Karlhaus Realty Sells Darrell Lowrance's Hangar Mansion

Spruce Creek, FL - The Spruce Creek Fly-In mansion of the founder of Lowrance Electronics, Darrell Lowrance has been sold this Thursday March 31st. The 10,000 square-foot hangar home is located at the Spruce Creek Fly-In and enjoys direct access to a private taxiway.

Lowrance gained worldwide fame as the founder and driving force of Lowrance Electronics, one of the largest manufacturers of marine electronics and, GPS navigation systems for aerospace, civilian and military applications.

The residential compound was listed for $2,500,000. Carlos Bravo, CEO of Karlhaus Realty at Spruce Creek represented the Buyer and negotiated the sale. "We have been approached by a large number of affluent buyers looking for not only an exclusive property in Spruce Creek Fly-In but also a solid investment given the lower prices symptomatic of the current economic depression" Bravo said. He added that "With the advent of internet technologies, today's high-end buyers are more sophisticated than ever, come well informed about values and benefits and deservedly demand professional expertise at levels never seen before in this business and which we have positioned our company to provide".

According to the Daytona Beach MLS, Bravo was the leading agent in Listings and Sales in the Spruce Creek Fly-In for 2010 celebrating another year of record growth. He has very successfully positioned his company as a high-end real estate consultancy and marketing boutique catering to the demanding requirements of sophisticated buyers. "I am also a real estate investor and developer and over the years grew very frustrated at the lack of knowledge and expertise among traditional agents in a business which has very low barriers of entry" Bravo added.

For more information, See Karlhaus Realty Sells Darrel Lowrance's Spruce Creek Fly-In Estate

A destructive storm cell packing high winds, torrents of rain, and marble-sized hail hit Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, Florida about noon on March 31. At least 40 airplanes were damaged or destroyed, but there were no reports of any serious injuries. No reports of any Spruce Creek Planes being damaged.

SPRUCE CREEK FLY-IN, FL - The Goodyear Blimp made a visit to Spruce Creek this afternoon. The airship made Several low passes much to the delight to almost two thousand Spruce Creek residents which were congregated at "The Tree" in Windsock Park. The Spruce Creek Gaggle Flight Team joined in a formation flight display with Vans RV-8's and Piper Cubs.

The RV8s were piloted by Mike Kelly (lead), John Fleurent, Neal Waldron, Ron Keilin and Bill Merkin, all residents of the fly-in.

The LED sign in the blimp was programmed to display "Nice Wheels and Wings..." and "Spruce Creek Goodyear's favorite Fly-In" which elicited the applause of the spectators.

Several hundred golf carts, the favored mode of transportation at the famous fly-in, lined Windsock Park. Many of the picnic tables set up by volunteers included delectable treats.

The blimp was in the Daytona Beach area as part of a Goodyear promotion for the NASCAR races this weekend and took the seven mile flight to visit the world famous Spruce Creek Fly-In. The annual Daytona 500 race is to be held today.

Photos © Spruce Creek Journal

See the video

About The Goodyear Blimp...

The Goodyear Blimp is the collective name for a fleet of blimps operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for advertising purposes and for use as a television camera platform for aerial views of sporting events. Goodyear began producing airship envelopes in 1911 and introduced its own blimp, Pilgrim, in 1925.

Today there are three blimps in the fleet operating in the United States which are:
• Spirit of America, based in Carson, California, near Los Angeles
• Spirit of Goodyear, based in Suffield Township, Ohio, near Akron
• Spirit of Innovation, based in Pompano Beach, Florida, near Miami

All three of the craft are outfitted with LED sign technology Goodyear calls "Eaglevision." This allows the aircraft to display bright, multi-colored, animated words and images.

According to the Goodyear website, the three active GZ-20 blimps are 192 feet (58 meters) long, 59.5 feet (18 meters) tall, and 50 feet (15 meters) wide. Typical cruising speed is 35 mph in zero wind. Top speed is 53 mph on the GZ20. Maximum range is limited to around 900 miles, or twenty-four hours without refueling. However, cross country ferrying are usually limited to about 300 miles per day, usually amounting to up to eight hours of flying.

Goodyear also has blimps operating in other parts of the world, including one in China. These airships are built and operated by The Lightship Group of Orlando, Florida.

The blimps are filled with helium. The helium is maintained under low pressure, so small punctures do not pose serious consequences for the blimp. In fact, one inspection element of the blimps is to look into the envelope for pinpoints of light which are indicative of small holes. The blimps have infrequently been hit by small-arms fire from the ground. Also, birds can hit blimps and make small beak holes. These incidents have not resulted in any serious consequences to the blimp or its crew.
The blimps are equipped with internal bladders in the envelope, and as the blimp ascends or descends these bladders expand or contract to compensate for density changes and to maintain uniform pressure in the envelope. For safety reasons, the average lifecycle of a blimp is around twelve years. After that time the neoprene-impregnated polyester fabric that holds the helium is retired.

Source: Wikipedia

Watch this interesting time-lapse video of traffic diverting around a thunderstorm in the Memphis area.

