Article and Photos by Ted Luebbers
The Leesburg International Airport in Leesburg recently hosted a Food Truck Fly-In Drive-In on their expansive ramp.
This event was free and open to anyone who flew in or drove in. There was plenty of parking for both planes and cars.
Once the early morning fog lifted around 10 am, the sun came out and beautiful flying weather continued the rest of the day. At this point, the airport runways and taxiways were open for visitors.
The Leesburg Airport ( KLEE) is owned and run by the city of Leesburg, FL, and is ably managed by Tracey Dean. Alan Reisman, the current mayor of Leesburg, is an employee of Firehawk Helicopter, one of the larger businesses at the airport.
Tracy and Alan teamed up to make the Food Truck-Fly-In the great success that it was.
This airport is a large economic engine for both the city and Lake County
It is a large general aviation airport with two asphalt runways. The longest runway is runway 13/31 at 6300 feet and 100 feet wide. The other one is runway 3/21 at 4957 feet and also 100 feet wide.
Leesburg International Airport also has a seaplane base adjacent to the airfield on Lake Harris.
If you are flying in from some foreign land, you will be happy to know this airport has a US Customs and Border Protection office at the airport.
There are several large aerospace businesses and many small aircraft businesses located here. These businesses provide many good paying jobs and bring a lot of revenue into the City and Lake County.
For example, there is Firehawk Helicopter. They opened up their large hangar, rolled out one of their big firefighting helicopters for display. They converted the front part of the hangar into a dining room so the folks who bought their lunch from one of the food trucks had a comfortable place to sit while they enjoyed their meal.
Sunair Aviation, the fix-based operator (FBO) for the airport, had a tent set up on the ramp to answer questions for people who might be interested in learning how to fly.
They have a flight school and teach everything from what you need to become a Private Pilot to an Air Transport Pilot. They provide for airplane parking, fuel, repair service, and a comfortable pilot lounge.
Skybolt Aerospace Fasteners has a large facility at this airport. Almost everybody who repairs airplanes or builds Experimental Planes knows about all the innovative aircraft fasteners Skybolt sells and produces.
The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 534 has a large presence at this airport. They provide for Young Eagles free flights once a month to give young people 8 to 17 their first experience of the wonder of flight. They also have an aviation youth program which so far has resulted in producing four new Private Pilots and two more waiting for their check ride. Each of them has received Ray Aviation Scholarships. These scholarships provide the funds to cover a substantial amount of the cost of flight training.
Chapter 534 also helps train some of their members how to build Experimental Aircraft or refurbish older planes. Many of these planes are sold when completed and profits are rolled into their youth programs. They are a 501 c3 tax free organization.
They set up a booth and aircraft display on the ramp to answer any questions about EAA. On display were three Experimental aircraft built by one of the members.
During the Fly-In the food trucks did a lot of business and the dining tables in the Firehawk hangar were always filled up.
There were seven food trucks serving ice cream, burgers, hot dogs, assorted ethnic dishes and soft drinks.
A wide assortment of planes flew in, there were many certified planes, experimental home-built planes, vintage aircraft, mostly single engine but a few twins as well. On occasion, you could hear the roar of a corporate jet landing or taking off.
The Leesburg Police and Fire departments and Recreation Department were well represented, displaying their equipment.
The Civil Air Patrol Lake Composite Squadron SER FL.021, showed a strong presence. They had a tented booth set up on the ramp to answer any questions from the attendees. Their young people in uniform helped out some of the other folks set up their displays.
Everybody had a great time admiring all the airplanes. Among the young people who attended, the dream of becoming a pilot was born.
