administration.

And he began volunteering at SUN ’n FUN. He and his wife, Sally, would volunteer November through April, not only at the fly-in, but also at the museum.

He served as a docent at the museum and especially enjoyed giving tours to schoolchildren

“He was more than happy to show the kids around,” Sanborn says.

He’d often put on his pilot hat and share stories with boys and girls who were active in scouting to help them acquire their aviation merit badges, she notes.

“He was a very special man,” adds McFarland.

The volunteers who floated their ducks on Monday had to scramble to get them out of the pond by mid-afternoon. They were successful in retrieving them all, but some noted that many of the ducks were still drying out as of Tuesday afternoon.

There’s no doubt those ducks will find a place of honor among those volunteers who were lucky enough to serve with Mr. Borchik.

That meant SUN ’n FUN had to come up with the money to pay controllers during the week of the fly-in. The FAA’s latest decision, however, doesn’t let SUN ’n FUN off the hook.

While the FAA will continue to pay for two to three controllers for day-to-day operations at the field, the traffic associated with the fly-in requires up to 72 additional controllers. Previously, the FAA covered the costs for those additional controllers. Now, it’s up to SUN ’n FUN to cover those costs.

While the exact amount isn’t known, it is expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. SUN ’n FUN has to cover the costs for the controllers to travel here, lodging, food and other expenses.

“We don’t know the real numbers yet,” said John “Lites” Leenhouts, SUN ’n FUN president.

What he does know is that paying the bill means less money for the organization’s scholarship and education programs, such as the outreach programs, the summer camps, afterschool programs for the students at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, and more.

But an unexpected thing happened with all the bad news surrounding the effects of sequestration on aviation. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association stepped in as a major sponsor, offering to pay some of the costs of the controllers, along with Visit Florida and the Lakeland Linder Airport Authority.

“The FAA’s random decision to remove the safety net is being solved by Florida leaders to offset those costs,” Leenhouts said. “If they didn’t step up, it would have been devastating.”

Even better, according to some SUN ’n FUN officials, is that those tourism associations now have SUN ’n FUN firmly on their radar screens.

That makes sense, since the fly-in generates about $67 million for the local area, officials estimate. It is the largest convention in the state, but often the tourism efforts were more focused on beaches and baseball.

The fly-in also has received increased attention from local television stations, with camera crews expected to be at the show all day Friday and Saturday. That can only increase awareness of the fly-in, hopefully inspiring more aviators and attendees for the remaining days of this year’s fly-in and subsequent years.

Meanwhile, those who have been to SUN ’n FUN for years and years shouldn’t notice anything different, Leenhouts says.

“If you’ve been here before, you won’t know the difference,” he says. “It looks, smells and tastes the same.”

“The highly trained controllers who are here are the ones who have been here forever,” he continues. “Whether this is your 15th year or first year, you’ll see that air traffic is handled very professionally.”

For more information: Sun-n-Fun.org

The FAA’s latest decision, however, doesn’t let SUN ’n FUN off the hook. While the FAA will continue to pay for two to three controllers for day-to-day operations at the field, the traffic associated with the fly-in requires up to 72 additional controllers. Previously, the FAA covered the costs for those additional controllers. Now, it’s up to SUN ’n FUN to cover those costs.

While the exact amount isn’t known, it is expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Besides salaries, SUN ’n FUN has to cover the costs for the controllers to travel here, lodging, food and other expenses.

“We don’t know the real numbers yet,” said John “Lites” Leenhouts, SUN ’n FUN president.

What he does know is that paying the bill means less money for the organization’s scholarship and education programs, such as the outreach programs, the summer camps, afterschool programs for the students at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, and more.

But an unexpected thing happened with all the bad news surrounding the effects of sequestration on aviation. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association stepped in as a major sponsor, offering to pay some of the costs of the controllers, along with Visit Florida and the Lakeland Linder Airport Authority.

“The FAA’s random decision to remove the safety net is being solved by Florida leaders to offset those costs,” Leenhouts said. “If they didn’t step up, it would have been devastating.”

Even better, according to some SUN ’n FUN officials, is that those tourism associations now have SUN ’n FUN firmly on their radar screens.

That makes sense, since the fly-in generates about $67 million for the local area, officials estimate. It is the largest convention in the state, but often the tourism efforts were more focused on beaches and baseball.

The fly-in also has received increased attention from local television stations, with camera crews expected to be here all day Friday and Saturday. That can only increase awareness of the fly-in, hopefully inspiring more aviators and attendees for the remaining days of this year’s fly-in and subsequent years.

Meanwhile, for those who have been to SUN ’n FUN for years and years, you shouldn’t have noticed anything different when you flew in, Leenhouts says.

“If you’ve been here before, you won’t know the difference,” he says. “It looks, smells and tastes the same.”

“The highly trained controllers who are here are the ones who have been here forever,” he continues. “Whether this is your 15th year or first year, you’ll see that air traffic is handled very professionally.”