FLIGHTS OF FANCY : BIPLANE COMPANY OPERATORS SOARING AFTER QUITTING DAY JOBS.

Byline: Matthew Fordahl Associated Press 

A biplane buzzed over a rocky coastal bluff where vacationing financial consultant Kate Lister and software publisher Tom Harnish sat pondering their lives.

It was a sign, they thought.

Within a few months, the aviation aficionados returned home to Philadelphia, quit their day jobs, bought a vintage wood-and-cloth biplane and started their own company offering rides to anyone willing to pay.

``It beats venture capital and banking - and it sure beats wearing panty hose,'' Lister said. ``To tell you the truth, we were just fed up. My mother died when she was in her 40s, and I realized you only live once.''

Five years later and after relocating to sunnier Southern California to avoid East Coast blizzards and thunderstorms, business is taking off for Biplane and Air Combat Adventures.

In addition to biplane rides, Harnish and Lister began offering mock dogfight flights in World War II-era planes. But despite strong bookings, they don't expect to get rich from the business any time soon.

``Using them like we do, there's an awful lot of maintenance,'' Lister said. ``Then there's marketing, advertising and insurance. We're not in this business to make a killing. If we can pay the bills at the end of the year and buy groceries, then we feel pretty good.''

Their relationship appears to be soaring, too. Harnish recently popped the question, and a wedding is planned in the ``near future.'' They plan a ceremony aboard a friend's seaplane in Alaska.

Only about a half dozen companies in the United States offer biplane rides year round. Harnish and Lister run the only such firm in California.

The flights take off from an airport near Carlsbad and offer views of flower fields and the ocean coastline. Most passengers, however, admit flying in a biplane is the high point of the trip.

``People are coming out to do something different,'' Lister said. ``It turns out once they're in the airplane, they sort of forget about the sightseeing. They're just taken up by the wood and fabric and moving slow and plucking along the coast. The most common thing we hear is, `That's the neatest thing I've ever done.' ''

The 1927 and 1929 biplanes built by Travel Air are single-engine aircraft that sound like a lawn mower or noisy motorcycle. Passengers sit in the front compartment while Harnish or another pilot are seated in the rear. Both compartments are open-air, protected only by a windshield.

The planes only travel about 80 mph and fly about 1,000 feet.

``It's the difference between riding in a VW and riding in a convertible,'' Lister said. ``It's just an entirely different experience. It's real slow. If there's a wind blowing, the cars pass us on the highway.''

The biplane company has a perfect safety record. Harnish, who is a retired Navy aviator and has been flying for 31 years, points out that the 1920s era aircraft are designed simply.

``I've never had an engine problem,'' he said. ``If you do, then you land in a field.''

Added Lister: ``In the five years we've been in business, we've had three people get in car accidents on the way to the airport. We tell people everything in life has some risk, so be careful how you drive to the airport.''

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Photo

Photo: Tom Harnish, co-owner of Barnstorm Adventures, banks his 1927 Travel Air biplane over Carlsbad as another biplane turns under him.

Associated Press