AIRCRAFT ENTHUSIASTS CONGREGATE FOR 22ND CAMARILLO AIR SHOW.

Byline: - Mariel Garza

Robert Converse doesn't often get to show off his prize, a fully restored World War II-era fighter plane named for his pilot mother.

Except for the occasional race, the North Carolina-based pilot for U.S. Airways, keeps his gem, called ``Huntress III,'' housed most of the time in the Camarillo Airport.

Sunday's Experimental Aircraft Association's 22nd annual air show and fly-in at the Camarillo Airport gave Converse and many other pilots a chance to bring their planes out of the hangar, onto the tarmac and into the air.

Organizers estimated the two-day event drew more than 15,000 people, who came to see as many as 500 aircraft ranging from New-Agey, homemade, ultralight planes, fashioned with newfangled technology, to tough, antique war planes that can still muscle their way through the air.

The theme of the event was ``A Salute to Heroes,'' in honor of public safety workers, and the show featured many pieces of fire- and crime- fighting equipment.

Among the rows and rows of planes to gawk at were a Russian MiG, a B-52 bomber, a Vietnam War-era Black Hawk helicopter, and a C-47 gunship conversion called ``Puff the Magic Dragon.''

Many of the planes were restored by flying clubs or individuals drawn to planes. The hobby is not cheap - in money or time.

``You have to to have that commitment,'' Converse said. ``You have to have the love of flying, the love of airplanes.''

Norm Hall, airboss for the show, said that most of the planes zooming around the airspace of Sunday's show were one-of-a-kind aircraft - hence the moniker ``experimental'' - and lovingly built by hand.

``They build them in the basement, in the garage, in back of the house,'' Hall said. ``They've been known to tear walls out of the houses to make room.''

Alain Semet, an engineer from Topanga, built his ultralight, one-person helicopter - a bright orange, doorless contraption called ``California Poppy'' - in just a couple of months.

``I think anyone can build a kit,'' Semet said. ``But sometimes it takes an engineer's mind to make it work.''

Sunday's festivities were kicked off by a mid-day demonstration involving parachutists and the daredevil mid-air aeronautical acrobatics of a handful of pilots in hand-built planes.

One of the pilots, Rob Harrison of Claremont, hushed the thousands watching as he sped his Czech-built Zlin through barrel rolls, dives and geometrical gymnastic tricks that don't have commonly known names. < ``I do things nobody else does,'' Harrison said. (At least not on purpose.)

But does Harrison, an engineer and a former U.S. Forest Service pilot, think it's dangerous?

``Yes, no, perhaps,'' Harrison laughed.

``If you don't know what you're doing, it's a very bad thing,'' said Lon Arnold, another acrobatic pilot at the show. ``If you do, you're fine.''

The EAA pilots are already planning next year's party, set for Aug. 23-24, which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the achievement of flight by the Wright brothers.

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A vintage plane takes off over some of its brothers during the 22nd annual Camarillo Air Show on Sunday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer