DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY VAN NUYS AIRPORT MARKS 75 WITH ANNUAL AVIATION EXPO.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer VAN NUYS - Up to 300,000 people are expected to view stealth fighters, World War II warbirds, firefighting helicopters, sky divers and stunt pilots this weekend as Van Nuys Airport Van Nuys Airport (IATA: VNY, ICAO: KVNY, FAA LID: VNY) is a public airport located in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley, within the Los Angeles city limits. marks its 75th anniversary during Aviation Expo 2003. Military planes from the last 60 years will be on display Saturday and Sunday alongside corporate jets and smaller planes that use the nation's busiest general-aviation airport.'' ``That's a lot of what the air show is about: recognizing the history of Van Nuys Airport. It is a long, storied and complex one,'' said Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council President Coby King. The air show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, with aerial displays at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. featuring military jets, aerobatic pilots in biplanes and sky divers. A highlight will be a flyby fly·by also fly-by n. pl. fly·bys A flight passing close to a specified target or position, especially a maneuver in which a spacecraft or satellite passes sufficiently close to a body to make detailed observations without at 2 p.m. both days by an Air Force F-117A stealth fighter. A second stealth fighter will be on display on the ground. ``It's very unusual for a nonmilitary airport to have two stealth fighters appear at its event,'' said Selena Birk, general manager of the 730-acre airport, operated by the city of Los Angeles' airport department. Other attractions include education- and aviation-related exhibits, as well as an interactive area with children's activities and a flight simulator. R&B band Klass 1 will perform Motown hits from the `70s both days at the main stage. The air show will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight. On display will be a full-scale, engineless replica of the Wrights' plane which flew Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C. Made of wood covered with finely woven cotton muslin, the Wright Flyer replica was built by volunteers who include aerospace engineers, rocket scientists and other members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of four earlier societies: the American Rocket Society (ARS), founded in 1930 as the . The replica still bears the instrumentation wires and orange threads applied to it for tests in a NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. wind tunnel. A flying replica is under construction, with hopes of testing it this year at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. in the Antelope Valley. ``We're kind of biting our nails and trying to get it done,'' said Marilyn Ramsey, an FAA computer specialist and one of the volunteers. Another historic airplane on display will be a Ford Trimotor, a three-engine passenger craft that was a mainstay of early airline flights before World War II. Ford Motor Co. will have a display to celebrate its own 100th anniversary this year. Trimotors were among the airplanes that frequented Van Nuys when it was still Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport, a dirt landing strip frequently used by movie companies before it was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and later by the city. ``I remember seeing Ford Trimotors,'' said Dean C. Daily II, 73, who was a boy in the 1930s when the airport was owned and operated by his father, a movie cameraman and soundman sound·man n. One in charge of recording, transmitting, or amplifying sound or of producing sound effects, as for a television or radio broadcast. Noun 1. . Other vintage planes scheduled to be on display include a Lockheed Constellation airliner, World War II Soviet Yak-3 fighter and Korean War- era MiG-15 jet and a British Sea Fury fighter. The Van Nuys-based Condor Squadron will fly its World War II-era AT-6 Texan trainers - stand-ins in countless war movies for American, Japanese and German warplanes - to start the morning shows both days. Concluding the morning shows will be flights by a U.S. Navy F-18E Super Hornet jet paired with a World War II Corsair fighter. The morning shows will also include a demonstration by Van Nuys pilot Clay Lacy, flying a Swiss-designed Pilatus Turbo Porter that can take off in less than 300 feet. Lacy will spiral up over the airport, stop the propeller, then do maneuvers coming down. ``It almost operates like a helicopter,'' said Lacy, who started flying National Guard fighter jets out of Van Nuys in the 1950s and who bought the Turbo Porter to fly to an isolated Idaho ranch. Besides the stealth fighter flyby, the afternoon shows will include a water-dropping demonstration from a Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. helicopter based at Van Nuys and a flyover by an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle
