The US Air Force air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds, debuted their new “wicked-high” show at the 2012 SUN ‘n FUN International Convention and Expo in Lakeland Florida on April 1, 2012.

Traditionally, the Thunderbirds have had two different shows: the high show when ceilings are unlimited, and the low show when weather doesn’t permit climbing to the top of the aerobatic box.

Audiences worldwide have become used to seeing either the low or the high show at airshows all around the world, and the Air Force thought it was time to show off the high-altitude capabilities of the F-16 Viper. The new wicked-high show was born.

While most aerobatic boxes go from the surface to 15,000 feet, the new wicked high show aerobatic box will started 15,000 feet and go all the way to the aircraft’s service ceiling of 55,000 feet.

The primary mission of the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron is recruiting. The Air Force recognizes that, without the ability to actually see the jets in the flight, not much will be helped in the area of recruiting. Thus, the Air Force issued binoculars to the first 100,000 spectators to arrive at airshow site.

The F-16 Viper is capable of high-altitude air superiority, giving the United States a clear advantage over enemy air forces across the globe. With BVR capabilities, the Viper can shoot down enemy aircraft from beyond the visual range of the Mark 1 Eyeball, two of which are standard equipment on every Viper.

Audiences at this year’s SUN ‘n FUN event in Lakeland, Florida seemed happy with the new format of the airshow, giving the Air Force the confidence to continue with the new wicked-high show at future Air Force Thunderbird events.

For the third year in a row, I will be camping on the field at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport for the annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In. I camped in the same spot for the last two years, and it seems to have worked out well. So this year I am hoping that my friends, old and new, will decide to pitch their tents near me. Some of you have already said you would.

So where am I camping? Right here:

Sun 'n Fun 2011 New Media Camping

The spot is right on the edge of a retention pond on an elevated berm. My theory is higher is better, especially because rain is forecast during the week.

Here is the invitation: if you would like, please pitch your tent near mine. There will be some other friends pitching theirs here as well. I think it might be kind of awesome to have a “New Media Forward Strike Base” from which to start our Sun ‘n Fun festivities every day. And I would love to sit around and swap stories with everyone at the end of the day.

If you are so inclined, click the photo above for a larger picture, and feel free to look me up on Twitter (@DaveFlys) if you need directions. And if you already have plans to camp somewhere else, like under the wing of your plane, then at least stop in and see us.

Who is coming?

Another Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In is behind us. Most of my week was spent at Sun ‘n Fun Radio performing my duties as Editor-In-Chief. We really stepped things up at the radio station this year. Admittedly, we bit off more than we should have. The listeners were probably oblivious (at least I hope so), but those of us that were working behind the scenes to make it all happen were constantly busy. Too busy. It left many of us, myself included, overly stressed. In spite of that, we accomplished some pretty awesome stuff, like live internet streaming of the radio station thanks to our friends at LiveATC.net.

Near the end of the week, things really started to look up for me. On Thursday, I was host for Stephen Force on the “Not At Sun ‘n Fun” podcast. Stretching the capabilities of technology, the Internet, and our tiny little pipe to the outside world, we used Skype to bring Captain Force and all of his guests into the radio station, through the board, over the AM radio waves, and back out to the Internet to be streamed live for the listening audience. Crazy, but well worth it … and a whole lot of fun in the end.

Many of my friends began to arrive on Friday, some of whom met on the deck of Sun ‘n Fun Radio for the second annual Gathering of Aviation Podcasters. While there were not as many podcasts represented this year as there were last year, we did welcome some newcomers. Uncontrolled Airspace, CopterCast, and Flight Time Radio appeared on the show. Of course, I was there to represent The Pilot’s Flight PodLog.

