ANNUAL GALA AND AUCTION TAKE ON BIGGER PROPORTIONS.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

Antelope Valley Hospital Gift Foundation rescheduled an auction planned as part of its 10th annual gala fund-raiser after running afoul of federal regulations at Air Force Plant 42, where the gala will take place in a giant assembly hangar.

The gala will go on as scheduled Sept. 11 in the plant's Site 3 assembly complex, but the auction has been shifted to Dec. 3 at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds because of federal regulations against auctions, a spokesman said.

``It's going to add minor expense,'' Antelope Valley Hospital spokesman Gary Cothran said. ``We think it may increase our income. Now we'll have the time to concentrate on getting additional items.''

Gala proceeds will go to the hospital's Healthy Homes program, which offers advice and counseling to parents judged at risk of abusing their children. Last year's gala took in $237,000, a record, Cothran said.

Gala organizers learned of the federal regulations about three weeks ago, and decided last week to shift the auction to the fairgrounds' Challenger Hall, where earlier galas have been held. The hall will cost about $1,000, Cothran said.

Shifting the auction to a later date has the benefit of keeping the gala from running too long, he said.

The gala will continue with a filet mignon dinner, entertainment by Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers and dancing. On display outside the assembly hangar will be an F-117 stealth fighter, B-2 stealth bomber and SR-71 and U-2 spy planes.

The honoree will be Jack Gordon, president of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

The foundation has sold about 900 tickets at $150 each, and Site 3 will hold about 1,200 - more than double the capacity of last year's venue at the fairgrounds.

``We wanted to make a bigger, more special event. You can't really have a B-2 bomber at the fairgrounds,'' Cothran said. ``It fits right in with Jack Gordon being the honoree.''

Auction items so far include vacations in Costa Rica and Hawaii, home carpeting and autographed photos of famous pilots and airplanes.

A back seat ride in a Vietnam-era F-4 Phantom fighter jet - offered by an Antelope Valley company that asked to remain anonymous - will be sold on the e-Bay auction Web site. Bidding opens Sept. 3 and concludes at 5 p.m. Sept. 10.