Listen in as Aviation Week Network's Molly McMillin speaks with Gene Conrad, president and CEO of Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo, as he provides a glimpse into the 2024 show. Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo will celebrate its 50th anniversary April 9-14 at the annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In at the Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida. The fly-in has grown from a small event for sport aviation enthusiasts in 1974 to Florida’s largest annual convention.
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Transcript
Molly McMillin 00:00
Hello and welcome to the BCA Podcast. I'm Molly McMillin, managing editor for business aviation at the Aviation Week Network. Thank you all for joining us. Joining me today is Gene Conrad, president and CEO of Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo, a position he's held since 2022. Gene previously served as airport director of the Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida. Welcome, Gene.
Gene Conrad:
Thanks, Molly. I appreciate you having me. And I look forward to our discussion today.
Molly McMillin
Thank you. The annual Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo is not very far away – the event runs April 9 to April 14 in Lakeland, Florida. This year, you're celebrating its 50th anniversary. That's a big one. What sort of special events might you be planning around the 50th?
Gene Conrad 01:11
It is our 50th fly-in. Our organization started in December of 1974, and our first fly-in was in January 1975. So, it's our 50th fly-in and actually it will be our 50th anniversary for organization in December of this year.
I know when people look at the dates or whatnot, they're like,’ Hey, I'm trying to count this and how does this work?’ I just wanted to explain that a little bit. So, it is our 50th fly-in, and it's going to be a big one for us.
I mean, all indications are it's probably going to be one of the biggest ever. When you look at our exhibitors, for example, we have a record number of exhibitors this year. So, we're at 563 exhibitors with 805 exhibit spaces taken. We are completely sold out [for exhibitor space.] Ticket sales are up about 40% over where we were this time last year, which was a great time as well.
In our programming, we have tons of new activities and programs this year as well. And one of the big things is we're always going to celebrate our pioneers and our volunteers because we have over 2,900 volunteers that come here to Lakeland, Florida -- Central Florida to help us put on this great event each year.
But as far as our programming -- as it is our 50th, we are going to celebrate. Each day the air show runs from one to 5 p.m. but each night we have activities as well.
Our first night, April 9 at 6 p.m., we have our opening night concert with Dylan Scott and special guest Sara Evans and the concert venue will be right on the Warbird ramp. If you're with us or you haven't decided to come yet, this is the year to do it.
It will be a great opening night for us. And then as we move into Wednesday, we have obviously a full day air show. All the exhibits open at 9 a.m. And then we have our night air show on Wednesday night and Saturday night. But the Wednesday night air show this year -- if you have not been able to catch the fireworks in years past because we've historically only had them on Saturday -- we will have them on Wednesday and Saturday this year. And there's five elements so we'll have our fly-in before the fireworks portion but the 17-minute fireworks portion has ground-based fireworks - aircraft which we had flying in the fireworks last year and then two other elements you're not going to want to miss.
And then also on Thursday and Friday evenings, including Tuesday, we have what we call the sunset aerial circus at Paradise City and that's where our grassroots-type flying or STOL Invitational so Short Takeoff and Landing Invitational. A Yonkers is down there with their LSA, we have Airythmia and their promoters and they’ll be flying around. We also have 3D RC so you have some younger kids that are flying basically half-scale remote control aircraft with lights and smoke right in your face. So, it's cool stuff. And then also LIFT Hexa – their Hexa, which was on Good Morning America several weeks ago here at the airport, and we're here at Lakeland Linder International Airport. They will be demo-ing their eVTOL, their electric vertical and takeoff aircraft, on there as well during the day and also in the evening, but it's always fun in the evening. So, there's something for everyone this year – there’s lots going on.
Also, we have Women Aces Day, which is Wednesday, April 10. So, we have a breakfast that starts at 7:30 a.m. in our pavilion, and we have some keynote speakers, including Lt. Madison Marsh -- Miss America -- will be joining us. She'll be here on Tuesday. She'll talk during the concert in between Dylan Scott and Sara Evans. But she'll be part of the Women Aces breakfast on Wednesday. So that's going to be fun and including Connie Tobias, and then Kelly Murphy, director of communications for WAI (Women in Aviation International) [will be presenting]. So it'll be a great program on Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday, if you are into new announcements from the aviation world - from all the different companies and vendors that we will have here Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. In the pavilion, April 9, we have our Innovation Preview, and we will have 30 presentations by various companies announcing new aircraft, new engines, new avionics.
Again, we are the start of the aviation calendar each year. And we're going to have a big presentation -- 30 different companies that will be there presenting at 10:30 on April 9. So, we encourage folks to come out for that.
