IT'S FLYING TIME AGAIN; AIRPORT MUSEUM PLANNING EXPANSION.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

CAMARILLO - From aircraft made of wood and cloth in the 1930s to the space shuttle, Joe Peppito has worked many fliers, but it's World War II aircraft that have a special meaning for him..

At 75, Peppito can't stop tinkering with the half-dozen World War II-era planes at the Confederate Air Force's Southern California Wing based at the Camarillo Airport Museum.

``I kind of have a feeling that I've covered the whole gamut of aviation, from the old rag and woods to the modern rocket,'' said Peppito, a World War II vet who heads the local Confederate Air Force club as its wing leader. ``I'm still working on them . . . I just can't keep my hands out of it.''

The museum - a collection of six old Naval trailers hitched together and a hangar dating to 1945 - houses a range of aircraft including a C-46 transport, two SNJ North American trainers, an F8F-2 Grumman ``Bearcat'' fighter and a Japanese Zero fighter, one of only a handful left in the world.

Later this month, the museum will launch a long-planned expansion, breaking ground on a new $1 million complex that will create a more permanent facility, said director Dave Long.

``The whole objective of this is to preserve these old aircraft,'' said Long. ``The whole mission of the Confederate Air Force is to preserve the older aircraft in flying condition and this will allow us achieve that goal. We're really looking forward to this, and it will also increase our attendance a lot at the museum, I'm sure.''

To be built entirely from donations and member dues, the facility will include two new 15,000-square-foot hangars with several levels containing workshops, a new museum and offices on its present 5-acre site at the airport.

The group hopes to start construction this month finish the project by late summer, Long said.

The club started in Texas in the early 1950s when its founders, a group of WWII vets, started buying old P-51 fighters, which had played a vital role in the war. The founders feared the aircraft were facing obliteration, he said.

Long explained that the group's name came after one of the aircraft had been dubbed ``Confederate Air Force'' as a joke - and the name stuck.

``It has nothing to do with the Civil War,'' said Long.

Since the early days in Texas, CAF has grown to 7,000 members with chapters in 28 states and five countries, including Great Britain and Australia.

The Southern California wing, which has 250 members, including 10 cadets, was started in 1981 and originally based at Van Nuys Airport. It moved to Camarillo in 1983.

Inside the makeshift museum is a treasure trove of thousands of artifacts, mostly from WWII - from bombsights, bullets and guns to dozens of aircraft models, a parachute, photographs, uniforms, flying suits and posters, including the classic of Betty Grable glancing over her shoulder.

``Everything you see here is donated,'' said Long. ``And everybody works for free. It's just a great bunch of guys.''

The C-46, SNJs and Bearcat are still flown regularly while the others are being painstakingly restored. Repairs and restoration work is all done by members and sometimes parts for the aircraft have to be made because they no longer exist, Long said.

Most of the members are not aircraft experts but professionals from other fields, from school teachers to salesmen.

``The only requirement is that you like airplanes,'' said Long.

Members pay annual dues of $160, plus $40 in local wing dues. New members pay an initiation fee of $40, and cadets - who range in age from 13 to 18 years old- pay $45 a year.

Simi Valley High School student Matthew Collerd, among the 10 cadet members, became hooked on the aircraft about two years ago when a friend invited him to the club.

As with other members, he does everything from sweeping floors to working on the SNJ and C-46 engines.

``I like the experience of working on aircraft,'' said Collerd, 16, who comes by on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. ``I want to make that my career.''

Russ Drosendahl joined the club in 1982 as a retiree who worked for 34 years as a pilot for TWA and as an instructor on B-24 bombers during the war.

``There's a lot of camaraderie and socializing,'' said Drosendahl, 77, who lives in Woodland Hills. ``We are people who share an interest. We have a lot of fun doing something we like.''

Peppito, who worked for TWA, American Airlines and Rockwell International until retiring in 1983, when he joined CAF, said he has been smitten by aircraft since he was taken by his dad in 1932 to see Roosevelt Field, where Charles Lindbergh had flown.

``I think what I enjoy the most is being around a lot of nice people that enjoy the same things as I enjoy,'' said Peppito. ``You've got some wonderful people down here. They're interested in aircraft and history and they're just good patriotic Americans. And they have a lot of faith in our country, and that's what we all believe in.''

CAPTION(S):

3 PHOTOS

Photo: (1 -- color) Joe Peppito of the Confederate Air Force club stands in front of a World War II Japanese Zero A6M2-21 fighter plane at the Camarillo Airport Museum.

(2 -- color) Kari Gasner and daughter Kelsey, 10, check out a WWII model plane. one of several hanging from the ceiling at the Camarillo Airport Museum.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

(3 -- color) Paul Oppeguard checks out a German map, one of many donated items from WWII at the airport museum.