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The setting for Sun 'N Fun was a great
contrast to what we were used to from years of attending AirVenture
in Oshkosh, including
Spanish moss hung on the Live Oak trees of Club House Row.
This street has buildings for many aviation oriented
organizations. We were across from OX-5 and the Quiet Birdmen.
The weather was warm all week and sunny most
days. The only rain was at night.
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We were not sure what to expect.
We were told that Sun 'N Fun was much smaller than
AirVenture but we could not really tell the difference based
on the number of people who passed through DeltaHawk's booth.
We met lots of folks who don't get up to Oshkosh,
as well as many fans we have seen before.
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 The DeltaHawk Velocity was in Daytona at the Eagle
Works Research Center of Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University before going to Sun 'N Fun. The professors and graduate students examined the engine
in detail.
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The aircraft shown here is one of the Eagle Works research planes.
It turned out to be very opportune that we staged the
Velocity in Daytona Beach ahead of time. The center of the country was
battered by violent storms and deadly tornados in the days
leading to Sun 'N Fun. |
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An impromptu seminar broke out around Doug Doers,
DeltaHawk Vice President & Engineer.
There was a lot of interest in all of the current models
that DeltaHawk has available. We spoke at some length about
possible additional models that may be developed in the
future.
Fortunately for DeltaHawk, unfortunately for customers,
all of 2006 production is committed. We will begin accepting
orders for new engines beginning at AirVenture for delivery
in 2007. |
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This was
the first DeltaHawk air show for General Manager Dennis
Webb.
He was aware
of the friends and fans that DeltaHawk has all over the
country but had not had the opportunity to meet so many of
them before. He really enjoyed meeting them and introducing DeltaHawk
to people who were not aware of our products. |
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 The
highlight of the daily air show was the F15, P51 and F22
Raptor flying formation in the air show.
Each aircraft put on a show individually before they
joined up for the "Heritage Flight". The newest aircraft in the
American military’s inventory – the F–22 “Raptor”
– made its public debut at Sun ‘n Fun. This
will mark its first appearance at a civilian event. We heard that the
pilot of the P51 was an active F15 pilot.
Two F–22s flew into
Lakeland for Sun ‘n Fun. One was piloted by United
States Air Force (USAF) Maj. Mike Shower, a 1986 graduate of
Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland. The other fighter jet was
piloted by USAF Lt. Col. Wade Tolliver of nearby Kissimmee
(Fla.). |
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OX-5 Aviation Pioneers clubhouse at Sun 'N Fun.
This building was right across the road from the DeltaHawk
booth. Wayne Gordan, the President of the local Wing, invited
DeltaHawk to join since we were interested in aviation
engine history. Diane, Dennis and Rip all became
members of OX-5 and enjoyed the hospitality of the club all
week.
We found out that there are 80 members in Wisconsin
and we look forward to attending the upcoming meeting on May
13th at the White Fox Den in Muskego. |
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Early morning sun blocked by Live Oak trees. We
usually had an hour before the sun got above the trees.
During the day temperatures were in the high 80's with one
day's high getting to 92°F. |
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View of the DeltaHawk booth from the West. |
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Another view of the DeltaHawk booth |
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Wow! |
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DeltaHawk
will be returning to Sun 'N Fun next year. |
