
Well, now we know what 2020 holds for airshows. I count three that did or will happen this year, but one of them — the much-anticipated November event, DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase, or DSAS — has now officially been delayed by action of the city leadership, which controls the DeLand airport. The founding administrator, Jana Filip, made the official announcement, “The 2020 DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase is being rescheduled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.” Since Copperstate/Buckeye Air Fair in February 2020, the end of July saw a modest gyroplane gathering in Mentone, Indiana for the Popular Rotorcraft Association‘s annual convention, followed by the still-upcoming Midwest LSA Expo. Now, as it turns out, the latter event, taking place September 10-11-12, may be the last airshow event of this shutdown year. No-Go for DeLand 2020 Officials at the DeLand Municipal Airport, lead by longtime airport manager, John Eiff, had hoped to continue on with the annual showcase as originally scheduled (November 12-14, 2020) “to help salvage the embattled tradeshow industry” …but… “it became increasingly apparent that the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Florida would make the event unsafe at this time for guests, exhibitors and volunteers.” Jana observed, “Preparations have been running along so well, exhibitor participation was setting a record pace, and we had such high hopes for November.” However, she added, “We really must think first of the health and well-being of our visitors, exhibitors, volunteers, other guests and the staff of DSAS and City of DeLand.” She said that the city and county have been watching the situation with great scrutiny yet leaders decided to cancel all local events through the end of November, as a result of health concerns.