FEDERAL RULES SINCE SEPT. 11 GROUND MOST AERIAL-AD FLEETS.

Byline: Felix Sanchez and Evan Pondel Staff Writers

The Federal Aviation Administration's post-Sept. 11 ban on aircraft approaching an event attended by more than 10,000 people has effectively clipped the marketing wings of companies specializing in aerial banner signs.

``I was making money doing something I enjoyed - flying. Now it's become very difficult with the FAA's restrictions,'' said Jerry Hider, owner of Pacoima-based Blue Yonder Ads, a company that tows banners 1,000 feet in the air.

Hider, 66, flew up and down Southern California's coast with wedding proposals and advertisements wafting behind his Cessna before the terrorist attacks. Now he feels grounded by FAA restrictions.

``Every month prior to Sept. 11, the business was going like gangbusters,'' Hider said. ``And now I can't even fly above Zuma Beach.''

The FAA now requires planes and blimps - long the advertising vehicles of choice at large outdoor gatherings - to stay outside a three-mile radius of a crowd of 10,000 or more people and to fly at 3,000 feet or higher even three miles away.

At Aerial Promotions Inc. in Long Beach, owner Bob Dobry figures he has lost more than $300,000 since those restrictions were put in place, but he is confident he can hang on longer - thanks to good times before the terror attacks and cost controls since he started Aerial 18 years ago.

Dobry goes to his office daily, waiting for the FAA to lift the restrictions that have effectively grounded his fleet of eight small planes. He spends part of each day taking up one of the large-horsepower, single-engine planes he uses, soaring through the air to keep the aircraft lubricated.

He's had to lay off his staff of three, and the part-time and free-lance pilots who used to fly his banner-toting planes have had to find other work.

It was particularly tough in the past month, when pilots saw big-money events - such as the Tournament of Roses parade, the Rose Bowl and the latter half of the University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Southern California football seasons - roll by without being able to fly banners above the throngs.

The losses could mount as spring approaches and big events like the Los Angeles Marathon and Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels baseball seasons draw near.

Experts estimate there are around 500 aerial-advertising companies in the country, and that drops in their revenue are approaching 70 percent.

Industry experts say this has traditionally been a field that nets $10 million to $20 million in annual revenue. But there are no specific numbers for planes or employees affected nationwide.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the U.S. Aerial Advertising Association have been lobbying on behalf of businessmen like Hider and Dobry. They've been able to spread the message about their plight but have received no word on when the restrictions might be lifted.

``Nobody knows,'' Dobry said. ``It could be tomorrow. It could be in two years.''

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Photo:

(color) Jerry Hider, owner of Pacoima-based Blue Yonder Ads, and his plane have been effectively grounded by new federal rules from his work of towing advertising banners 1,000 feet in the air.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer