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Stevens Web Site
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Date: 4-13-2008
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Sun-N-Fun 2008
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I finally returned from my annual pilgrimage to Lakeland, Florida and the Sun-N-Fun flyin. I had planned to fly the Skyhawk down to the show, but the weather was miserable for the entire weekend before the show started. Finally, in desparation, I drove (8 hours) to Lakeland so that I would not miss a thing. The Monday before the show actually opened, it rained 4-1/2 inches. After the flood, the weather was beautiful for the rest of the week. Although there were significantly fewer show planes in attendence, there were still a lot of really nice RVs. Later in the week, I was joined by my friends, Jim Anderson and Dr. Jim Carter. At night, we stayed at an older but nice hotel in Winterhaven. It's greatest draw was a huge and beautiful pool, where we retired each afternoon af the show for some relaxation and pina coladas. At the show, I saw an RV buddy I met at a previous airshow, Doug Gardner. He has a beautiful 8A painted in a Navy paint scheme. I also saw Vic Babiyak, the man who built the stunning 8A which led me to select that model. While talking with Doug Gardner, I told him about my ultimate plan to fly around the world. He thought I was crazy. I then told him that I intended to work towards that goal by first flying around the lower 48 states. Doug then had a shocked look on his face. He said that he had always harbored a secret desire to fly around the U.S. Then and there, we vowed to make the trip together in 2010. My goal is to have Miss Vick flying by SNF 2009. That will give us an entire year to prepare for Doug and Steve's big adventure. I can't think of a nicer guy to make the trip with. As an added bonus, we will be traveling in two RV-8A's. Maybe we can get a little measure of respect from the RV-8 guys who always refer to our nosewheels as "sissy wheels".
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Jim Anderson, me and Jim Carter in front of an A-10 Warthog
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Having a little fun with some nose art on a bomber
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Doug Gardner, me and Vic Babiyak in front of Doug's 8A
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