Fantasy of Flight

One of the problems with FoF is that it is in the midle of nowhere, with nothing whatever to interest wives/girlfriends/non-aviation children etc in the surrounding area.

Another issue is that it is, on a basic level, a big shed full of aeroplanes, parked where they fit best. There is therefore little in the way of context or supporting exhibits to capture the attention of the casual visitor. Kermit makes no secret about the fact that it doesn’t work as it is currently structured, and the miniscule number of visitors “don’t pay enough to pay the light bill”, as he told me. He obviously has a much broader vision, which involves using flight as a metaphor and encouraging visitors to “light that spark within”. What form the renewed FoF takes remains to be seen, but I am sure that it will not be an aviation museum in the form that we recognise it today.

I don’t think the venue has any ‘problems’ as such ! If you look at Kermit’s Facebook entries from a few months ago its clear he has seen other venues and ideas .

I tied-in the Sun & Fun, with FofF, Stallion 51 and the MAM and many trips to Hooters……(;-P) We just hired a car and it took no time at all to flit between them. FoF was seriously impressive. The exhibits were immaculate and Kermit came out and flew the Storch. I was struck by the evidently vast amounts of funds invested in setting-up and running this large enterprise and the relatively small income stream. KW is obviously loaded, but even so – there are limits, so it seems he’s been struggling to offset some of those vast costs. Let’s hope he keeps interested and finds a way through the current problems. It really is an amazing collection – not just for the superb condition of everything, but for the fact that most of it is airworthy, which makes it a living museum, which, in it’s own way, makes it similar to the Shuttleworth Collection.

Malcolm,

As David B said, I think you’d be pushed to get to Polk City from downtown Orlando/Kissimmee in 20mins!

As I posted on another forum, I’m not sure it is just the location that makes it less attractive to the many thousands of tourists who pitch up in Orlando/Kissimmee every year. Things may have changed since I visited FoF in 2005 and 2007, but based on my experiences:

“…… It was one of those places that seemed to struggle with it’s “offerring” to visitors – it probably didn’t contain enough family-orientated displays to draw in family groups (at least in 2005/7), but it contained plenty of stuff for aviation enthusiasts who understood what they were looking at, though I found much of the attraction to be not the restored types on show, but the reserve collection – but I suspect most casual visitors would not be particularly excited by a seemingly endess collection of dusty, dismantled, airframes. Most would probably prefer to see/hear airworthy examples of types they know, or half-recognise from old films etc.

The hangar displays also seemed a bit dis-jointed, though in 2007 new hangars were being completed, so maybe that allowed them to display the collection in a more logical/themed manner (e.g. WWI, Interwar civils, WWII fighters, WWII Medium bombers, US Navy types, WWII Heavies etc?) rather than wherever space permitted as seemed the case when I visited.

In 2005/7 there was no coherent flow or ‘thread’, so unless you knew the signficiance of what you were looking at, and/or where it stood chronologically in relation to the other exhibits it probably just felt like a random collection of old aircraft stuck in a few hangars.

Being located mid-way between “Disney Central” (Orlando) and Tampa, probably did/does not help, it is probably too far off the well-beaten Orlando-based tourist track for visitors without their own transport – why try and use public transport to get to a place then have to drag bored young kids around hangars full of old aircraft when the kids would probably rather spend time with that famous Mouse, riding roller coasters at Universal Studios, or getting soaked by Shamu and his friends at Seaworld etc.

Even my wife and (then) teenage kids found little to occupy/amuse them at FoF, and would probably have preferred it if Dad had gone there on his own and just left them around the pool at the holiday villa, or had first dropped them off at one of the main ‘attractions’ in Orando. On both visits I felt obliged to “do” FoF as fast as I could so that we could head back to the bright lights and razmatazz of Orlando/Kissimmee for the rest of the family’s benefit.

The FoF name itself may also have put a few potential “non-enthusiast” visitors off – had it been called “Kermit Weeks’ Aviation Collection and Restoration Center ( )”, or something similar, it may well have drawn in a few more visitors – I suspect most of the tourists who went to Polk City were aviation enthusiasts like myself, who knew all about FoF before they even arrived in Florida on hols. I often wonder how many overseas “passing” tourists somewhere like Duxford draws in (i.e. not those who travel with the prior intent of visiting the place especially to see the American Airforce Museum etc)

Hopefully FoF place will re-open in some form or other – maybe they need to will add a few serious “white knuckle” rides to compete with Disney/Universal and Busch Gardens etc? Maybe open to the public one day a week but then offer half a dozen types in the air would be more attractive – the promise of one “rare aircraft” in action every day, was never really likely to attract anyone other than the ‘aviation nutter’ fraternity.

