SUNSHINE DERBY 2011 The third annual Sunshine Derby was held on February 26th, 2011 at LaBelle Airport.

This year, the Derby was held in

con unction with the annual !endry "ounty Swa#p "abba$e Festi%al so there was lots o& &ood, parties and the annual parade in addition to the custo#ary Sunshine Derby acti%ities. '%en with all o& the other stu&& $oin$ on, we were #ost interested in &lyin$. (other )ature decided to throw us another cur%e this year, nearly &orcin$ us to re*na#e the Derby to the +Fo$ Derby,. A #ist wa&ted o%er the airport at 0600 when -ern and Terry went to the han$ar to open the door. .t was loo/in$ pro#isin$. But as the te#perature

dropped that last de$ree, that wa&tin$ #ist turned to a dense &o$ where we could not see across the runway to the FB01 in &act, at one point we could not e%en see the runway &ro# the han$ar. 2hone calls had to be #ade to delay the arri%al. Soon we herd an airplane circlin$ o%erhead. 3e could see a low win$, possibly the (ooney, co#in$ in &ro# the )' the circlin$. 3e heard (att 3allis and Laura 4in$ 5ao on the radio. 3e could see the# and they could see strai$ht throu$h to the runway but the -- was 06 .t was ust 0700. Soon the planes would start landin$ 8 as soon as you could see the runway. By

09:0 the &o$ had dissipated and e%eryone dropped in, headin$ to the &uel &ar# &or their top o&&. All eyes were #easurin$ care&ully to be sure they $ot the last drop in to the top o& the tan/s to #a/e the &uel calculations co#e out ri$ht. Shortly a&ter 1100 all o& the airplanes were in the air, the slowest o& the planes lea%in$ &irst so all would co#e bac/ about the sa#e ti#e. The day was heatin$ up and we did not want the slow planes co#in$ in late, $ettin$ beat up by the ther#als and, #ore i#portantly, #issin$ the BB; lunch. The &irst stop was "lewiston, a short 20 #inute &li$ht. All o& the planes #ade it o%er in rapid succession and within :0 #inutes, they had all spotted the che%ron and were on their way to Dade*"ollier <T)T=. This year we added a little e>tra? the contestants had so#e +sca%en$er huntin$, to do alon$ the way, collectin$ the answers to @uestion on thin$s that they would o%er &ly? runway orientations, colors o& awnin$s, the nu#ber o& $reenhouses in a row and the li/e. There was e%en a tric/ @uestion thrown in &or $ood #easure6 As the planes were doin$ their thin$, others started arri%in$ &or $ood &ood and cheap $as. !endry "ounty dropped the $as price by A0.:0B$allon &or the wee/end e%ents C a real bar$ain in any econo#y6 Double Barrel Foods ca#e out with their coo/er and pro%ided the really yu##y BB; chic/en, cole slaw and beans1 the 99s each prepared their &a%orite dish #a/in$ &or a hu$e pot luc/ lunch &it &or /in$s. The crowd $rew to around D0 &or the lunch, all waitin$ &or the arri%al o& the Sunshine Derby contestants. Finally, ust be&ore 1:00, the radio crac/les with the arri%al o& Sunshine D. The ti#ers were in their place at the displaced threshold #ar/er to runway 1E waitin$ &or the tea#s to cross the ti#in$ line. The S' wind that had been blowin$ all day

now shi&ted &a%orin$ runway :2 &or a landin$ re@uirin$ the contestants the &ly an upwind le$ to #ar/ their ti#e, #a/in$ &or so#e interestin$ #aneu%erin$ &ro# their )3 arri%al. 0ne by one, they all crossed and ta>ied into position at the &uel &ar#. There were #ore $roans than cheers at the &uel &ar#. )o one was dead on the #oney but Sunshine E was only .: $allons o&& C that ust #i$ht be a winnin$ nu#ber. 3hile the contestants ate, the ud$e and scorin$ tea# tabulated the results. Sunshine 1, -ince and Donna (innillo, <who ca#e in 2nd place in 2010, #issin$ &irst by a #ere second or two= ca#e in Dth place. -ince was sooo hopin$ to ta/e ho#e the $old this year6 .n &ourth place was 99B5rasshopper tea# Ta#ra She&&#an and Sonia Bortolin. 3ay to $o $irls66 Third place was Susan "arastro and Fobin !oltsin$er C oddly enou$h, they ha%e #o%ed up one spot e%ery year C in another 2 years they are destined to win6 Second place with an outstandin$ ti#e C less than 2 seconds o&& C was Gohn !aw/ins and Dic/ 5ates C consistently in the top &inishers. But the $rand priHe winner with . :B$allons di&&erential was $rasshopperB99 tea#, Sunshine E, (att 3allis and Laura 4in$ 5ao.