As soon as the GAP was finished, it was time to head over to the Piper Aircraft tent for the myTransponder party. Piper provided the food. Ace and ForeFlight provided the beer. And there were a whole bunch of door prizes. I’m sure I’ll forget something, but here’s a list of the door prizes:

• Piper Aircraft: 1 Flip video camcorder, 1 box of golf balls, and 2 PiperJet books signed by the test crew.
• Cessna Aircraft: 1 model of a Cessna Citation Mustang with a display stand.
• ForeFlight: 3 one-year subscriptions to ForeFlight Mobile 3.
• Pilot Getaways: 2 one-year subscriptions to the magazine.
• Scheyden Precision Eyewear: 1 pair of Sonoma Classic Flip-ups and 1 pair of Jet-A Hybrids.

Look at all that suff! It’s nuts! I want to personaly thank each and every one of the companies that brought stuff to give away. That said, the real highlight for the party was the fellowship. Friends interacting and having a great time together with the sounds of the night airshow providing the background music. Eric from ForeFlight was busy all night giving demos of ForeFlight Mobile 3 HD on the iPad, and I’m here to tell you, it’s gorgeous. Our friends at Piper Aircraft were amazing hosts to the 65 guests guests who arrived.

On Friday, the USAF Thunderbirds did their first full show. Will and I decided to go find a place from which to just watch the airshow. Now, I’ve known Will a long time now, and we both love the Thunderbirds and airshows in gerenal. I mean, that should be obvious, right? Then how is it that we’ve never actually sat down and watched an airshow together? The two of us just watched as the ‘Birds tore open the very atmosphere that was supposed to be supporting them aloft. Okay, we didn’t just watch; we were pumping our fists in the air, hollaring and cheering like the two ten-year-olds seated in front of us. It was epic!

Near the end of the show, we headed back to the radio station to get ready to perform an episode of The Pilot’s Flight PodLog live on the air … and on the ‘net. Our guests included Mike Douglas of the Mile High Flyers Podcast, his wife, David Thurlow of CopterCast, Phil Clark of The Modern Day Nomad, Rod Rakic of myTransponder, and Roger Bishop of the Indy Transponder. Rico Sharqawi also made a cameo apperance … a hilarious little cameo at that. The show was fantastic. The shownotes and audio are available here.

As soon as the show wrapped up (and the final hits of Jeremiah Weed were downed), I headed out to get my family settled in. After having been without my wife and boys for a week, even Skype video just wasn’t enough. I drove them around the field in a golf cart for a bit to see the airplanes on the field. Then we headed over to the outdoor theater to see Will and Rico present “A Pilot’s Story“. Nick Spark, a previous guest on the podcast, was also there to present his film “The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club“.

The evening was wrapped up with a group excursion to Outback Steakhouse for some grub and good times. Yes, this is what Sun ‘n Fun is all about. It’s about the people, the friendships old and new, the stories, hangar-flying, and the ocassional tall tale about the time I flew the F-16 at mach 2.2 with my hair on fire.

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• PCDU on Sun n Fun Radio (planecrazydownunder.com)

It’s Sunday night. Eh, check that: it’s a little after 1am on Monday morning. Frankly, I’m tired.

One of my friends Tweeted me today. She said, “I’ll bet you are living on 6 hours of sleep and loving it.” She couldn’t be more correct. Last year at Sun ‘n Fun I learned early on that I sleep like a baby at night after a long day here. I suspect that I’ll be fast asleep before this laptop shuts itself off after I post this entry.

I arrived at the radio station shortly after seven o’clock this, well, Sunday morning. I certainly have my work cut out for me here. Lots of computers to set up to stream audio to the Internet, editing audio to be aired, and serve up files and Internet connectivity for both. The place is a mess. We will be ready when its time to go on the air at 9am Tuesday, but all of us volunteering at the radio station need to be on our A-game. After struggling with several computers today, I’m a bit further behind than I’d hoped to be.

Today I also drove around the grounds to set up check-in spots for many of the major areas on @Foursquare and @Gowalla. I probably need to do more, but it’s a really good start. I’ll generate a list of those that I have created when I have more brain cells left.