And one last big new piece for us. Here is our is our Future In Flight Plaza. So, this is a big new area for us -- right when you come in the main registration, you come through the front gate, you will be presented right in front of you will be our Future in Flight Plaza. So, we have our annual career fair is there just six days this year. Our junior ACES program for our young folks, our kiddos will be in there, we have our Innovation Showcase.
So, we have 14 exhibitors … all the new kind of ‘Gee Whiz, Jetson-type stuff’ will be in the Innovation Showcase. We also have the flight sim experience there. And then we have a handful of colleges and universities and other exhibitors in that area. But it's going to be a very robust and busy area.
And then we also have our international tent or International Oasis. This is back this year as we expect our foreign friends to come back…. And then also we have what we call the Family Oasis in there. So, for young families, [there is] an area and air-conditioned tent and free of charge during the day -- just a respite area. So, moms and dads and the young ones can take a break and have a little bit of activities and get back out there on the site and enjoy their day.
So, lots of new stuff for our 50th this year, and we're getting ready for everybody. Now tents are going up and everybody's working hard.
Molly McMillin 07:21
That sounds like a lot. I know [Sun ‘n Fun] is a really popular event. What do you personally enjoy the most about the show, Gene?
Gene Conrad 07:29
Our organization -- we grew up out of the Experimental Aircraft Association, right. AirVenture, obviously, is the big show up north in Oshkosh. I've been volunteering up there for the last 35 years of my life. So, I love it. I was born up there in Oshkosh. My dad ran the airport there when I was a kid. But I moved here to Lakeland to run the airport here back in January 2010 because Sun ‘n Fun was here.
So now I'm fortunate…. I've been here two years now with Sun ‘N Fun and the Aerospace Center for Excellence. And what gets me excited, it's the volunteers, the camaraderie, the family atmosphere of like-minded individuals, and we all here for aviation. So, [EAA founder] Paul Poberezny always said, you know, “The airplanes bring us together, but it's the people that keep us coming back.’ And that's what it's all about. And we all just come here; we all work really, really hard. Whether you're a volunteer here, or you're on my team, or the coordination we have with the FAA - the airport, you know, but it's also all the companies that are working hard to get here. They're doing their best to put everything together spending lots of money to be here. Hotel rooms aren't the cheapest things in the world anymore. Everybody puts in so much effort here to put on their best face, to put the products out there, but also just to be with their friends, you know, especially in the evenings and have a good time and camp next to each other. And that's what it's all about -- seeing your friends, having a good time, selling stuff and helping the aviation industry. And that's what it's all about. I love the people.
Molly McMillin 08:59
I know, putting on a show like this is a huge endeavor. What are your biggest challenges?
Gene Conrad 09:06
Well, I mean, I've been asked that quite a bit lately…. You know, we can control certain things [but it] is the things that you can't control that keeps me up at night. Those variables that you know, you can't really do anything about. Mother Nature obviously has a big, big say in the success of our event -- knock on wood. I hope she's in our favor this year. You know, it's an logistical ballet when you think about the size of this event. During the other 51 weeks of the year, we sit on about 177 acres here on Lakeland Linder International Airport. During the event, we expand out to 800 acres. And when you think of all the elements, whether it's air traffic, all the aircraft coming and going, right, so that's one piece. Then you have the cars coming and going, whether they're exhibitors or they're the general public and visitors coming in, and you've got RV and tent camping. So, we have our own little city. We have aircraft and people are tent camping under aircraft and parking out there on the airfield. It's the trams, you know, we have to move people around -- coordination with our volunteers. All the coordination we have to do with the FAA prior to the event with putting waivers in place. So, whether it's for the daily air show, it’s for the sunset aerial circus, all the various things or elements that we're trying to accomplish here, all the flying aspects and all the coordination with the FAA, there is a lot. In this event, like AirVenture, it is much, much different, because you can go to your hometown air Show, and basically they practice on Friday; they execute the event on Saturday and Sunday, and then that's it, right. Everybody comes out; they just put on their show, and then they go home and have some static displays. Well, we have all that plus, plus, plus, right. There's just so much more that goes into it. So again, we would be nowhere without our volunteers and the dedication of my team and others, our sponsors. We hit record numbers and sponsors this year, which is great. We couldn't do it without them, either. Because it's a very expensive event. Sometimes you get comments, like, ‘Oh, the ticket price is too much’, or whatever. When you think about it, really… if you're coming in with a single day, general admission tickets are $45. f yIou're an AOPA [or] EAA member, it's only $40. But you're getting, you know, the gates open at nine, and on most days, you can be here till 9 p.m. It's very affordable, in my opinion, but I get it. We want to make sure the programming and that things people want to see are here, so they feel entertained and want to come back and tell their friends and come back next year.
Molly McMillin 11:43
You have a mission of education, right? Can you talk a little bit about why you do this and what, what the bigger picture is?
