Sun n’ Fun’s Paradise City is home to Lakeland-Linder International Airport’s grass strip where homebuilts, ultralights, gyrocopters, LSAs, and the like make their base camp during the week of the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo’s displays, demos, and flying. It is also the home of the STOL Corral, which this year was open to the public. A significant number of the normal STOL performers were MIA as they were experiencing snow and no-go weather conditions elsewhere around the U.S. preventing them from attending. Lakeland (KLAL), however, had beautiful weather all week allowing unrestricted flights all day.
As the sun approached the horizon, the crowds began gathering while the crews and pilots of the STOL Demonstration quickly took the field setting up cones, flags, chalk, and tape measures in a well-orchestrated nexus of skilled individuals volunteering their time to facilitate this impressive show. While technically not a competition, some of the best in the world traveled great distances to demonstrate their aircraft and skill and were not to be outdone.