At the end of the day, Dave Shallbetter made the first of probably many toasts that we will have this week. This particular toast was to “friends lost”.

’nuff said.

On a side note, thanks to our friends at Skype and the wonderful technology behind webcams, I’ve been able to have several face-to-face chats with my family back home. There just isn’t a much better way to stay in touch when distance separates.

Tomorrow I plan to report to the station around the same time to get things going. Then I have to take a short flight over to the Piper plant in Vero Beach, take care of some paperwork, and fly back. I hope to be back by 11am, but I have a feeling it’ll be closer to noon. That’s okay, it just means I have to really stay on task to get the rest of my stuff in order for the start of the live broadcast.

And with that, I’m going to his the sack for a few short hours of sleep.

P.S. It may not sound like it, but as expected, I’m having a blast here at Sun ‘n Fun. I hope you are able to make it to KLAL!

Are you going to Sun ‘n Fun next week? What are you looking forward to at this year’s event?

As most of  you know, I will be spending next week at the 36th Annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In. Last year I volunteered at Sun ‘n Fun Radio, the AM radio station located on the field. I had such a great time with it last year that I have decided to come back again - as Editor-In-Chief.

There is a lot to look forward to at this year’s event. One of the most exciting things for me this year is Sun ‘n Fun Radio will be streamed live over the internet thanks to our friends at LiveATC.net! Not only will you be able to listen to various air traffic control frequencies during the event, but you will also be able to listen to the radio station. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can listen in from virtually anywhere.

If you didn’t already know, the U. S. Air Force Thunderbirds are returning this year! The F-16 Fighting Falcon (a.k.a. the Viper) has long been my favorite airplane. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I can watch a single F-16 turn jet fuel into noise every day of the week and not get tired of it. Now, take six of them, fly them wingtip to wingtip, and perform aerobatics at 300 knots. Get some, baby!

Last year, my cohost for The Pilot’s Flight PodLog and I appeared on Sun ‘n Fun Radio for a full-length episode of the podcast. It was one of our best episodes ever. This year, we will be doing the same! After the daily airshow on Saturday (which should be awesome after the Thunderbirds demonstration), Will and I will do a episode of our podcast live on Sun ‘n Fun Radio. Come hang out at the station or listen live on the internet. If you can’t do either, the show will be edited for the podcast feed like always.

Also this year, some of us are hoping to implement some location-based social networking tools at the event. We are not sure what color this will all take on, but at the very least, you should be able to use Foursquare or Gowalla to check in at various places as you move around the convention grounds.

On Friday night after the airshow, myTransponder will be hosting a new media meetup. We don’t know all of the specifics on this yet. However, we will be making some final decisions on a venue soon, so stay tuned. The meetup last year at Sun ‘n Fun was awesome, and the meetup at Oshkosh was even better. I’m really excited about the myT meetup this year.

Will and Rico of WilCo Films will be talking about their movie “A Pilot’s Story“. I believe that is happening on Saturday after Will and I do our podcast.

I will probably be doing QuickCasts, hopefully every day, to keep you all up-to-date on what is happening. And I plan to drink plenty of Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss with my friends as things wind down in the evenings.

So back to my initial questions:

1. Are you going to Sun ‘n Fun this year? If so, what day(s) will you be there?

2. What are you looking forward to at Sun ‘n Fun this year?

Please leave me a comment below. Maybe there is something I don’t know about that I simply can’t miss (like the book swap at Oshkosh last year – still kicking myself for that). And make sure we get together for a little hangar-flying sometime during the event!

Oh, and Leinies. Yes … mmmm … Leinies.

2009 was a spectacular year for me in terms of aviation and social media. I was able to finally meet my co-host Will Hawkins. We attended the 6th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards in Beverly Hills. I volunteered at Sun ‘n Fun Radio with Dave Shallbetter for the entire week of the 2009 Fly-In. Through some miracle, I was able to attend EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Better still, I was able to fly there with Jeb Burnside of the Uncontrolled Airspace Podcast. AOPA and myTransponder.com teamed up for the 2009 AOPA Aviation Summit in Tampa, FL and brought Mandy Irwin and I on board to co-host the meetups area. And finally, I was able to participate in the epic NASA Tweet-Up to see the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis with a group of nearly 100 like-minded Twitter users.

