COMIN' IN ON A WING AND A SMILE; MODEL PLANE ENTHUSIASTS PROP UP FUN.

Byline: Don Holland Staff Writer

As a gentle breeze filled a windsock, the moment of truth had come for Mike Pontelle.

Pontelle's wife and fellow pilots watched as he taxied his Giant Aeromaster onto the runway for its first flight.

He took a deep breath and hit the throttle. The red and white biplane raced down the tarmac and then soared into the great blue sky over Simi Valley.

``The maiden flight makes your legs a little rubbery because you never know,'' said Pontelle, an experienced pilot.

While Pontelle and his fellow members of the Simi Valley Flyers are hooked on flight - and the nervous apprehension that comes with each landing - their feet never leave the ``airport'' at Oak County Park where they pilot their remote-controlled aircraft.

``This is a great hobby, a great sport,'' said Pontelle, a marketing executive. ``And you don't have to spend a fortune. The sense of exhilaration and accomplishment and pride is unbelievable. I haven't lost that from the first day I flew to today.''

For more than 30 years, the Simi Valley Flyers have soared vicariously into the wild blue yonder. The club boasts 128 members, who have access to the 400-foot runway and are covered by the club's liability insurance.

``Flying is the second greatest thrill to man,'' said club member Steve Toth. ``Landing is the first,'' he added with a laugh.

Most of the club's members are adults who have been flying for years. Many, like Toth, started out as youngsters, building rubber-band-powered gliders and tethered planes before getting into remote-controlled aircraft.

But many in the club have taken their passion far beyond the realm of a child's plaything.

``These are no longer toys. These are actually miniature aircraft,'' Toth said. ``It's a hobby that can become addictive very, very easily.''

Although a beginner can get into the sport for as little as $350, some devotees spend $1,800 on a single aircraft. Some models can run up to $13,000.

Pontelle's biplane has a maximum speed of about 110 mph and is powered by a 62 cc powerplant, comparable to a chain saw engine. For the size and weight of the planes, model aircraft engines are far more powerful than their full-scale counterparts. The result is that remote-controlled airplanes can do stunts that even the most skilled aerobatic pilot could only dream of.

``The older we get, the bigger our planes get,'' said Sheridan Asklund, who has been with the club since 1969. ``It's our delusions of owning a real one.''

Long-time model airplane enthusiast Rick Williams was showing his 12-year-old son Brian the ropes Sunday morning.

``The kids have Nintendo fingers, so they have very good hand-eye coordination,'' the elder Williams said. ``It really teaches them to think, especially when they're building the planes. They learn how to hook up controls, and it teaches them to invent solutions and be responsible.''

Although the Simi Valley Flyers have a five-year lease for their hilltop airport, some clubs are having a tough time finding a place to fly. An airport in Orange County recently closed, and the Conejo Valley Flyers in Thousand Oaks are losing their home field behind the old Northrop building at the end of Rancho Conejo Boulevard. For the next six months, the club will fly with the Camarillo Condors, near California State University, Channel Islands. But even that remote-control airport is set to be converted to a golf course in a year or so.

``All we're trying to do is find another place to fly, and we keep getting this shuffle. So it doesn't look good,'' said Joe Martin of the Conejo Valley Flyers. ``It doesn't look good.''

The Conejo Valley club has had little luck or help from the city during the past five years, he said. Local enthusiasts are uniting to press government officials on the problem of dwindling flying locations.

``We go beyond the point of a bunch of old men with toys,'' Martin said. ``It's just a very good tool to open up young minds to use mathematics, science and electronics, because they are critical to understanding the hobby. It introduces kids to aviation and the concepts of aerodynamics.''

The Conejo Valley Flyers are inviting the public to their final Fun Fly at 3 p.m., July 25 behind the old Northrop building at the end of Rancho Conejo Boulevard.

For information, call Martin at [phone].

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5 Photos

PHOTO (1--2--Color) Above, Rick Williams and his model PT19 trainer. Below, a close-up look at the remote control.

(3--Color) Rhett Everett of Moorpark checks the details before flying his Colt model airplane at the open space in Oak Park on Sunday.

(4--Color) A model plane comes in for a landing at the open space in Oak Park in Simi Valley on Sunday. Model airplane aficionados all over the Southland are having difficulty finding places to let their passions fly, as development closes more open fields.

(5--Color) Steve Toth, left, helps Mike Pontelle start the engine on his model Giant Aeromaster.

Lilly Barrett/Special to the Daily News