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News-Sun photo by LARRY LEVEY Tom and Jeanne Adams, from Venice, take an up-close look at one of the sport planes taking part in an aerobatic competition later that week at the Sebring airport. The couple had enrolled in an Elderhostel program sponsored by South Florida Community College.

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published: Friday, November 21, 2008

High flyin' and hard drivin'

By LARRY LEVEY

News-Sun correspondent

SEBRING - For Becky Rousch, director of community education at South Florida Community College, choosing the Sebring Regional Airport as a site for a recent Elderhostel program was an easy - and exciting - task. (If you don't know, Elderhostel is an educational, travel, social, adventure program for seniors.)

"It's a unique setting," she said. "No place else has the history of a World War II military air base that's been turned into a world-famous raceway that adjoins an airport with an industrial complex. And no matter where you stand, you can see and hear planes overhead and cars on the track - and a four-star hotel on the grounds to boot."

Boil those words down, as Rousch did in selecting a name for the program, and, presto, you have "Wings and Wheels!"

Six men and five women - from St. Petersburg, Venice and Englewood - had signed up for the Elderhostel outing, held Nov. 3-6 and headquartered at Four Points by Sheraton Chateau Elan. All 11 said they were high on racing and/or flying. In fact, two of the men flew to Sebring from Venice in a 1961 Cessna 172.

It was a week jam-packed with highlights, such as:

- Mike Willingham, executive director of the Sebring Airport Authority, offering an overview of the airport: its World War II past, its current operations - and especially what lies ahead. His favorite saying - "The best way to predict the future is to invent it" - translates into the goal of turning the airport into a "world-class inland port," with the "ultimate" mix of rail, air, manufacturing and residential, all with an eye on the environment.

- Hearing Randy Bisgard, acting Fixed Base Operations manager, talk about that weekend's sport plane competition, and then checking out the planes and talking to pilots taking part in the event.

- Touring one of the aviation industries at the airport: Lockwood Aviation. "Anything to do with light sport airplanes, we do," said Tisha Lockwood, sales rep and business manager. "Sales, service, repairs manufacturing, maintenance and pilot training."

- Listening to officials of the Sebring International Raceway talking about the 12 Hours of Sebring and the other racing-related activities. The 12 Hours, joked Michelle DeLaney, director of marketing, is mainly "a happening where a race breaks out."

But DeLaney and Tres Stephenson, SIR president and general manager, pointed out the track is used for more than just the 12 Hours. It's frequently rented out to race teams, manufacturers, driving schools and other groups.

And DeLaney and Barbara Maire, who handles special projects, gave visitors a tour of the facilities, including Club Sebring.

- Getting up close to the Corvette Racing Team on the track holding a test program. Doug Fehan, program manager for Corvette Racing, explained the ins-and-outs of testing, the importance of research and development - and the roughness of the Sebring track. "If you think your car has something that won't break, it'll break here at Sebring."

- Getting the low-down on the Skip Barber Racing School, with Keith Dalton, team manager, describing how this nation-wide company offers both racing and driving schools, along with training programs for race car technicians.

- Listening to local radio personality Barry Foster offering some of the "color" that is part of the 12 Hours, based on his 30 years of covering the race. Like his observation that the race attracts two different kinds of people: "the wine-and-croissant crowd - and the beer-and-pretzel and Green Park crowd."

- Getting the taste of both "wings and wheels" at the same time by visiting a hangar housing the private collection of vintage race cars and planes owned by former race car driver Bob Tullius. And all planes and cars are still operational, as are the cats that make the hangar home. As Tony Ferrell, building maintenance manager at the hanger, said as he was touring the Elderhostelers around, "This is not a museum. A museum does not have drip pans on the floor under the engines."

The week also featured several changes of pace, including tours of the Military Sea Services Museum in Sebring, conducted by Howard Fleetwood, museum president, and the Depot Museum in Avon Park, with Elaine Levey, museum director, leading the way. One evening was spent enjoying Florida history, thanks to the talents of Hank Mattson, the Cracker Cowboy Poet from Lake Placid.

Another added attraction was a photo program by Bill Fortney, a professional representative for Nikon Camera and an aerial photographer. He showed photos from his two books, "America from 500 Feet" and America from 500 Feet II."

For the finale, Barry Smith, from Avon Park, shared her experiences as a World War II Women's Air Force Service Pilot. These women were accepted as civilian pilots to test military planes "to make sure they were safe for the men to fly."

The Elderhostelers all showered high praise on their experiences. As Frances Hamilton, from St. Petersburg, summed it up, "It was very well done. Each person who spoke was so much in love with what they do."