2010 started off with a bang when I attended the media day for the 4th annual Valkaria Air Fest at X59. I was able to rub shoulders with some of the best in the airshow business, like Patty Wagstaff, Freddy Cabanas, Corkey Fornoff, John Black, and Chuck Vincent, among others. The airshow on the following day was nothing short of awesome, and dinner with the performers after the show generated some of the best hangar-flying in which I have ever had the pleasure of partaking.

April is here now and there is no time to relax. The 2010 Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In is barely over a week away, and the Editor-In-Chief of Sun ‘n Fun Radio (that is, yours truly) has a lot of work to complete before the show starts. We are really upping the ante this year in terms of the technology in the radio station. Much of it is behind the scenes, but there is one huge change that should excite many of you: thanks to the folks at LiveATC.net, Sun ‘n Fun Radio will streamed liveover the Internet for the first time! Oh, and this jet team, the USAF Thunderbirds, will be flying. Maybe you’ve heard of them?

On a side note, I stopped by my local Leinenkugel’s supplier today to order two full cases of Berry Weiss. I intend to return home with exactly none of it.

There will be very little time for me to recover from Sun ‘n Fun before I have to head to Michigan for Acro Camp. The event intends to make four ‘ordinary’ pilots, with little to no aerobatic training, and turn them into aerobatic pilots, capable stringing a series of maneuvers together into a short airshow – in four days. The entire event will be shot on camera and made into a movie. I have been asked by Steve Tupper (a.k.a. Stephen Force) to film some of the segments and manage the logistical behemoth of swapping memory cards and batteries as well as the offloading of the video files. The entire gig is going to be a non-stop whirlwind of tornadic activity, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

Afterwards, I get to step away from the aviation stuff for a short time in preparation for the birth of my daughter in July. I consider this an investment of time and love to bring yet another future aviator into the world.

Later in the year is the Cocoa Beach Airshow. The USAF Thunderbirds are scheduled to be there this year, and I intend to bring it to you. Yes, that’s twice I will get to see them this year, a fact about which I am super-stoked.

I am sure there will be more events, more airshows, and more aviation and aerospace goodness than I have mentioned here, but this is a good start. Yes, 2010 is shaping up nicely.

Sometimes all it takes is to ask. If you don’t ask, there is virtually a 100% chance that you won’t get what you want. Your chances may not increase much if you do ask, but sometimes that is all it takes.

In fact, that’s all it took for Janelle Wilson (@janellewilson on Twitter) to get what she wanted: a simple request. Janelle, a science teacher in Georgia, is a huge fan of the space program. As a member of the Space Tweep Society, she thought it would be fun to have a tweetup at Kennedy Space Center during her upcoming vacation to Florida. Janelle reached out, and the ball was rolling.

I got word of the mini-event through Twitter. Ah, yes, Twitter – that wonderful nugget of internet space that just keeps connecting me to more cool people and more cool events than I ever imagined possible. I expressed my interest, and with Janelle’s boldness, asked if perhaps I could bring my family along for the event.

The answer was, “Yes.”

Unfortunately, my youngest son came down with a fever and was unable to attend, so he and my wife stayed home. With my daughter Morgan and other son Alex rearing to go, we headed out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to meet with the rest of the group. Of course, @flyingjenny and her husband @apacheman, both of whom work at the Kennedy Space Center on various parts of the shuttle program, were there to greet us. Andrea Farmer (@AndreaFarmer on Twitter) with the Public Relations office at the Visitor Complex, who was instrumental in arranging the tweetup, was also in attendance. I said it before and I’ll say it again here: NASA really “gets” social networking and has embraced it fully.

