RESTING PLACE FOR EARLY AVIATORS GETS NEW LOOK : SHRINE TO HOLD FLIGHT MUSEUM.

Byline: Susan Goldsmith Daily News Staff Writer

They were among America's aviation pioneers - men and women who flew around the world in rickety contraptions at the turn of the century, undaunted by fear and seduced by the skies.

In life, they were united by their love of adventure. Today, many of them are still together - interred in an obscure monument in a North Hollywood cemetery, directly under the takeoff path for Burbank Airport.

Located in a corner of the Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park and Mortuary, the monument houses the ashes of 13 pioneer aviators, including Matilde Moisant, the second woman in the country to earn her pilot's license; W. Bertrom Kinner, Amelia Earhart's first flight instructor; and Walter Brookins, a pilot and instructor at the Wright brothers' flying school.

``There is not a single place in the entire United States where this many famous aviators are buried together,'' said Giacinta Koontz, an aviation historian who is helping the cemetery plan an expansion of the shrine.

The 72-foot-tall domed shrine, dubbed the Portal of the Folded Wings, was a largely overlooked piece of local history until Koontz discovered it last year and had an idea: Create a flying museum and expanded aviators cemetery there.

Pierce Brothers Valhalla saw a marketing opportunity, and in January hired her to develop a museum in the portal's columns and market the land surrounding the monument as the perfect resting place for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other aviation buffs.

``The fact that the portal is right under a flight path is something we always thought of as a negative,'' said Doug Loftis, general manager of the 86-acre cemetery. ``But being directly under a flight path is a great plus for people interested in aviation.''

Said Koontz: ``This place is positively unique. Being buried near the portal is a unique opportunity for pilots to have airplanes flying over their heads forever and be in close proximity to aviation greats.''

Built as an entrance to the cemetery in 1924, the portal was turned into a final resting place for aviation greats in 1953. In the ensuing years, 13 pioneers chose to have their ashes interred under the shrine's tiled dome.

The portal now is undergoing extensive earthquake repairs. An unveiling ceremony for the renovated monument and new museum are scheduled for Memorial Day, Koontz said.

NOTABLE AVIATORS

Here are the names and notable achievements of the aviators whose ashes are interred in the North Hollywood shrine known as ``The Portal of the Folded Wings'':

BERTRAND B. ACOSTA (1895-1951) - Acosta was co-pilot with Adm. Richard Byrd on his flight from New York to France in 1927 in a Fokker airplane called America that landed in the sea before reaching Paris. He and Byrd lived to fly again.

WALTER R. BROOKINS (1889-1953) - Brookins flew for the Wright brothers exhibition team. He was the first to be buried at the portal.

MARK M. CAMPBELL (1897-1963) - Campbell was a stunt pilot, parachute expert and aircraft designer. He built the first Golden Eagle plane in Inglewood with R.O. Bone.

COL. WARREN S. EATON (1891-1966) - In 1910, Eaton and his partner were the first members of the Aero Club of California to build a monoplane that flew. Later, he built airplanes for dare-devil pilot Lincoln Beachy.

W. BERTROM KINNER (1882-1957) - Kinner was building America's foremost sport plane - the Kinner Airster - by 1915. He owned airplane and motor manufacturing companies in Glendale, Downey and Long Beach.

A. ROY KNABENSHUE (1876-1960) - Knabenshue was a balloon and dirigible pilot who raced in the Dominguez Air Meet of 1910. All of Los Angeles came to see Knabenshue steering from the catwalk of his 80-foot-long airship.

ELIZABETH L. MCQUEEN (1878-1958) - McQueen was one of Los Angeles' first women pilots and was the founder of the Women's International Aeronautical Association.

JOHN B. MOISANT (1868-1910) - Moisant won the Statue of Liberty Race in 1910 at Belmont Park in New York. He was the first American to carry a passenger across the English Channel.

MATILDE J. MOISANT (1878-1964) - Matilde Moisant, John Moisant's sister, was the second licensed female pilot in the United States in 1911. She set several altitude records and was the first woman to fly an airplane into Mexico City in 1912.

J. FLOYD SMITH (1884-1956) - Smith was a test pilot who manufactured parachutes of his own design. He and his wife, Hilder, flew passengers around Griffith Park.

HILDER F. SMITH (1890-1977) - In 1907, Smith was an aerial acrobat in husband Floyd's flying circus. She parachute jumped from a plane over Los Angeles Harbor in 1914.

CARL B. SQUIER (Unknown) - Squier was a barnstormer, test pilot and the manufacturer of seaplanes. As vice president of Lockheed Aircraft Company, he sold Charles and Anne Lindbergh their Sirius airplane for their 1931 Polar flight.

CHARLES E. TAYLOR (1868-1977) - Taylor was a machinist for the Wright brothers and he helped design and build the first motor for their Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, box

PHOTO (1) Giacinta Koontz's interest in aviation sp arked plans for a museum to be housed inside this monument at Pierce Brothers Valhalla mortuary.

(2) The Portal of the Folded Wings at the North Hollywood cemetery lies in an airport flight path.

John McCoy/Daily News

Box: Notable aviators (see text)