CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

The “unexpected” can sometimes be the best outcome. Having just returned from Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida I had two such unexpected encounters. The first happened at the Aviat/RAF jambalaya feed that the RAF helped co-host with our friends at Aviat Aircraft. About an hour into the festivities a familiar face came into the tent. It took me a moment to make sure I was seeing who I hoped it was. Sure enough, it was Karl Spielman, one of those original six people sitting around the campfire you often hear about. Karl is one of the original RAF co-founders and directors. Now of Seattle and Cortez, CO, Karl and I have stayed in touch since he stepped off the RAF board some time ago, but we simply hadn’t seen one another for a number of years. It felt good to see a long time friend and to reconnect with a person who was so valuable and instrumental in helping create this organization. It clearly proved to me that those who believe in the mission are never really all that far away.

The second occurred when our RAF Vy group member and S’nF board member Charlie Gregoire introduced Eric Crump to the RAF. Eric is the Executive Director of the Aerospace Center for Excellence, “ACE,” the actual home of Sun ’n Fun. Eric leads an outreach team that is fully committed to engaging and accelerating young people in aviation. Eric shared the ACE story about how Sun ’n Fun is bringing youth – many of whom would never have an exposure to aviation – into our world. They start with preschool children, with a weekly story time right on campus. Literally thousands of young people from central Florida and beyond are being nurtured into aviation. Eric and ACE continue to help these young people stay engaged in aviation with educational outings, a high school, and soon-to-be middle school, right there on the Sun ’n Fun campus.

“Where does this impact the RAF” you might be asking? Well, if it weren’t for the work that our friend Karl Spielman did back in our early days; and the work that Eric Crump is doing in the moment and beyond, there might not be an RAF in existence, nor a reason to keep working on our mission.

I was proud to be caught in the middle – former and future – doing my best to tell the RAF story, and just simply seeing how we can continue to amplify the work that good people like Karl and Eric have done and continue to do.

– John McKenna, RAF Chairman

Submitted on April 8, 2025