LAKELAND, Fla. — Thousands of people from near and far headed to the SUN 'n FUN Aerospace Expo to get their front-row seats at the air show.
This is the 50th year of the showcase. Many said the air show is the most highly anticipated event of the week.
When it’s time for the air show, everyone grabs a spot along the tarmac. Sam Tompkins was just one of several kids with their heads pointed to the sky.
“There so many fighter jets,” Tompkins said.
This event hopes to inspire the next generation of aviators, like Blakely Harris.
“They go super-fast and it’s loud,” Harris said.
For some, the noise can be a lot, but Tom Carlin said this was not his first rodeo.
“If there’s a pilot from the old days, we do a flyover. If there’s an old mechanic that family wants a fly over we’ll do it for them,” Carlin said.
He’s collected several planes over the years adding that at events like this, he gets to network with others, but also time to show off their skills.
“We flew all three of these today in something called the showcase it’s a lot of fun for us. We get to fly around and turn our smoke on. For us, we're like hey you know we're flying in sun and fun it's great like license to steal,” Carlin said.
