Kissimmee Municipal is the closest airfield if you wish to visit any of the major
Orlando attractions such as Walt Disney World, MGM Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or
Universal Studios and the new Islands of Adventure. However, most of these are at least
eight miles away and bearing in mind these attractions take at least a full day each to
visit, you will probably also require accommodation.
Kissimmee Municipal is just off the Irlo Bronson highway, which is the main tourist
area for Kissimmee and there are no shortage of motels, some of which offer special
transportation deals to the main attractions. Bearing in mind the speed of change in this
area, for every time I visit a new motel or complex has been built, I would suggest you
ask at the FBO for a recommendation.
The FBO is operated by Marathon Flight School and they will provide you with a warm
welcome and, depending on availability, a courtesy car to take you to a motel or
restaurant.
(Photograph courtesy of Richard Yeomans)
Kissimmee Municipal airfield is also home to the Flying Tigers Warbird Museum, full
details of which are contained in Part Three. Once you have visited the museum and viewed
the excellent aircraft that they have on display you might like to try flying the real
thing.
Photograph courtesy of Katherine Budde-Junes
The Flying Tigers Warbird Museum
Situated adjacent to Flying Tigers are Warbird Adventures who offer flights in a
vintage W.W.II Texan T6, also known as the Harvard. This gives you the opportunity to take
the controls from the front seat with an instructor in the rear seat. Whether you want to
experience the thrill of aerobatics or just go for a smooth sight-seeing trip the choice
is yours. Formation flights with friends are also a possibility with great photo
opportunities. All the aircraft are fitted with a three camera digital video system. One
is mounted in the front cockpit underneath the instrument panel which captures all your
facial expressions with your hands on the controls, one on the right wingtip for vertical
aerobatic manoeuvres or formation flights and one on top of the tail to capture take-off
and landing.
Your instructor will switch between the three cameras depending on the manoeuvres
being performed. In addition, all radio transmissions between you and the instructor are
also recorded which can make for some interesting listening when you watch the video of
your experience. Remember, however, that you may need to get the video converted to the
PAL format used in the U.K.
Warbird Adventures is open seven days a week from 9.00 a.m. until 6.00 p.m. and whilst
you can call in without an appointment, it is better to arrange your flight in advance.
For further information you can call free on 1- 800 386 1593
During April 1999 Kissimmee Municipal was also host to the largest gathering of P51
Mustangs seen for some considerable time. Out of an estimated 130 flying examples
remaining in the world, 64 flew in to Kissimmee. The reason for this amazing get together
was the fact that the airfield is also the home of Stallion 51 who are the
facility to go to have an orientation flight, checkout training, recurrent
training, unusual attitude training in the Mustang. Check out their
website at: www.Stallion51.com
They are situated on the ramp at the
intersection of taxiway Charlie and Delta and it could be worth dropping in to see them as
they also have an extensive pilot shop.
April 2000 will also see another fly-in by vintage aircraft to tie in with the annual
Sun ’n Fun event at Lakeland Linder Regional airport and it is likely that this will
become an annual event in the future. For more information you should contact the Flying
Tigers Warbird Museum.
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