PARK OFFERS PLANE VIEW NEW AIRCRAFT DISPLAY OPEN TO PUBLIC IN SNEAK PREVIEWS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Much in the same way a retail store opens ahead of its official grand opening, Palmdale's Plant 42 Heritage Airpark is now open for weekend visitors.

With the completion of $590,000 in work to make it accessible to the public, the park at Avenue P and 25th Street East is open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A formal grand opening is being planned, but no date has been set, city officials said.

``It's a work in progress,'' said Mayor Jim Ledford. ``I'm sure it'll be well received and well used by residents.''

For now, the open-air display has only a handful of aircraft: an F-104, an F-4 Phantom, an F-86, a T-38 trainer, an A-7, an A-4, an F-100D and an F-105 Thunderchief. The park also includes a 1-8 scale model of a B-2 bomber provided by Northrop Grumman, the bomber's prime contractor.

The park will grow as aircraft and funding become available. Plans call for the park to eventually display at least 40 different aircraft with links to the Antelope Valley.

``It's open and people are more than welcome to come out there,'' said John Lasagna, Palmdale's director of Parks and Recreation.

The $590,000 improvement work that began in November 2002 included landscaping and irrigation, an information kiosk, new signs, walking trails, lighting, picnic tables, a covered rest area and a 33-space parking area.

The work also includes improvements along Avenue P such as roadway widening and the installation of curbs and gutters.

The park is being developed on 23 acres along the southern border of Plant 42, adjoining the existing Blackbird Airpark, which displays SR-71, A-12 and U-2 spy planes.

The park is intended to recognize Air Force Plant 42's contributions to national defense and to aerospace history. Initially an Army Air Corps base in the 1940s, and briefly a Los Angeles County airport, Plant 42 has been an aircraft production and flight test installation since 1950.

Some aircraft and spacecraft built or modified at Plant 42 include the F-86 Sabre, the top Air Force fighter during the Korean War; the F-94C; the F-100 Super Sabre; the F-104; the F-117A stealth fighter; the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes; and the B-1B and B-2 bombers.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Robert Genova, left, and his father, Robert Genova Sr., take a look at an F-105 at Palmdale's Plant 42 Heritage Airpark.

(2 -- color) James Toal of Palmdale and his sons, Christian, 4, and Nicholas, 10, study a T-38's underbelly at the new park.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer