The aviation year officially began with the kickoff of Sun-n-Fun 2008 in Lakeland, Florida (KLAL) from April 8th - 13th. Several club members attended, including Ron Lindsey, Bob Ethridge, Randy Berry, Don Bledsoe, and Tony Gantt. Luis Rodriguez had planned to fly his Kitfox down, but was nixed by the weather.

    The event started off rather wet and soggy with the Lakeland area receiving 5+ inches of rain on Sunday just before the event started, which led to many (including yours truly) getting stuck in the mud and muck. It was looking more like the "Mud and Crud" fly-in for awhile, but fortunately, the sun came out nicely on Monday and by mid-week, it had begun to dry out somewhat. By the end of the week, the event had been salvaged. Highlights of the event were the Thunderbirds and the Friday night airshow. 

    Below, I've shown a few of the many photos which I took during the event ... bet they'll put a little smile on your face

         
Left: Randy Berry prepares breakfast one morning at his campsite by the ultralight airstrip. 
Center: Ron Lindsey, Bob Ethridge, and Randy Berry (taking photo)  relaxed & viewed the airshow from under Randy's canopy daily.
Right: the Thunderbirds flying by during the airshow Thursday - Saturday.

           
Left: John Moody, the "father" of ultralighting, is shown with his EZ Riser, which he flew every day.
Center: Powered parachutes one evening near sunset.
Right: The Aeroshell demo team performed daily in AT-6s and were part of the spectacular Friday night airshow.

         
Left: The balloons launched on Saturday morning.
Center: The daily formation of warbirds passing in review.
Right: An F-16 and a warbird (I believe a T-38) in formation flight.