The schedule was simple: check out the soft opening of the new Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted attraction, ride the Shuttle Launch Experience, and then enjoy the rest of the day as we each chose. The new Explore Space exhibit is really something. The entire room is very hands-on, with presentations about the next steps of our manned space flight all around. NASA has always been forward-thinking, and this facility really shows you that this philosophy is holding strong.

After finishing there, we all huddled around in a circle with our preferred Tweeting devices out spreading the word to our respective world of followers about what we had just experienced. Now you may be thinking, “Why bother mentioning the silly Twitter Huddle,” but for us new media folks, this is huge! See, when I am with a group of folks that understand social media and the desire to bring others along for the ride, there’s no pressure. There’s no one waiting on me to finish messing with my phone so that we can move on to bigger and better things. The integration of what is going on right now with those of my followers that find it interesting is the bigger and better thing. It’s why we do social media.

We finished dancing the Twitter Hokey Pokey and headed over to the Shuttle Launch Experience. I have experienced this particular attraction before. Twice. For those that have not, it is certainly a must see. The experience does a great job of explaining what a real shuttle launch is all about, and it gives riders a nice taste of the eight and a half minute ride to orbit. If you aren’t fired up about NASA’s space program after taking a ride on this baby, then you and I just can’t be friends. No hard feelings, you and I just aren’t compatible in that way. You go hang out over there, and I will stay over here with my space buddies, and everything will be just fine.

After the return to Earth, we all went about on our own. Some people had to leave for work and other planetary obligations, but a few of us pressed on. My kids and I decided to ride the bus tour, mainly because we wanted to see the epic Saturn V Facility. We were joined by Janelle Wilson and her father Bill Harrier (@bharrier on Twitter). We had a great time chatting and learning a little bit about each other’s interests, families, and jobs. After the very short time I had to spend with them, I now consider them friends.

My children and I went through the Saturn V Facility, and for the first time we actually got to enjoy the presentation of landing on the moon, Lost Contact (a must-see). We got separated from Janelle and Bill at this point, but that really doesn’t matter. Now we stay in touch through Twitter.

Thank you Janelle and Bill for spending the day with my kids and I, and especially for Janelle’s simple request for a Tweetup. Thank you Jenny for getting the ball rolling and escalating the request. Thank you Andrea and all of the NASA Public Relations Team for making this, and so many other events like it, possible, giving us mere mortals a taste of the magic of space.

Twitter once again brings people together in a tangible, special way. In describing the way people connect on several of the more well-known social media networks and how they bring people together, someone once said that Twitter introduces you to the people you want to know. It did that day. And it still is.

Social media.

Those two simple words are so powerful that just mentioning them almost inevitably brings something to mind. I bet you just had something pop into you brain after you read it. It may be Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, a podcast, someone you got back in touch with, a new circle of friends, or any number of other circumstances or tools that result from that ever-so-powerful beheamoth that is social media.

So it’s really too bad that so many people, companies, and organizations don’t get social media. Mind you, there are no “experts” in social media. It’s too new. No one even knows at what level or skill set one becomes an expert in social media because the field is still in a state of infancy. That said, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle social networking and social media. NASA is one of the organizations that really understands this.

During the early days of the Mars Phoenix, NASA started a Twitter account for the mission. It was an experiment from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission was a huge success, and so was the Tweeting. It became very clear to NASA that there were people interested in the day-to-day happenings of the mission, not just the big news items that mainstream media picked up. With 45,000 followers, @MarsPhoenix final transmission was:

01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3
1:12 PM Nov 10th, 2008 from web

MarsPhoenix

The binary message translates to one simple, yet very powerful, truth – triumph. And it was a triumph! Since this mission, NASA has been creating Twitter accounts for all sorts of missions and astronauts.

