STRUTTING THEIR STUFF : CANADIAN FLIGHT SQUAD TO PERFORM AIR STUNTS AT EDWARDS' ANNUAL SHOW.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

On a flight Thursday the Northern Lights aerobatic team seemed to be dancing in the sky, just like its namesake.

One plane was doing rolls, another starting a loop, a third starting a climb, and the fourth twirling - all just a few hundred feet above the ground. After performing individually, the team rejoined for a few maneuvers together, wing tips just a few feet apart.

``We (are) always striving for perfection,'' pilot Glenn Kerr said after the flight. ``You never get exactly what you want. You work at it and you feel like you are progressing.''

Flying single-engine propeller-driven aircraft that were built for aerobatics, the Northern Lights will perform Saturday at the annual Edwards Air Force Base Open House and Air Show, which will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Their exhibition is scheduled for noon.

The Northern Lights pilots are Kerr, Andre Lortie, Mario Hamel, all former Snowbirds - the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds - and Michele Thonney, a Swiss pilot and a 1994 Florida State Advanced Aerobatics gold medalist.

The Canadian pilots took early retirements as their military, like the U.S. Defense Department, was downsizing. They decided to continue their aerobatic flying by forming their own business.

Thonney started flying about 10 years ago, and took up aerobatics in 1990 after moving to Florida. Thonney started instruction with a U.S. Air Force captain who took two months off to train her in formation flying.

The Northern Lights asked her to join when they learned she was about to leave the aerobatics team she was with at the time.

``Formation flying is the most rewarding type of flying,'' Thonney said. ``We've developed more than friendships. We've developed a bond.''

The Northern Lights are in their second season of flying. They do about 28 shows a year, a schedule that moves them from show to show for more than six months. The group, based in Ottawa, trains for a month in Florida before each season.

This is the team's first appearance at Edwards.

``It's a dream of a lifetime,'' Thonney said of flying over Edwards. ``It's not every day you have access to these facilities. It's incredible to be here and be part of it.''

The Northern Lights fly German-built Extra 300s. The airplanes are capable of handling forces ranging from plus or minus 10 G's - 10 times the force of gravity.

``They do more than any jet around. They are built for aerobatics,'' Hamel said. ``It's like we are learning to fly all over again. We are learning every day what this plane can do.''

Unlike the high-performance jets they used to fly, the pilots say, the Extra 300 cockpit is noisy and there is more rattle and shake. The airplane does, however, handle every much like a jet - which is why it was chosen for the team.

``It makes the transition from military to prop a lot easier,'' Kerr said.

1996 Open House

Edwards Air Force Base will open its gates to the public from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday for its 1996 Open House. The base can be reached by driving east on Rosamond Boulevard from the Antelope Valley Freeway or north on 120th Street East from Avenue E.

Opening ceremony with sonic boom - 10 a.m.

Survival School Parachute Test Team - 10:45 a.m.

Test Pilot School glider demonstration - 11 a.m.

AT-6 Texan demonstration - 11:10 a.m.

F-117 stealth fighter demonstration - 11:20 a.m.

MiG speed-record run - 11:30 a.m.

B-1 bomber demonstration - 11:35 a.m.

MiGs from Reno - 11:45 a.m.

Northern Lights aerobatics team - Noon

Wings o' Blue parachute team - 12:30 p.m.

SR-71/F-18 demonstration - 1:45 p.m.

F-16 demonstration - 1:55 p.m.

F-15 demonstration - 2:10 p.m.

A-10 demonstration - 2:25 p.m.

B-2 stealth bomber demonstration - 2:40 p.m.

C-17 transport air drop demonstration - 2:55 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color) The Northern Lights, a Canadian s tunt-flying team, will entertain Saturday during the Edwards Air Force Base Open House and Air Show.

Jim Skeen/Daily News

(2--color) A C-17 transport plan will perform an air drop at Saturday's show.

USAF Photo

(3--SAC only) The Northern Lights fly their German-built Extra 300s in formation.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News

Box: 1996 Open House (see text)