Last year at Florida Jets there was a lot of grumbling about the awards. This year I heard no one complain about them at all. I think the event was much improved in all aspects from last year. Just look at the list that John posted. I dont see any good ole boy stuff going on there at all. There where alot of new faces in the crowd this year and pilots who never attended the event in prior years got awards this year. As for being present at the awards dinner or you dont get your award thats a topic that I dont totally agree with either and we should take that up in another thread. I can say that Frank made everyone feel welcome (except for the guy who parked his car in the trailer area behind the tents) and BV was the first one at the awards dinner to thank the Germans for coming to the event. I think that said a lot about the direction that the future Florida Jet events will be going in. I dont think that any one brand of airplane got to fly lower or faster than the next . I saw some PCM DV8R's burning up the place just as much as Bobcats. The fact is that this is the lead off event for the Jet flying season and the best of the best are going to be there trying to show each other just how fast there jet can go. If anyone expects to fly their trainer jet and and not feel slightly intimidated your at the wrong event. There are alot of planes and alot of pilots who all want to get out there and burn some holes in the sky and a limited amount of time to do it in. Local events are far better for getting stick time than national ones. I went to a few big events without a plane before I ever thought about flying at one. The chance is greater that in all of the hectic activity your plane could get damaged. So its not that event organziers look the other way about safety and rules, or that your not welcome there, its just the nature of the beast that these events are hectic. All in all Frank and crew did a great job. Well thats just my .02 cent worth.