Some time ago I caught wind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity being presented by the incredible staff a NASA Headquarters. After the success of various Twitter accounts, several other social media tools, and even a couple of Tweet-Ups, NASA decided to go all-out with a Tweet-Up at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This Tweet-Up would be a two-day event open to only 100 Tweeps. There would be a special up-close-and-personal tour of the complex, a visit to Launch Complex 39A where Atlantis was perched beautifully on the mobile launch platform, and the chance to watch from the press site as Atlantis blasts off on her way to the International Space Station.

I applied, and a few days later I got a response from NASA Headquaters. I promptly posted this:

Your’s truly has been invited to attend THIS: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate/tweetup.html I will try to give you all my very best coverage!
3:11 PM Oct 20th from web

DaveFlys

I was so happy I could pop! Now, I am a Florida native and I’ve lived on the Space Coast all of my life. I have seen many space shuttle launches, even some from very close. This, however, would be my first chance to watch from the press site. The only people who get to be closer to the launch of a mighty Space Shuttle are securely strapped in to the orbiter’s crew cabin, which sits about one third of the way down a fully-fueled external fuel tank.

Even more importantly, though, would be that I get to experience this event in the company of some of the most enthusiastic, energetic, and vocal people on the internet. These are people that “get it”: they get the space program, and they get social media. Even now, after the event has long-since passed, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the experience.

To say that the folks at NASA Headquaters did a good job planning this event would be an understatement of cosmic proportions. Seriously, they thought of everything, including WiFi access in the conference room and at the press site and – get this – AC power strips on the tables for the scores of electronic devices that the participants were bound to bring with them. NASA expected the participants to use every form of new media they had at-hand to bring the experience to their fans, friends, and followers.

It worked.

At one point during the opening presentations in the conference room, there was so much buzz on Twitter that the hashtag #NASATweetup topped out at 3rd on Twitter’s trending topics. That’s nuts. Think about it: barely one hundred people at an event were able to generate enough excitement on social media networks that, for a short time, we took over the internet.

We got to meet some of the most influential people in NASA’s social media efforts including the people behind some of these pioneering Twitter accounts. We got to be within a few hundred feet of Atlantis as she was sitting on the pad. We got to rub shoulders with some of the people who work on the Space Shuttle every day. We got to wave the astronauts off as the drove by on their way to the pad. We got to watch – no, we got to feel Atlantis tear open the sky with such power that the atmosphere itself could not get out of the way fast enough.

And we got to share the whole experience with the world.

For NASA, it was an epic undertaking. So massive was the event that they had it in mind to never do anything like it again. That is, until they saw the effect it had on, well, everyone. Hundreds of lives were changed, far more than just those that were there to see it in person. When the folks at NASA saw the full impact that this tweetup had, they knew it would not be the last one. And it hasn’t been.

To NASA, thank you for being a pioneer in social media. Thank you for engaging people on a personal level by not limiting yourself to traditional media channels. Thank you for the opportunity to share such a spectacular event with so many like-minded people. And thank you for giving us the venue to share it with so many other people.

This is what social media is all about.

David is on-location at X59 for the Valkaria Air Fest 2010 Media Day. In this QuickCast, David talks with Chuck Vincent of Eagle Air Airshows. Chuck talks about his Extra 300L, what got him started flying aerobatics, and what this year’s Air Fest might look like to spectators on the ground. Chuck also talks about the airshow he produces in Louisianna.

You can find out more about Chuck and his air show team at http://www.eagleairllc.com, and you can get information about the Acadian Air Fest at http://www.acadianaairfest.com.

Direct download: VAF10_QuickCast_03.mp3

David is on-location at X59 for the Valkaria Air Fest 2010 Media Day. In this QuickCast, David talks with J. W. “Corkey” Fornof. They talk about Corkey’s flying background, the LoPresti Fury that he flies, and what we can plan to expect during his airshow performance.

You can fine out more about the LoPresti Fury at http://www.loprestifury.com, and you can read Corkey’s Plane Talk, a blog, at http://loprestifury/wordpress.

Direct download: VAF10_QuickCast_02.mp3