I was there from Thursday mid day till Saturday early afternoon....drove my RV down in Thursday, arriving just in time for the squall. I was still standing at the registration window when it hit and for a moment I thought the trailer they were using as a check-in office was going to get blown away. It was nasty for a bit, and that afternoon was weird walking around the show....
The only time I've been to S&F was in 2005. We were in the area on vacation and I drove down from Orlando for the day, It was great fun, but my wife was happy to stay at the hotel and enjoy the day there.
driving in for the day is better than not coming at all, but I suggest seriously to camp on site....do a couple nights even if you're not much into camping. I've done it both ways many times....It's a very different experience to me anyway. A lot is missed if you leave at the end of the Thunderbird's show.
I’m curious what the vendors said about lag time? Particularly Garmin, since it appears their lag time is a year or more.
The only comments I heard about it was a headset guy...Clarity Aloft I think it was...was telling another customer that their optional bluetooth module has some sort of lead time...that they would sell the headset without and it can be sent and added later by removing a couple screws.
and the Van's Aircraft person told me that their lead times are long now and that their orders went up quite a bit because of covid ...
I went yesterday. I went 3 consecutive years back in 00-02. While I enjoyed the event and had plenty to see and do, it seemed smaller and a bit less busy than I remember. I once heard a rumor that it was best to go during the week. Any truth to this?
I’ve been recently going to Osh, so no doubt that would make SnF seem smaller.
It's a very different event even day to day, similar to how Air Venture is, with display aircraft coming and going....but yes I agree it's best during the week. I find weekends tend to bring in much bigger crowds with many more "general population" folks that aren't pilots or really even into aviaton.... the "red neck airshow" crowd...
weekends aren't all bad though. I used to say my preference is week days ONLY...but now I'm not so sure because with the crowds also come more vendors and more displays.
My trip this year a good example.... partially weather related but also just different days...
Thursday afternoon walking around after the rain cleared was weird. some of the exhibitors in the hangars were still there but most everyone else was buttoned up and gone. It was more like it is a day or two before opening day. Almost all of the food vendors were closed up and gone. The SW and SE exhibit areas were nearly vacant. There were ZERO classic warbirds on the ramp. Lots of empty booths....no crowds. Friday was beautiful. I was happy to see several P-51's and other classics on the ramp. Not as many as years past, but still some stuff there. The B1B came in as well as lots of others. It was a great day.
Then walking around Friday evening after everyone was gone was wonderful!
Saturday there were even more stuff on the Warbird ramp. The car show folks and the Veteran's area were back. Crowds were much thicker though.
Overall it seems there were many more holes in the aircraft parking and camping areas.... it was a bit thinner than "normal"...but it'll be interesting to hear the final counts.
I wonder why they changed the schedule. Way back a long time ago it used to run Saturday to the following Sunday as I recall...9 days. The second weekend was usually thinning out noticeably in terms of vendors and exhibitors, but it was still an airshow and still crowded.
Oh...and the Youtuber's. Yeah... I got a real kick out of that too. That's a new twist to these fly-ins that I never saw before.
I did make a point to say hi to any I saw and recognized...not because of any sort of hero worship, but because I really do appreciate most of them...I get entertainment and occasionally learn from them. I don't fully understand what motivates them to put themselves out there like they do. It's odd to me that they do it..... but still they are a 'public face' to GA, encouraging folks to become pilots, encouraging pilots to be safe, etc.... And for the sponsors....an effective way to grow brand awareness.... it works!
I actually had short conversations with a few of the youtubers that I said Hi to. Was actually kind of surprised that several of them seriously wanted to stop and talk. "Baron Pilot" and Kim seemed like genuinely good people and encouraging folks into GA, and while I didn't get a chance to have a conversation with them because someone was hitting them up for a photo-op but did say hi to "Aviation 101" Josh and Chelsea..and my read from how they were interacting with others and how they responded was that they are truly good and gracious people who are smart and trying to help. I wish that I had waited to talk with them.... Oh, I spoke with Dan Gryder too.... he's a riot in person too. Despite his controversy and polarizing way, I really do think that he's trying to help GA safety.