The F-15E Strike Eagle is a modern United States all-weather strike fighter, designed for long-range interdiction of enemy ground targets deep behind enemy lines. fighter-bomber. Part of both morning and afternoon shows are sky divers Dave and Rodney Benson, jumping with huge American and Centennial of Flight flags. All four shows will include aerobatics aerobatics Sport of performing maneuvers such as rolls, loops, stalls, spins, and dives with an airplane. As an organized sport, rather than as an air show attraction (“stunt flying”), aerobatics began international competition in 1960 under the auspices of the by biplanes piloted by U.S. National Advanced Aerobatic Champion Sean Tucker and Air Force Reserve F-16 instructor Ed Hamill, and by a hang glider flown by paraplegic paraplegic /para·ple·gic/ (-ple´jik) 1. pertaining to or of the nature of paraplegia. 2. an individual with paraplegia. Dan Buchanan. Buchanan, a Minden, Nev., resident, has been unable to walk since 1981, when he was paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. by the second of two consecutive sporting accidents. A former custom home builder, Buchanan went back to college to study mechanical engineering after he was paralyzed and started flying in air shows in 1989. CAPTION(S): 23 photos, 5 boxes, 2 maps Photo: (1 -- color) Exhibitions by aerobatic pilots are among the events in store for this weekend's Van Nuys Airport Aviation Expo. (2 -- 3) Acrobatic pilot Sean Tucker, left, will be flying his Oracle Challenger biplane biplane, aircraft, typically of early design, having two sets of wings fixed at different levels, especially in a vertical stack with the fuselage included between them. See airplane. , above, over San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. skies this weekend as part of Van Nuys Airport's Aviation Expo 2003. Ed Hamill will also be performing in the Air Force Reserve's Dream Machine, above center. John Lazar/Staff Photographer 4 -- 5 -- color) no caption (Airplanes) (6 -- color) 1929: Pilots Elinor Smith, left and Bobbi Trout, set a women's endurance record of 42 hours in a biplane. (7 -- color) Pilot ``Pancho'' Barnes (8 -- color) Hangar used in ``Casablanca'' (9 -- color) Completed Sherman Way underpass (10 -- color) 1968 air show turnout (11 -- color) National Guard C-130 transports (12 -- color) FEATURED FIGHTER: LOCKHEED F-117A `NIGHTHAWK' (13 -- color) 1928: In the era of the barnstormer, a small group of men incorporate to build an airport in the rural San Fernando Valley, under the name Metropolitan Airport, which consists of 80 acres amid trees and farmland. (14 -- color) 2003: Today Van Nuys Airport is the busiest general-aviation airport in the world, averaging about 500,000 takeoffs and landings annually. Nearly 800 planes and helicopters are based there and more than 100 businesses. (15 -- color) SEAN TUCKER'S ORACLE CHALLENGER (16 -- color) A-10 Thunderbolt II (17 -- color) B-52 Stratofortress (18 -- color) F-15E Strike Eagle (19 -- color) F/A-18E Super Hornet (20 -- color) UH-60 Black Hawk For other uses of Blackhawk/Black Hawk, see Black Hawk. The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a medium-lift utility or assault helicopter derived from the twin-turboshaft engine, single rotor Sikorsky S-70. (21 -- color) F-16 Fighting Falcon The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American multirole jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft. (22 -- color) T-38 Talon (23 -- color) T-37B Cessna Box: (1) WHERE TO PARK (2) AVIATION EXPO 2003 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (3) FEATURED FIGHTER: LOCKHEED F-117A `NIGHTHAWK' (4) OTHER MILITARY AIRCRAFT ON DISPLAY (5) HISTORY OF VAN NUYS AIRPORT Map: (1 -- 2) Van Nuys Airport SOURCES: Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA is the airport oversight and operations department for the city of Los Angeles, California. This department owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Van , Van Nuys Airport, United States Air Force United States Air Force (USAF) Major component of the U.S. military organization, with primary responsibility for air warfare, air defense, and military space research. It also provides air services in coordination with the other military branches. U.S. Museum, Edwards Air Force Base; Daily News research by Charles F. Bostwick and Warren Huskey Warren Huskey/Staff Artist |
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