Sun 'n Fun Estimates Improved Turnout - The Ledger

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Sun 'n Fun Estimates Improved Turnout - The Ledger Apr 2nd 2012, 04:02 <p>LAKELAND | Kelly Howell sat between his nephew and wife, nibbled on chips and on Sunday watched the last air show of this year's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In.</p><p>Howell, 46, of Lakeland, has attended the show with his family for the past three years.</p><p>"We enjoy the air show," he said. "It has become a tradition for us."</p><p>Howell was among the thousands who attended the annual Fly-In. The air show and exposition started on Tuesday and ended Sunday. Officials on Sunday were still calculating the number of attendees.</p><p>Sandy Bridges, spokeswoman for Sun 'n Fun, estimated attendance increased this year because at one point, officials ran out of wristbands.</p><p>Last year, a tornado ripped through Sun 'n Fun and nearly 70 planes were damaged. At least seven people were treated at Lakeland Regional Medical Center for minor injuries.</p><p>Bridges said this year, there was only 30 minutes of rain on Saturday.</p><p>"For us, it was a better year," she said. "We exceeded our expectations."</p><p>One of the few moments of drama occurred on Sunday when a golf cart carrying state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, became engulfed in flames. No one was injured.</p><p>Dockery said through her Twitter account that the golf cart was carrying her and one other person. The driver stopped the cart to look under the seat after noticing the vehicle was having trouble accelerating. It was then that the golf cart became engulfed in flames, she said. Firefighters at the event put out the fire.</p><p>Sun 'n Fun officials previously had estimated that more than 40,000 aircraft would come through the airport during the Fly-In and more than 150,000 people would attend, according to the Sun 'n Fun program.</p><p>Last year, the Fly-In had more than 2,250 international guests from 85 countries. This year, as of Sunday afternoon, there were 2,015 international guests from 82 countries who had registered in the international tent.</p><p>The largest international group, 707, flew in from Brazil. The second-largest group, 285 people, came from Canada. </p><p>Volunteers at the international tent said there was at least one tour group from Brazil. Volunteers said word of mouth within the Brazilian aviation community has led to more visitors' attending Sun 'n Fun.</p><p>Myrna Zavala, 35, of Caracas, Venezuela, said she and her family flew to Lakeland for the first time specifically for Sun 'n Fun. She said her husband's hobby is aviation and he wanted to see the air show.</p><p>Exhibitor George Mesiarik said he noticed a difference in the crowd that approached his booth this year. He is the vice president of LP Aero Plastics Inc. and sells aircraft windshields. He has been an exhibitor at Sun 'n Fun for 20 years.</p><p>"Today has been an extremely light day," he said, and the number of serious shoppers appeared to be down this year.</p><p>Mesiarik noticed fewer pilots in the crowd. He said there was also a change in parking that created a traffic jam in the mornings and evenings.</p><p>Bridges said officials plan to evaluate and address concerns such as the traffic in an upcoming meeting.</p><p>Brian Domareck, vice president of My Go Flight, said it was the first year the company had an exhibit. The company sells accessories for pilots who use tablets.</p><p>He said his booth saw a lot of traffic and averaged 80 sales per day.</p><p>Gravensai Toledo, 36, of Lakeland, has watched the air show with his family for the past four years.</p><p>"I came for the war planes," he said. </p><p>Spectator Dennis Doyle, 72, of Darien, Conn., said he flew in for the weekend and wanted to see the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, who were headlining the air show. </p><p>Doyle had attended the show in the past and said he found the show smaller than in past years.</p><p>"The show is significantly smaller than it was 10 years ago. That's a little bit disappointing," he said. "I think their effort is pretty spectacular."</p><p>[ Elvia Malagon can be reached at elvia.malagon@theledger.com or 863-802-7550. Her Twitter is @ledger911. ]</p> This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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