Pilgrimage to Paradise City

I’m not sure who first called the ultralight area at Sun ’n Fun Paradise City, but the name stuck a long time ago. It has always been an enclave of free spirits and free thinkers—more interested in the unbridled fun of flight than cruise speed or sophisticated avionics.

For example, who was the first guy with the harebrained idea of strapping a whirling propeller to his back and floating into the air under a deployed parachute? I guarantee he was a part-time resident of Paradise City. He and his successors happily commit aviation in that manner every night of the show.

My annual Sun ’n Fun experience would never be complete without a pilgrimage to Paradise City. This morning, I struck out from the campground toward that enclave, stopping only for my “breakfast in a cup” (grits, scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese), prepared by the Antique-Classic folks and ideally enjoyed on the front porch of their HQ.

Paradise City’s grass field was already active, with ultralights and light sports in the pattern and gyroplanes taxiing into position for takeoff. Hanging on the fence brought me back to my childhood—clinging to the chain-link fence at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta, watching the Cessna 150s and Beechcraft Bonanzas taxi by. Walking through the flightline, I stopped at all of the rookie planes newly hatched since last April. Of course, I had to sit in the cockpit of each one, just to see if I would fit. Thanks to Ozempic and a nagging family doctor, I actually do fit this year!

The highlight of my Paradise adventure was a demo flight with the folks at Gyrocopter Flight Training Academy, out of Sebastian, Florida. Flying right seat in their beautiful Argon 915 was a thrill—ending in a 25-foot landing rollout. I’m now trying to figure out how I can earn their add-on gyro light sport rating, possibly next December. If I can convince my boss that it would make a great future article, it would be icing on the cake.

Next, I visited a new section of Paradise City: Bushwheel Basecamp, full of all-out STOL racers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and backwoods thrill seekers. It reminds me of the breakout of the ultralight craze in the early 1980s. There were scores of purpose-built aircraft dedicated to the idea that you should be able to land out in the wilderness without the necessity of a pesky runway. The planes were marvelous—but the adventurous people around them were the best part of the milieu.

As I return to my home in Atlanta tomorrow, I’ll be happy to reunite with my flying club’s Skyhawk, finalize training toward my instrument checkride, and resume work on my 200-mph RV-8A. However, a significant chunk of my heart will remain with gyros, powered parachutes, light sports, and ultralights at the most pleasant place on Earth during the first week of April—Paradise City.