www.PSFmagazine.com | March-April 2020 | 9 8 | March-April 2020 | Powered Sport Flying Light Sport Aircraft • Go fly! You’ll be out-of-doors, which is good. You’ll get aloft, which is even better. Skip taking anyone with you; flying solo is great fun and you can’t be exposed. • Now might be a great time to buy (as Scott hinted above; he’s making sales this week!). • Go to your shop and work on your aircraft kit, or to your hangar to pull some maintenance. • Be aeronautically active in ways that don’t spread infection… good for the local, state, and national economy. Is this too solitary? Hmmm…? Flying often takes place solo anyway. For years the aopa published a statistic that the average occupancy of a GA airplane — usually with four seats, sometimes more —was 1.6 persons. To reach that figure, a significant majority of all flights must have only the pilot inside. To average 1.6 in all aircraft when some may have four people on board, lots of flying has to be solo. Nothing wrong with that, in fact, I almost prefer solo, when I don’t have to be concerned with the other party joining me. The stats prove that it is not unusual to go flying on your own and it certainly meets the cdc’s advice that you practice social distancing. Notice that nowhere on that list do I mention attending airshows. Postponing is as common as social isolating Delay, postpone, or cancel — that seems to be the question organizers of events faced in the current pandemic scare. Some, like the Twelve Hours of Sebring endurance auto race (not the former Sebring Sport Aviation Expo) or the Sun ‘n Fun airshow, elected to postpone and announce alternative dates in 2020. Sebring quickly checked for a calendar opening and rescheduled for November, which presently looks safe. Sun ‘n Fun initially postponed until May 5-10, which everyone hoped would be post-coronavirus. Seeing that China’s infection rates were for the moment rapidly declining gave hope that the American situation could start to improve in the weeks ahead (I once wrote hopefully). More soon about that. Aero Friedrichshafen postpones Europe’s best show until 2021 One of the first to adjust to the new normal was Aero Friedrichshafen. “Our world has been turned upside down,” stated longtime Aero Friedrichshafen lead organizer, Roland Bosch. “Nevertheless,” he continued, “ it is still imperative for Messe Friedrichshafen (the exhibit operator’s business name) to look to the future.” “Since the coronavirus forced us to postpone the Aero Friedrichshafen scheduled for April 1 to 4, 2020, we have considered many possible options for rescheduling the event to take place at a later date,” Bosch explained. The result of these deliberations is that the next edition of the leading trade fair for general aviation will take place from April 14 to 17, 2021. “Neither the calendar of Messe Friedrichshafen nor the events taking place within the industry would have allowed easy rescheduling to the summer or fall of this year. After considering all the pros and cons, we found that a date in 2021 would be the only reasonable and acceptable way forward for the entire industry,” concluded Bosch. Like tens of thousands of others, I so enjoy this event and was looking forward to the show. I was able to back out of most booked travel and will start planning for the 2021 event. And then there was Sun ‘n Fun… My first thought was, “Relax, folks. We’re not going anywhere fast.” Across all industries, shows and events have been “ falling like dominos,” as publisher Ben Sclair put it when I first called to discuss Sun ‘n Fun 2020. I knew Ben would be watching very closely as his company produces the daily show paper. Then, the Twelve Hours of Sebring — attended by 150,000 race fans — ‘delayed’ their event, although in an extraordinarily deft move on their part, Sebring Raceway already rescheduled for November. This is impressive planning on short notice that reportedly came only after interacting with other scheduled racing events to find an open place on the calendar. New dates announced, but not for long Sun ‘n Fun 2020 Version 2 was first moved to May 5-10. Then in March, both of the giant Florida theme parks, Disney and Universal, announced they would close through the end of the month. Since then, Disney has announced that they will stay closed and don’t yet have a reopening date scheduled. Universal Studios is still planning an April 20 reopening. These Orlando-area businesses along with other theme parks draw 75 million visitors annually with a $75 billion economic impact, said officials, so even a few weeks of closure is a serious decision. In mid-March, Sun ‘n Fun leadership was heads down, in meetings, and consulting with others as they sought a direction amid the coronavirus turmoil. I am filled with empathy for the SnF crew. They were deep into planning plus physical actions with many people on the grounds for weeks as they prepare for the event. A lot of money had been spent that probably cannot be refunded. The organization said, “With the full support of Polk County, the City of Lakeland, Lakeland Linder International Airport, and the faa, at this time we are planning to postpone the 2020 Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo until May 5-10. We appreciate the unwavering support of our airport and community and hope everyone will make plans to join us here this May.” Then by the first of April, with strong recommendations for social distancing as well as Florida county-by-county shutdowns, it became obvious that wouldn’t work, either. Officials at Sun ‘n Fun finally announced that, “This year, we will serve (aviation professional, recreation, and teaching) communities by assisting in the defeat of the covid-19 pandemic. We stand with our local, state, and national leaders in supporting the social distancing and other health practices that will bring this outbreak to a halt as quickly as possible. Unfortunately supporting these initiatives will mean that the 2020 sun ‘n fun Aerospace Expo will be unable to proceed as originally planned. Our website, www.flysnf.org, will soon have complete details for ticket holders and event partners.” But not all is to be lost. Officials still want to host the event, even if it is in a far different way. As part of their announcement, they said, “We will be utilizing digital technology to bring you exciting events and content online in new and innovative ways. While we are of course disappointed that our traditional show must wait until 2021, we are invigorated and excited to announce several things to look forward to in the coming weeks in our brand new “sun ‘n fun at Home” Series. Please visit www.flysnf.org for details.” While these event closures are unfortunate, perhaps the pause in action will give them a chance to reinvent the events for 2021. Either way, event closures hopefully won’t keep you away from your own airplane. In fact, why are you still reading and not headed out to the airport? I have my keys in my hands; see you aloft— at a distance. Support Our Advertisers
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