| April 24, 2020 Lakeland, Florida: The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 launches today and will excite aviation enthusiasts across the globe by delivering the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo in a new venue – Cyberspace. The SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo has faced its share of challenges over its 46-year history overcoming snow, a tornado, flooding rain, sequestration, and extreme heat. Now having to cancel its 2020 event due to coronavirus, the team at SUN ‘n FUN was not going to be deterred from their mission to Engage, Educate and Accelerate the next generation of aerospace professionals. “We didn’t sit back and give up” said John “Lites” Leenhouts, President and CEO of the Aerospace Center for Excellence. “We got to work on alternative ways to bring the excitement and comaraderie that our SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo is known for to people around the world. Our partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and the whole airshow community are working alongside us which is why SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 will be a great experience”. Lites went on to say, “Our theme for this year was Experience Flight in 2020 and little did we know that it would be a virtual experience!” SUN ‘n FUN hopes the concept will keep their audience engaged until the Fly-In can return in 2021. Proceeds from sales and donations will benefit SUN ‘n FUN’s Aerospace Center for Excellence.Without their annual event, this non-profit 501c3 organization has lost over 80% of its annual funding, placing many of its scholarships and award-winning STEM education programs on hold. “The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 is all the parts of the annual Aerospace Expo that attendees have come to know and love and a whole lot more”, says Greg Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer and Airshow Director. “The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is an overall experience that will be accessed via a web portal at www.FLYSnF.org right from our home page. Once you click into the Home Edition, you’ll have access to tons of online content including some things that you have never seen before!” The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is more than just a website, it’s a whole new SUN ‘n FUN Experience, including a series of online interviews with performers and show attractions over the next several weeks, leading up to a four-hour live online airshow May 30th. The website has hundreds of hours of video, photo galleries, and an interactive virtual expo where patrons can visit exhibitors and even buy from a selection of online specials those exhibitors will be promoting on their websites linked from the virtual SUN ‘n FUN. There is even 2020 collectible SUN ‘n FUN merchandise from “The Greatest Airshow That Never Happened”. Every area of SUN ‘n FUN is represented, including Warbirds, Homebuilt, Aerobatic HQ, Vintage, and Paradise City. |
| Be sure to block your calendar for Saturday, May 30th as SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition will present a 4 hour never-before-seen SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition Live Online Benefit Broadcast! SUN ‘n FUN will have all your favorite performers, interviews, and airshow action in a new and exciting format. Details of this unique event will be available soon. Content for this new virtual experience has begun starting to roll out and is available on its websitewww.flysnf.org, and social channels including Facebook and Instagram. Micheal Goulian is the first scheduled guest to take part in a live online interview as part of Performer Profiles. Scheduled for May 1st at 6:00 pm EST, Michael will share how he became one of North America’s most decorated aerobatic pilots and recognized aviation professional. |
| Chat Live with your favorite Airshow Performers including Michael Goulian of Goulian Aerosports, Aeroshell Team, and Paul and Caroline Dougherty of Dougherty Airshows. Hosted by Steph Stricklen, Performer Profiles’guests will share personal insights like how they got into their craft, what it takes to stay at the top of their game as daring aerial artists, and other behind the scenes stories. The audience will be able to participate too! Check the Schedule for dates and times of all the guests. |
| Miss the roar of engines and the smell of jet fuel? Then you’re in need of an airshow fix! Checkout SUN ‘n FUN’s Greatest Hits from Live Airshow TV. Relive the excitement of the Preflight Show plus all the action-packed complete replay of the weekends’ airshows from SUN ‘n FUN over past several years. |
| Stroll through the areas of the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campusthat you’ve come to love. Warbird Country. Homebuilt. Hangars full of exhibitors’ products. Paradise City’s displays of Light Sport planes. Education Showcases. Its all here !! Be sure to checkout exhibitors as many will have discounts and specials advertised in their virtual booths. |
| ACE STEMChats is a growing collection of videos and activities for the young aviators in the family. Created by our Aerospace Center for Excellence Educators, this is the place to go for ideas to keep home-schooling cool! |
| About SUN ‘n Fun Fly-In, Inc.:SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to preserve and enhance the future of flight through world-class events, inspiring and educating people of all ages. Year-round events, including the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo, which is one of the world’s largest aviation events, raise funds for theAerospace Center for Excellence(ACE). SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In annually raises over $2M for ACE, enabling the delivery of STEM-related and aerospace education programs. For more information, www.FlySnF.org. About Aerospace Center for Excellence, Inc.:The Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has emerged as a nationally recognized leader in STEM-related and aerospace education through its various learning centers, outreach programs, summer camps and scholarships aimed at preparing students for tomorrow’s aerospace challenges. Located on the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campusin Lakeland, Florida, the organization is known for its annual SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expofundraising event as well as the Florida Air Museum, which is Florida’s Official Aviation Museum and Education Center. ACE is the world’s leader in producing licensed teenage private pilots and delivers youth programs that engage over 50,000 students a year. For more information, www.ACEedu.aero. |