A day At Sun N Fun 2025
On a nice sunny day, April 6, 2025, my dad and I drove to Lakeland Florida to explore one of the biggest aviation gatherings in the world. Sun n Fun is only rivaled by the annual flying event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, EAA Airventure. It was about a two and a half hour drive from where we were staying in Florida. Just a note and a some advice, we bought our daily pass and parking pass online. Not only did this save a little money, but we heard later in the day that the event was at capacity and they were only honoring pre-purchased tickets. We arrived just a little before 9 a.m. this is the time that the official displays and exhibits opened. Parking was easy and we had a spot right by the grass runway and were able to watch a couple of STOL planes practice takeoffs and landings.
We then walked to the main gate to pick up our wristbands. Again by purchasing online before the event all we had to do was show our QR code at the ticket box, super easy process. Be prepared for a day with a ton of walking! There are several large hangers at Sun N Fun that serve as exhibition halls for all of the latest and greatest aviation gadgets and gear. Everything from sunglasses to the best avionics one can imagine. Outside of the halls you will find tents full of gear and tents for different aviation organizations such as AOPA and EAA. We stopped by the AOPA tent so that I could renew my membership, they give a $10 dollar discount and a free T-shirt for doing so at the event.
After visiting the exhibition halls we then went to see all the airplane manufacturers exhibits. All of the major brands had displays of their lastest and greatest models. I of course dreamed of what plane what would be on my wish list, someday! After walking through and dreaming it was time to check out all the military planes, everything from WWII to modern aircraft.
After exploring those displays we had worked up an appetite. We went to the main mess hall and got some pulled pork and Mac n cheese. We relaxed our feet for a bit. After our lunch we found a place under a tree by the Cessna display to watch the afternoon air show. The air show featured the Blue Angels and was spectacular. We had taken two lightweight folding chairs that fit into a bag that we could wear on our backs while walking. I can not recommend this enough as it was the perfect seat to watch the air show for the afternoon. After the show we made the long trek back to the car and headed back to our vacation rental. It was an inspiring day, and I couldn’t wait to get back home so that I could go flying!