Sun 'n Fun marks 45 years

“For three days in a row, we have set unheard-of record attendance,” John “Lites” Leenhouts, Sun ‘n Fun president and CEO, said April 5—with weekend airshows featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels still to come. “We’re seeing more aircraft than we’ve seen in a decade. It’s just incredible.”

A Thursday night banquet normally raises $30,000 to $60,000 for Sun 'n Fun’s Aerospace Center for Excellence, which is designed to engage, educate, and encourage the next generation of pilots and aerospace professionals. This year’s banquet raised more than $130,000, Leenhouts said. “People understand that when they put money in here, they’re investing in the next generation of aviation,” he said. “What’s going on here is the perfect model to develop the next generation of aviation.”

Reflecting on Sun 'n Fun’s forty-fifth anniversary, Leenhouts—who has led the organization for eight years—said that six years ago, he realized the model wasn’t working. “We needed to do something that was relevant to the future,” he said, and the Aerospace Center for Excellence was the result. Originally called the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, the high school has graduated 450 students in 10 years—45 have gone to college on Sun 'n Fun’s dime for aerospace degrees—and produced 93 private pilots in the past six years.

“I told this to the [Sun 'n Fun] Pioneers [volunteers who have been with the organization since its early years] the other day. They build the launch pad for us to put the rocket on, and we’re taking youth aerospace education to the stars,” Leenhouts said. “The staying power and the efforts of the volunteers have carried us through good times and bad. They never gave up.”

The change has been “unreal,” said Robin McFarland, volunteer director for Sun 'n Fun. She coordinates the 2,500 volunteers required to make the fly-in happen each year. “I didn’t even know what a fly-in was before I came here,” she laughed.

“It takes more than a village to put this on,” she said. “It’s amazing to me that people come from all over the United States, and Canada, and even Brazil to work this event. People are very dedicated to the cause,” she added. “It’s great to work for this organization knowing that our mission is to educate students about aviation—and we’re doing it. Working with these kids is a blast.”

One long-time volunteer, Dave Shallbetter of Hypoluxo, Florida, has been working at the fly-in for 41 years—since he was 16. He was instrumental in starting Sun 'n Fun Radio, which celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. “It wasn’t my idea. They came to me in '95 and said, ‘We want to have a radio station. Do you want to help?’”

The original intent was to broadcast the daily airshows, because hearing aids of the day were not compatible with public address systems. Broadcasting the airshow would offer compliance with an Americans with Disabilities Act requirement. “They wanted me to sit at a desk and talk for eight hours,” Shallbetter recalled. “I thought, ‘I could do that.’”

He approached Billy Henderson, then Sun 'n Fun’s executive director, with the idea to go out and interview people—not just read prepared copy. “He said, ‘As long as you don’t cost us our broadcast license, you can do whatever you want.’”

Sun 'n Fun Radio has done nothing but grow since then. “I found out people really wanted to help, and wanted to make it grow,” Shallbetter recalled. “I was just lucky that I found people who had as much fun with it as I did.”

A one-man operation for the first several years, the station had more than 50 volunteers this year—including some working remotely. Three co-chairmen help coordinate the increasingly complex operation. The 10-watt station broadcasts on 1610 AM, and has been streaming its audio online since 2009; well more than 20,000 streaming listeners were tallied last year.

A loop of all interviews from Sun 'n Fun for the year is available through LiveATC.net. In addition, there is an archive site set to be updated after the fly-in. “Social media and aviation podcasts were a marriage made in heaven,” he added; a number of well-known podcasters support and volunteer for the station.

“In the early days we were begging people to come talk with us,” Shallbetter said. When the 2019 fly-in began, only 12 interview slots remained open. “We have people reaching out to us. That tells me we have arrived.”

And when things get stressful? Have a waffle. (The radio station’s challenge coin is emblazoned, “In Waffles We Trust.”) Often into the afternoon, waffles are cooking on the station’s back deck. “The waffle thing started because when we were in the FAA building, they served their crew breakfast—and then they stopped,” Shallbetter said. The late Terry Fowler, then station co-chair, brought in a waffle maker. “It just took on a life of its own. Now it’s waffles on the back deck.”

Sun 'n Fun announced that its largest fundraising event for the Aerospace Center for Excellence will be renamed the Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo. “Renaming this iconic aviation event reflects our mission to engage, educate, and accelerate the next generation of aerospace professionals,” Leenhouts said. “Our focus on preparing the next generation to be inspired and trained as job-ready candidates to address the demands of today's aerospace industry will be reflected in our new name.”

“As we look to the future and where aerospace technology is taking us, we want to ensure that we’re best positioned to continue to be a part of it,” said Harley Richards, chairman of Sun 'n Fun’s board.

The first Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo will take place March 31 through April 5, 2020.