Lakeland Linder International Airport is gearing up for its biggest week of the year: the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo, which is holding its 49th fly-in and airshow starting next Tuesday and running through April 2.
The United States Navy Blue Angels precision flying team will be screaming over Lakeland again this year, along with fan favorites Patty Wagstaff, the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team and the U.S. Air Force F-35A Demo Team.
“There’s so many layers of things in this presentation that it’s easy to miss how incredibly outstanding this contribution is to our city and to the nation,” Mayor Bill Mutz told Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo Director Gene Conrad.
Conrad has made some changes and adjustments this year, his first year at the helm of the second-largest airshow in the country. One of the biggest changes: Parking is half off if you register online. Otherwise, it will be $20 at the gate.
“We needed to do it online to help get people into the parking lot as quickly as possible,” Conrad said. “Because we have the technology now — QR codes — when you come in we’re going to scan you … We don’t want anybody to pay $20. We want them to buy it online for $10.”
One-day tickets cost $45 each for adults and $20 for children 11 to 17. Florida residents can get a Saturday-Sunday pass for $45 for adults and $20 for youth 11 to 17. Conrad has also moved up the maximum age for free admission from 6 years old to 10 years old.
“We’re going to make sure we get our kiddos in there,” said Conrad. “Also this year we have Junior Aces, which is our youth program.”
Conrad explained that children 10 and under can receive a passport when they enter. At various stops, like the Florida Air Museum, the 727, Skylab, the career fair, kids can gets stamps in their passports. When their passport is full, they can receive a toolkit, complete with a metal plier, wrench/screwdriver combo and Allen wrenches.
“And that’s available for any kid, not just someone that’s coming in on a field trip, but any kids that attend the event this year,” he said, adding that there will also be an enlarged playground area.
Conrad said he has spent the last year listening to vendors, fly-in guests and volunteers and one of their biggest requests was improved wi-fi. Because the airport is normally a functioning airport, the runway areas, camping sites and expo halls have been dead zones in the past.
“So we have just put in three 30,000 linear feet of cat six cable and hundreds of antennas out there everywhere,” Conrad said. “We have 500 exhibitors and vendors who are looking to sell and transact business out there. We need to help them make sure they can do that on the core area around the exhibit buildings. We now have the capability for folks and 29,000 simultaneous connections all at the same time. As we all know, we have iPhones, iWatches, iPads are all wanting to communicate, input, push that up to the cloud at all times.”
In addition, there are now Uber and Lyft pickup and drop-off points, as well as Instacart deliveries and a tram stop for fly-in campers.
For people driving in, there is a new overflow parking lot on the east side of the airport, with tram service to all the activities at the airport.
Conrad said he knows many people in Lakeland watch from their backyards or from various parking lots, but he said there is so much more for people to see and children to enjoy inside the gates, including an updated Saturday night fireworks show.
Daily airshows begin at 1:30 p.m., with two nighttime shows starting at 7 p.m. Airshow performance lineups:
TUESDAY, MARCH 28
- National Anthem, SOCOM Paracommandos — Circling Aeroshell
- Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in four T-6s
- Rob Holland in a MXS-RH
- High Flight Mustangs – Lou Herschel and Ariel Loudi – in two P-51
- Warbird Show — Various Military Warbirds
- Kyle Fowler in a Long EZ
- Racers Jet Team – Scott Farnsworth and Jerry “Jive” Kerby – in L-39s
- Nathan Hammond in a Dehaviland Chipmunk
- Bill Stein in an Edge 540
- USAF F-35A Demo Team in a F-35A an a P-51
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos and Circling Rob Holland
- Rob Holland in a MXS-RH
- Doug Rozendaal in a DGA-6 ‘Mister Mulligan’
- Patty Wagstaff in an Extra 300LX
- Lee Lauderback in a P-51D Crazy Horse 2
- Warbird Show — Various Military Warbirds
- Larry Kelley in a B-25 Panchito
- Racers Jet Team – Scott Farnsworth and Jerry “Jive” Kerby — in L-39s
- Greg Koontz in a Decathlon
- Kevin Coleman in an Extra 330SC
- Jim Peitz in a F33C Bonanza
- Kyle Franklin in a Piper Cub
- Michael Goulian in an Extra 330SC
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AIRSHOW
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos
- USAF F-35A Demo Team in an F-35A and a P-51
- Opener — BlackFly
- Aeroshell Aerobatic Team – four T-6s
- Jerry Kerby in a RV-8
- Kyle Fowler in a Long EZ
- Redline Airshows in a RV-8
- Nathan Hammond in a Dehaviland Chipmunk
- PyroMusical – PyroMusical plane
THURSDAY, MARCH 30
- USN Blue Angels Jets 1 – 4 — Circles in four F/A-18E/F
- USN Blue Angels Jets 5 and 6 — Circles in two F/A-18E/F
- National Anthem / SOCOM
- USAF F-35A Demo Team in an F-35A ad a P-51
- USN Blue Angels Practice Demo in six F/A-18 and one C-130J
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos and Circling Aeroshell
- Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in four T-6s
- Michael Goulian in an Extra 330SC
- Warbird Show in Various Military Warbirds
- Jim Peitz in an F33C Bonanza
- Doug Rozendaal in a DGA-6 ‘Mister Mulligan’
- Patty Wagstaff in an Extra 300LX
- USMC F-35B Demo Team in an F-35B
- USN Blue Angels in six F/A-18 and a C-130J
SATURDAY, APRIL 1
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos and Circling Kevin Coleman
- Kevin Coleman in an Extra 330
- Kyle Franklin in a Piper Cub
- Jim Peitz in an F33C Bonanza
- Lee Lauderback in a P-51D Crazy Horse 2
- Warbird Show — Various Military Warbirds
- USAF F-35A Demo Team in an F-35A and a P-51
- USMC F-35B Demo Team in an F-35B
- Michael Goulian in an Extra 330SC
- USN Blue Angels in six F/A-18 and a C-130J
SATURDAY NIGHT AIRSHOW
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos
- Opener — BlackFly
- Aeroshell in four T-6s
- Manfred Radius in a Glider
- Jerry Kerby in a RV-8
- Kyle Fowler in a Long EZ
- Redline Airshows in a RV-8
- Nathan Hammond in a Dehaviland Chipmunk
- PyroMusical — PyroMusical plane
SUNDAY, APRIL 2
- National Anthem / SOCOM Paracommandos and Circling Bill Stein
- Bill Stein in an Edge 540
- Greg Koontz in a Decathlon
- Larry Kelley in a B-25 Panchito
- High Flight Mustangs – Lou Herschel and Ariel Loudi — in two P-51s
- USAF F-35A Demo Team in an F-35A and a P-51
- USMC F-35B Demo Team in an F-35B
- USN Blue Angels in six F/A-18 and a C-130J
View a complete daily schedule
latest news
Loading...
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.