PARIS, France - The Spruce Creek Fly-In was featured in an exclusive six-page report by the Exigent group of magazines. Exigent is the publisher of luxury in-flight magazines Aviaxess, Masterjet, Unijet, TEA Aviation and Abelag. Their exclusive readership counts the most affluent Europeans and global captains of industry and entertainment who fly charter jets, from Citation 3's and Falcons to Global Express and Gulfstream 5s. Advertisers in the magazine enjoy a captive audience of the world's wealthiest individuals utilizing luxury transportation.

See the Spruce Creek Fly-In feature in Exigent Magazine

Through personal contacts, Karlhaus' CEO, Carlos Bravo engendered the interest in a feature of Spruce Creek at the prestigious magazine. He was able to cooperate with the Exigent editors and provided the photography. Bravo's photography has also been published by a number of international exclusive magazines such as Robb Report, in other articles featuring Spruce Creek.

"The advertising value of these editorials is immense to Spruce Creek", Bravo said. "You just can't buy this type of targeted global exposure, directly reaching affluent aviation-oriented individuals - all of which find Spruce Creek as an intriguing concept for a vacation or retirement home"

Karlhaus is the leading agency in the global marketing of Spruce Creek properties. With the ability to speak six languages and with a presence in several countries, Karlhaus has grown into an international company. Bravo added that over 80% of their sales are cash which in these times of economic depression is a godsend as a significant portion of financed deals of exclusive properties fail due to financing and low appraisals. "appraisers never get into trouble by appraising too low, and with additional government scrutiny on them, they are playing very safe", Bravo added.

Bravo added that "A lot of our buyers already own multiple homes in the US, Europe and other parts of the world, they are looking for a place in the world's best residential airpark and I am are blessed to live and work in this, what I also call Disneyland for Adults"

Bravo is a long time Spruce Creek hangar home resident and avid pilot. He "retired" to Spruce Creek at the age of 39 after successfully starting and growing several businesses in manufacturing, real estate development and technology. The most celebrated was an internet ASP which he and his partners eventually took public in 1999 and grew to 1,300 employees.

About Europe's Most exclusive Luxury Jet Transportation Companies

Abelag
Abelag operates the largest fleet of charter jets in the Benelux. They offer their comprehensive services from its four bases in Brussels, Kortrijk and Antwerp in Belgium and Lille in France. Their equipment ranges from Beech King Air 200 to the prestigious large cabin Falcon 2000

Aviaxess Helicopter and Jet
With a fleet ranging from Learjet 60s and Falcon 50s to a Challenger 604 as well as executive helicopters such as the Augusta 109, the Eurocopter EC 135 and the ultimate Eurocopter Dauphin AS 365N, they are well positioned to serve the European market with a global range in transport logistics. Based in Paris, Aviaxxess also has offices in Côte d'Azur in the French Riviera and in Moscow, Russia.

Masterjet
Their fleet includes Challenger 605s and the Falcon 7x and Airbus A320 VIP. with offices in Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, France; New Delhi, India and Lisbon, Portugal, Masterjet covers Asia, Europe and the Americas on a moment's call to serve its exclusive clientele which includes European royalty, heads of state and Hollywood stars.

Unijet
With today's fleet that includes a Hawker 800, Citation 3s Falcon 900EXs and the Bombardier Global Express, Unijet has been a leader in luxury transportation with a unique history of 41 years dedicated to an essentially international clientele. Based in Paris, France, they have satellite offices in London, U.K.

TEA Aviation
From their Base at Le Bourget in Paris, they are in close contact with the airports of Geneva, Zurich, Beijing, New York-White Plains, and Macau. TEA is often the selected transportation provider for the Far East-Europe connection. Operates a fleet available on 2-hours notice and which includes The Challenger 604, Bombardier Global Express, Falcon 7X, Cessna Citations and more.

SPRUCE CREEK, FL - The annual Spruce Creek Fly-In Community Bonfire Event was held last night at "The Tree" in Windsock Park. This year's chilly weather was no match to the warmth provided by the giant pyre and the friendly multitude in attendance .

Volunteers served fried chicken homemade baked beans, potato chips, beer, wine and soda, available free courtesy of Community Relations Committee of the Spruce Creek Property Owners Association. In addition, there were several tables with desserts ranging from homemade cookies to brownies and cakes. There was also a smaller bonfire where the children's roasted marshmallows.

As in previous years, the bonfire was kicked off by a formation exhibition by members of the Spruce Creek Gaggle Flight Team which made several passes with trailing smoke for the enjoyment of the spectators. This year the Gaggle featured a double "missing man" formation in honor of the late Bob and Sarah Bean, both residents of the fly-in who perished recently in a crash of their plane while flying over Tennessee.

The Gaggle Flight Team is composed of residents of the Spruce Creek Fly-in which graciously donate their time and aircraft to complement many area events.

Here are some images of the event:

Source: Spruce Creek Journal
Held every year, the Spruce Creek Bonfire is one of several loved and widely attended traditions organized by the residents of the Spruce Creek Fly-in. The Spruce Creek Fly-in is the World’s largest residential airpark. Located near Daytona Beach, Florida, its grounds and private airport (7FL6) are restricted to Residents and Invited Guests only. For more information about the Spruce Creek Fly-In, click here: Spruce Creek.