Gene Conrad 11:51
So, the Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo is again, it's six days. It's basically one week out of the year. But the rest of the year, our parent company is the Aerospace Center for Excellence. Our net proceeds from the event, after we pay all the expenses, the net proceeds go back into all of our educational programming. So, we have the Central Florida Aerospace Academy here, which is our high school with 385 kids in it. We have the Skylab Innovation Center, which we did a $5 million dollar capital campaign back in 2020…. This year through our purpose build STEM labs, we're bringing through 5,000 5th graders from all over Polk County that we're in partnership with. We're busing all these kids in to go through our STEM-based labs, which we have the Redbird flight simulation lab, the Siemens aerospace engineering lab, our drone Lab Science on a Sphere, and then our Florida Air Museum. And we've built purpose-built field trips for these fifth graders and other grades as well. We’re bringing all these fifth graders through this year. And we plan to do the same as we continue and move on throughout the years to get them interested and engaged in aviation. And so as they start to go through middle school, and they're starting to think about ;Hey, what do they want to do when they get to high school’ -- that the Central Florida Aerospace Academy is a is a thought in their brain, because we're getting them out here and introduce them to what's available to them. Our Central Florida Aerospace Academy, we also had the … career colleges here and our A&P program. And we also have the Lakeland Aero Club. Our kids who go to the high school and go across the street, go to their 10,000 square foot hangar. They've got three Piper Cubs and a Champ. We have a grass strip here that they can fly on year round and work on airplanes… Everybody that's participating in our 50th Summer Aerospace Expo, you are helping these kids here in our community get engaged in aviation and really build that next generation. And we're doing it, and we're a very mature program. The Central Florida Aerospace Academy, for example, has been going since 2008. We built our 58,000 square foot high school back in 2011. So, we've got very mature programs. And we're doing what we say what we say we're going to do, and we spend the money the right way, even down to the two-to-five year olds in the Florida Air Museum. For the last two years, we started storytime. So, we have the two-to-five year olds come in. So, we're getting them at all ages. We say basically it's cradle to cockpit, you know, it's kind of our mantra. We want them in the industry. You know whether they're writing for Aviation Week one day or they're doing my job or running an airport or [ they’re a]mechanic or a pilot or drone pilot. There are so many opportunities out there. We just want to introduce those young people, and that's what we do the rest of the year.
Molly McMillin 14:42
I know you really have a mission for education and getting people involved. And I know you have a host of educational sessions as well.
I will be out there again this year, covering the show. There's so much to cover. Aviation Week’s own Mike Lavitt, who's director of Aviation Week's annual photo contest, is going to be hosting an educational seminar there called Shoot to Win, which is really an interesting seminar. He’ll be unveiling a new contest category called the Air to Air photography category. Jose Ramos, who won second place in the Defense category in the 2023 Aviation Week photo contest will join Mike to offer tips on taking winning air to air photos. So, that will be really interesting. And Mike will tell attendees about the contest itself and what judges look for as they narrow down and sift through literally hundreds of entries to fewer than 20 winners. It will be held in the Florida Air Museum on April 10, at 10 a.m. I'll put a little plug for that. If you're out there, be sure to stop by. There'll be a number of other sessions and events for attendees.
Is there anything else you'd like to add, Gene?
Gene Conrad 16:13
I’m glad to have you bring that up. So, one piece I left out was all of our forums and workshops that we have, you know, throughout the week, as well. Forums are held in the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, the actual high school where the kids go, and then our workshops are over here, next to our Crossfield facility as well. So, [there will be] hundreds and hundreds of forums and workshops for everybody that comes and join us as well. So, lots to do -- lots of learning to be had, and a good time as well.
We look forward to everybody joining us April 9 through the 14th.
Molly McMillin 16:44
One last quick question. If you could look in your crystal ball, what will the show look like 50 years from now?
Gene Conrad 16:51
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, by the way, because we are actually going through a Master Site Plan effort -- so basically a master plan for Sun ‘N Fun and for the Aerospace Center for Excellence in our year round facilities -- in our footprint here on the Lakeland Linder International Airport. We hired an engineering firm, which we're putting $450,000 into the plan [for] us at the Lakeland International Airport, plus our partners at Visit Central Florida to plan for our next 50 years. And we're going to be ready to unveil in 2025 at our 51st Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo that new plan and what our footprint will look like over the next 50 years as the airport here continues to grow. We're going to prepare ourselves as well and be ready for the next 50 years. So exciting times.
Molly McMillin 17:35
That's great.
That's all the time we've got for today. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Gene, for being with us. And thank you to Jeremy Kariuki, our producer today.
Please don't miss the next episode by subscribing to us in your podcast app of choice. Bye for now.
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