Luminati cancels air show planned for this summer
Luminati Aerospace officials confirmed Thursday an air show planned at EPCAL this summer has been canceled.
Jeremy Freeman, a spokesman for Luminati Aerospace, confirmed the cancelation in an email Thursday.
The company had announced in a press release April 5 that it would be hosting the “Cradle of Aviation Air show” on June 17 to showcase the “latest in electrically powered aircraft and pay homage to aviation’s golden past — much of which took place on Long Island, the Cradle of Aviation.”
Despite the name, the show was not affiliated with the Cradle of Aviation museum in Nassau County.
Councilman Tim Hubbard said in an interview that town officials weren’t notified of the air show and he said on Thursday that he didn’t know it has been canceled.
An air show would require a special event permit from the town and would probably also need a mass assembly permit from Suffolk County, depending on the number of spectators expected, Mr. Hubbard said. Luminati also hasn’t applied for permits from Riverhead Town to hold the air show.
“You can’t do that in two months time,” Mr. Hubbard said. “Not to mention, we weren’t going to let that happen anyway. My understanding that there was a majority on the board against it.
“He’s got to understand, there are codes and regulations involved and he can’t just do whatever he wants,” he added.
Luminati is seeking to purchase most of the remaining land the town owns at the EPCAL for $40 million. The deal would include about 2,300 total acres, of which about 600 acres could be developed, officials have said.
The town is researching Luminati to confirm it has the financial ability to do what it has proposed — manufacturing solar-powered unmanned aviation vehicles that can be used as wireless internet beacons.
Luminati’s press release last week also indicated that the company would be unveiling Team Stratos — its “new team of aerospace scientists and engineers who will be designing and producing the next generation of solar-electric aircraft, bringing aerospace manufacturing back to Long Island.”
Mr. Freeman said the Team Stratus announcement will still go on at a time to be announced soon.
