Phenom sloshes through ‘liquid sun’

It took three workers to push the Embraer Phenom jet onto boards during set-up day at Sun `n Fun in Lakeland, Fla., on a very wet March 28, to keep it from sinking into the mud. Both the Phenom 100 and 300 are ready for visitors.

Many of the aircraft expected to arrive March 28 couldn’t push through the rainy Florida skies, leaving a huge amount of display work to be completed after the show opens. A deluge hit central Florida that day with more rain on the way. Sun ’n Fun workers, however, took the weather in stride, calling it “liquid sun.”

The Phenom, built in Brazil and assembled at a new factory in Melbourne, Fla., on the state’s east coast, has quickly captured a significant portion of the light jet market.