Hey... Is that...? Naw... Couldn't Be... JIM CAMPBELL at Sun 'n Fun????

The birds are still singing. Great chasms have not opened up in the earth. Society's precepts are more or less intact (no matter what Jerry Falwell may tell you). Rampaging hordes of Visigoths have been amazingly quiet. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are nowhere to be seen... AND Jim Campbell has been to Sun 'N Fun. Mind you, a heavy frost has been forecast for hell... but that's only a rumor.

And.. best of all, Pigs haven't flown.

In the company of TV cameras, a staff lawyer, news photographers and about a dozen journalists (overall), Jim Campbell showed up at Sun 'n Fun, asked to be registered as a media person... and was turned down.

But... not turned away.

After a phone call to Sun 'n Fun's Pat Boyce and about ten minutes of what had to furious discussions up at the SnF Puzzle Palace (where the staffers indicated that senior SnF persons had "made a decision," SnF Volunteer Greg Abbott (with teeth gritted) did pronounce that Campbell would be allowed to buy a ticket and go to the Fly-In. After standing in a line of all of two people, Campbell ponied up his Visa card, accepted the customary "we own your soul" wristband... and went in.

After four years of personal attacks against him, numerous legal skirmishes and God only knows how many falsehoods, legal violations and so forth, Sun 'n Fun's principals boiled down to... 30 bucks. Yes, we were overbilled.

OK... enough of that. For now, some reason has prevailed and while a local reporter intoned that "Sun 'n Fun looked pretty dumb today," we disagree. This move actually made (some) sense. For all that has happened, they avoided a major media confrontation, Jim got to do his job, and they avoided the possibility of Federal charges had they also kept him out of the FAA building (as SnF had previously threatened -- to the puzzlement of the US Attorney's office and the ACLU). Yes, we're hearing rumors that someone has said it was all a mistake and that a banning order is still in place, but even Sun 'n Fun can't be THAT stupid. If they caved before the cameras, but changed their minds after they left, our media brethren will have a field day.

Regardless; Jim went about his duties unaccosted, visited the Sun 'n Fun Press center, made a press conference or two and enjoyed a LOT of double-takes from those who saw him and swore they didn't know he had a twin.

Dozens of industry heavyweights were glad to see him, relieved that the mess seemed to be over, but still noted that the whole thing had been a pretty heavy embarrassment to those of us who love aviation and want to see it present it's best face to the public. Yes, it's pretty cheesy to not issue a press pass... but we're willing to take it one step at a time. If cooler heads have prevailed, they ought to have warmed up a bit more by next year and maybe Jim will get the Press Pass his status as a leading aviation journalist justifies (not to mention that little First Amendment thingie). Besides, at least they got a real-live paying customer out of the deal, and with the bad weather early in the week and other issues that have been keeping people away from Sun 'n Fun (especially that $30 gate fee) in large numbers, they can use the boost. Best of all, Campbell's got a receipt that he can frame for posterity.

Well, enough of that. If, indeed, things have gotten sorted out, that's fine by us. We're happy to leave it at that. All we asked was that the law be obeyed, the Constitution respected, that we get to do our jobs (ALL of us) and for them to understand that the many criticisms we raised (and will continue to raise, as appropriate) are not designed to tear down this event, but to bring such matters to EVERYONE's attention so that fixes may be made. We HAVE seen SOME fixes and/or adjustments to certain risky behaviors and if we had something to do with that, cool. But the most important thing is that events like these be exposed to critical review, that safety be foremost in everyone's mind, that aviation be portrayed as positively as it deserves, and that we work together, collectively, with as little rancor and heartburn as possible.

In the aviation biz, folks, it's us against the world, and every time we fight amongst ourselves, it detracts from efforts that could have improved our lot elsewhere. We really do hope this is over... we were sick of writing about it, we were sick of dealing with it, and we were sick of the embarrassment our community experienced over it (especially to Jim, who NEVER backed down). So, for the moment, we're looking forward to getting back to writing about aerospace and aviation. What a concept...

FMI: www.aero-news.net