Kent Air Cadets - Wing News

For the last 17 years, Cadets and Staff from Kent Wing and now for the first time this year, Cadets and Staff from across whole of London & South East Region made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in something called Sun n Fun.

Sun n Fun? What’s that?

This year’s event was the 37th Annual Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo. It started out as a small gathering in 1975, where pilots, members of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) came together with their aircraft for a weekend of fun. 365 aircraft were present. Now marketed as the “Spring Break for Pilots”, due to its spring time dates, the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In is the second largest Fly-In in the world. Only out done by its big sister, Air Venture Oshkosh, in Wisconsin. Sun ‘n Fun now attracts over 5000 aircraft during the week long event.

Sun ‘n Fun is held at Lakeland Linder Airport, in the state of Florida. Just an hour drive from Orlando, that favorite holiday destination for us Brits.

The rules with regards General Aviation are very different in America compare to here in the UK, many Pilots turn up in aircraft that they have build in their garage. Most have a Experimental certification, which basically means there have not past the stringent safety test that factory built aircraft have to endure.

What happened at this years Sun ‘n Fun?

The Fly-In got off to a slow start, as there was a nasty weather front siting completely across Florida, a little North of where we were. If that wasn’t bad enough the Airfield was hit by a category F2 Tornado. All the Cadets and Staff had left the Airfield and moved out of harms way. On our return we were please we did. More than 50 Aircraft were damaged, some upside down. Trees and power lines were down and anything not tied down had been blown away. To see more, just look at YouTube “Sun n Fun 2012”. There are some great videos.

Once the weather improved the Airshow was fantastic. Not only did the US Navy’s Blue Angles display team entertain us, but also we had a demonstration from the mighty F22 Raptor. What a beast.

What do the Cadets do during their stay in Florida?

The cadets spend 2 week in Florida, the first is spent mostly volunteering at the Fly-In. The cadets have always been involved with directing and parking aircraft. Signaling to the pilots where they are to go and whether it’s safe to do so. The cadets work along side other volunteers from all over the world. Our Air Cadets have an extremely high reputation, which can embarrass first timers, as the Americans are not shy with their praise for our cadets. The airfield is controlled by different groups: Warbirds look after anything Military, General Aircraft Camping looks after pilots that want to camp with the aircraft. Chopper town is dedicated for anything with a whizzy thing on top, General Aircraft Parking look after every thing else apart from Homebuilt and one thing all areas have in common. They all want our cadets to help in their area.

The British Plot

Here in Oakridge Cemetery you will find an area called the British Plot, and the graves of 23 British Airman, who lost their lives whilst out here whilst learning to fly during WWII. It is now customary for the cadets and staff to lay a wreath on their graves as a mark of respect.

Many of the cadets knew nothing about the vast number of British Airmen that trained in America during WWII, with the safety of knowing that they were not to be shot down in the first 5 minutes of training by the Luftwaffe.

Flying Opportunities

During the Fly-In, cadets can get opportunities to fly. This year many of the cadets took a flight in a Huey(Bell UH-1D) Helicopter Gun Ship. One lucky cadet took flight in a hot air balloon and 5 cadets took flight from a lake in a Sea Bird (planes that float)

After the Fly-In is over the Cadets and Staff, have a more restful 2nd week.

This year started with a Flight of all cadets with the Civil Air Patrol, the US Air Force’s cadet movement. This followed by a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre, and we even saw the Space Shuttle on it Launch Pad.

A day at Universal Studios, Orlando always goes down well (well you can’t travel all that way and not go to Orlando at least once, can you?) and on the last day of the camp, a guided tour of MacDill AFB (Air Force Base). Here the cadets met Officers from US Central Command, including a RAF Wing Commander. Posted to CentCom, MacDill on a 1 year tour. (They don’t tell you that you can be posted to Florida at the RAF Career Information Office). The cadets got to crawl all over a KC-135 Air to Air refueller, and use the Air Traffic Control Towers Simulator. The end of camp highlight is the afternoon at MacDill. The Airforce Base has a magnificent beach, where we have the end of camp BBQ, and a game of beach volley ball.