On a positive note, assuming FoF does re-open in the future, I’d still recommend it as a “must see” stop for enthusiasts, and also especially recommend any opportunity to take a “back lot” or “Restoration workshop” tour. For anyone with an appreciation of aviation history, or an appreciation of what it takes to restore and operate old aircraft, the chance to peek behind the scenes should not be missed. Setting aside the number of “lock up” type-hangars full of shoe-horned in airframes awaiting restoration, and ignoring some of the very rare types they contained, walking into the “engine bay” and seeing (literally) a warehouse full of aero-engines, many “factory fresh” and ready to use, was a moment I will never forget.

In the absence of having to host paying visitors every day, maybe restoration work will move along a little faster? It would be nice to see the former Strathallan/Charles Church Lancaster emerge from those ISO shipping containers and start to take shape once more… or to see another Tigercat and/or SBD returned to flight.

As an aside, and in light of this news about FoF, I wonder how many “passing” tourists somewhere like Duxford draws in per annum (i.e. not including visitors who are in the area with the prior intent of visiting ) ? If it had to operate as a privately-owned/run operation, on a purely commercial basis (i.e. was not run/owned/underwritten by a national museum), I suspect Duxford might struggle to break even/remain open every day too – It often amazes me that YAM continues to survive at Elvington?”

I sincerely hope KW does re-open FoF in some shape or form in the not too distant future, it was a real gem for enthusiasts, even if it was never an attractive alternative to the (nearby) Orlando area theme parks for most holidaymakers.

Paul F

See here http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?129116-Fantasy-of-Flight-to-close

Brian

God, how did I miss that?!

You would be going some to get there in twenty minutes from International Drive ! Its worth pointing out that there are a massive number of attractions in the area – to compete and be prosperous takes a lot of money and a certain amount of luck!

20 minutes away and people can’t be bothered going there – the human race really is becoming ridiculous. The first example of being ridiculous as the reason for extinction.

See here http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?129116-Fantasy-of-Flight-to-close

Brian

As far as I know the B-26 is still a flier and stays inside at night or in bad weather. The Connie is the only bird, aside from carcasses out back, that stays outside. Here is an aerial shot from a couple weeks ago….B-26 not in sight. Just the Connie in her usual longterm parking, the PBY on the ramp and a biplane of some sort out warming up.

I’m a bit confused. I always thought that the B-26 was a flyer? Is it stored outside? :confused:

The “Super Connie” is actually a Starliner, and I believe is going to Lufthansa as a spares ship for their flyer restoration.

What sort of state is that poor B26 in????????????????

Not looking too bad compared to the state of some of the airframes he has had restored (at least the ones done over here).

Seriously there are at least two airframes illustrated in that collection that, IIRC, were done over here and the ‘in-depth’ nature of the work was astounding. They literally took years of full time work.

If we assume the B-26 will be restored along the same lines scheduling the team and space to do it as part of a much larger collection is quite a task.. literally one that takes years, especially to a collection located in FLorida which needs to deal with ‘unexpected’ restoration tasks due to the odd hurriance etc.

And lets face it he is not in a ‘hurry’ to get them done, prefering to have an exemplar restoration carried out..even if it takes longer than expected.

I know many people on this forum have disagreements about Week’s collection policies (Sunderland, Mossie), but you have to give him credit, he’s not only a great collector, he certainly “puts his money where his mouth is” with aircraft and first rate facilities.

Real, nice guy……..its been a while since my last visit. So, I may have to take a trip soon.:D

I know many people on this forum have disagreements about Week’s collection policies (Sunderland, Mossie), but you have to give him credit, he’s not only a great collector, he certainly “puts his money where his mouth is” with aircraft and first rate facilities.

I live just about 30 minutes away………..As a matter of fact I met the owner up in Indy at a Airshow some years back. When he flew in his beautiful P-51C.:D Talk about pristine………….

When was the las time the Sunderland flew.

I had a Great Warbirds Air Display Video when I was younger. It featured her displaying. She looked awesome. 😎

What sort of state is that poor B26 in????????????????

Doesn’t seem to be that much worse than when I saw it in 2002. What they said then was that planes are rotated through restoration, it will get some attention in due course but as it is a larger airframe it might take a while before enough space opens up. There is enough work around those hangars to keep a whole company busy, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Great place though 🙂

What sort of state is that poor B26 in????????????????

Ah – the Super Connie!
Handled one of those with El Al’s Chief Pilot in 1958 when he was converting Israeli fighter pilots to civil.

Delightful!

Thanks for the comments. Sorry I didn’t photograph the Storch.