Severe Storm Damage at Sun 'n Fun

[cmdro]

Sounds like a massive storm/tornado went through Sun 'N Fun a few hours ago. Here are some pictures of the destruction from the EAA facebook site.

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=192081688622&aid=358039&closeTheater=1

[Stitch]

Holy Crap! Hope no one was hurt (or at least injuries kept to a minimum) not to mention the thousands of man-hours and cash spent on all those homebuilts trashed and now all down the tubes. Hope everyone is OK and gets back with their families soon.

EDIT: For spelling.

Edited March 31, 2011 by Stitch

[Gravedigger]

Wow, that's sad. The DC-3 in those photos looked completely unscathed...what a champ.

[Royal]

That sucks. Did anyone hear anything about them staying open through the weekend? I was planning on stopping by tomorrow afternoon since the weather is supposed to clear up tonight. I'm guessing they'll probably need some volunteers to help clean up the mess.

[spudsmac]

Wow, that's sad. The DC-3 in those photos looked completely unscathed...what a champ.

Nobody is every going to be able to kill off the DC-3s.

[contraildash]

Geezus that's f'n horrible. Hope no one got hurt. I have some family near there and their FB status hinted at some nasty WX there.

[Prosuper]

Shocked to see a Caravan on its back.

[BQZip01]

Nobody is every going to be able to kill off the DC-3s.

The Air Force is still flying them at Hurlburt Field

[Insubordinate & Churlish]

EAA Website

7 people taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

40-50 planes were damaged

Damn

Edit:

Edited April 1, 2011 by Port Dog

[MKopack]

Nobody is every going to be able to kill off the DC-3s.

The initial report I heard said that the DC-3 is in good shape, but was moved "several hundred yards" during the storm. The plan, according the the EAA, will have the gates opening as normal at 8AM on Friday after a night of cleanup. The Blue Angels and the F-22 will be in in the morning, and the weather is expected to be good now through the weekend.

A couple of years on the flightline over at MacDill taught me to always keep an eye up in the sky though. Things can change fast in the Spring in Florida.

Edited April 1, 2011 by MKopack

[AEWingsMN]

ERAU all over again.

Any AF planes there, looks like there was at least a C-130

Edited April 1, 2011 by AEWingsMN

[spudsmac]

EAA Website

7 people taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

40-50 planes were damaged

Damn

Edit:

Damn, that's pretty crazy. I'm either driving or flying down tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see how it ends up. Guess some aircraft parking spots opened up for us.

[Sim]

No sun or fun eh? ....hopefully they were insured.

[Guest Stoop]

That was indeed some nasty wx yesterday, even by Tampa standards. Sad to see people's babies trashed like that. Hope everyone who was injured recovers quickly.

[Nineline]

Speaking of Sun N Fun, anyone headed there over the weekend? I'll be there tomorrow for sure.

-9-

[OverTQ]

We got the call over here at KPIE that there was a touchdown on the airport so we all go huddle up in the harden facility. In the middle of it all, up drives the mailman. Jumps out and runs up the mail. Sleet nor hail or airplanes being tossed like toys will stop the US Mail.

[Royal]

I just got back from spending a few hours there. They moved the C-17 and KC-135 out of Dodge. It looked like a lot of folks got their planes off the airfield before the storm came in. The Blue Angels' show was pretty good. Patty Wagstaff's flight was impressive too. However, the highlight was some dude flying a Beech 18. I'm not sure who it was, but he totally owned that plane: loops, rolls, the works at pretty low level.

The DC-3 and A-1 definitely survived without a scratch, but one of the Bird Dogs wasn't so lucky.

Edited April 2, 2011 by Royal

[flynhigh]

Video of a Husky getting tossed around.