CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF; FLIERS' CLUBS TO DISPLAY AIRCRAFT IN CAMARILLO.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer Bill Main could never get his fill of airplanes, even after flying B-17 bombers as an 18-year-old in the heat of World War II. ``We flew over whether we wanted to or not. It was our job,'' Main said of his wartime flying. ``We were all very young. It was probably a good thing - we didn't argue, we just did what we were told.'' The Camarillo resident, now 72 and a retired American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the pilot, keeps his memories and passion for the sky alive through the Confederate Air Force chapter based at Camarillo Airport Camarillo Airport (ICAO: KCMA, FAA LID: CMA) is a public airport located three miles (5 km) west of the central business district of Camarillo, a city in Ventura County, California, United States. . There, he can admire - and even fly - such planes as the C-46. That large warbird had the power to fly over the Himalayas to deliver goods, and could carry two Jeeps or 50,000 pounds of cargo. This weekend, Main and other CAF CAF - constant applicative form members will show off planes, including a B-17 and C-46, to thousands of visitors who turn out for the annual June air show and fly-in at Camarillo Airport. Also featured will be homemade planes crafted by area members of the Experimental Aircraft Association from steel tubes, aluminum and car engines. Gary Stucker spent a year and a half putting together his plane, powered with the engine of a 20-year-old Volkswagen Bug. ``You can go 160 miles per hour out of this,'' said Stucker, pointing to the 60-horsepower engine contained within a light frame covered with aluminum and fabric. Stucker, this year's air show organizer, became a pilot some 20 years ago after signing up for a course he'd seen advertised. Three years ago, he began tinkering tin·ker n. 1. A traveling mender of metal household utensils. 2. Chiefly British A member of any of various traditionally itinerant groups of people living especially in Scotland and Ireland; a traveler. 3. with experimental planes the way a kid plays with models. These projects, however, have an extra element of suspense, Stucker said. When you take one up, he said, you had better hope it works. ``You're up in something that's untried, and there's no one to blame problems on since you built it,'' he noted. ``You start thinking, `Now when I did this part I was tired and it was late at night.' '' Stucker recalled the maiden flight Noun 1. maiden flight - the first flight of its kind; "the Stealth bomber made its maiden flight in 1989" flying, flight - an instance of traveling by air; "flying was still an exciting adventure for him" in his experimental plane. ``The hardest part was asking to land. My mouth was so dry. My lips were stuck to my teeth.'' The two local airplane organizations expect to have about 50 planes on display over the weekend. Several planes will be open for visitors to tour, and some will be flying overhead throughout the day. The Experimental Aircraft Association started the event 17 years ago. It joined with the CAF about four years ago, after visitors for the experimental plane show began drifting to the CAF hangar to check out the old warbirds. The show gives visitors a mix of lessons about engineering feats, technological advances and war challenges. Pilots of the C-46, for instance, no longer need a radio operator for the old tube radios that took up lots of space and power. Instead, the pilots use small boxes that have been inserted next to the main instruments. ``We're having a lot of stuff for kids. We'll show them how an airplane functions, we'll have flying simulators,'' said Pat Brown, spokeswoman for the CAF. ``This is a family show. That's the whole idea.'' The air show drew about 15,000 people each day last year, and organizers expect even more this year. SEE THE SHOW WHAT: The annual air show and fly-in hosted by the Confederate Air Force and the Experimental Aircraft Association. WHERE: Camarillo Airport. Enter at the Eubanks Street entrance off Pleasant Valley Road. WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gates open at 7 a.m. A pancake pancake, thin, flat cake, made of batter and baked on a griddle or fried in a pan. Pancakes, probably the oldest form of bread, are known in different forms throughout the world. breakfast is offered both days for a nominal price Nominal price Price quotations on futures for a period in which no actual trading took place. . COST: Admission is $3 per person and there is no charge for children under 12. CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box Photo: (1--Color only in Simi and Conejo editions) Clay Lacy gets his P-51 Mustang mustang [Sp. mesteño=a stray], small feral horse of the W United States. Mustangs are descended from escaped Native American horses, which in turn were descended from horses of North African blood, brought to the New World by the Spanish c.1500. , above, ready for this weekend's air show in Camarillo. (2--Color only in Simi and Conejo editions) Sitting in the cabin of the C-46 ``China Doll China Doll may refer to:
(3--Ran in SAC, Simi and Conejo editions only) The Camarillo air show will feature custom-built experimental planes, like Frank Beascoechea's RV6. (4--Ran in Simi and Conejo editions only) Bill Main sits in the cockpit of a C-46 cargo plane cargo plane n → avión m de carga cargo plane n → avion-cargo m cargo plane cargo n → that carried supplies on the Burma-China route over the Himalayas during World War II. Michael Owen
Box: See the Show (See text) |
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