Expo celebrates ingenuity of aircraft

Photos by IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers OPEN SKIES—At top, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 723 President Don Miller flies over the coast between Santa Barbara and Ventura last week. Art Phillips, inset, flies his Cessna 172 over Camarillo during a test run for the Wings Over Camarillo air show this weekend, Aug. 22 and 23, at the Camarillo Airport. The event, hosted by the local chapter of the EAA, will include stunt shows, a large collection of military and experimental aircraft, food and entertainment. Norm Hall spent many of his 17 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the air.

A licensed pilot, Hall flew jet helicopters and fixedwing aircraft on several highprofile assignments. One included the Montana Freemen, a rightwing separatist group in Montana that threatened local law enforcement and claimed the right to print money. Hall spent dozens of hours flying night surveillance during the 81-day standoff in 1996.

Although retired for the past 10 years, Hall has continued to nurture his love for flying. A longtime member of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 723, he’s building a three-quarter scale replica of the P-51 Mustang fighter flown in World War II.

Hall also owns a RV-6A airplane that he plans to fly in the association’s 29th annual Wings Over Camarillo at the Camarillo Airport this weekend. Hall will also orchestrate the planes overhead by overseeing the air control tower for the afternoon show.

The show, he said, is a celebration of the ingenuity of aircraft and a living history lesson of World War II. Visitors will be able to meet WWII air crews, including pilots, and hear their dramatic stories in the war veterans hangar.

“We need folks to be aware of what our country has done, and this is a good way to do it,” Hall said of the air show.

Wings Over Camarillo is the national association’s largest air event in the western United States. The show will highlight new and vintage military and civilian aircraft that visitors can see in aerial action and up close on the ground.

Steve Kivo, another longtime member of the association, said he’s excited about the lineup of vintage aircraft this year. Expected to be on hand are an F series Wildcat, Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat and an A6M Zero Japanese fighter along with planes new to the show: an F4U Corsair, similar to the one flown by the Black Sheep Squadron, and two twinengine, twin fuselage P-38 Lightnings.

Only five air-worthy P-38s are known to exist, and two of them will be at the show, said Larry Beckett, association spokesperson.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s helicopter air unit will demonstrate its hoist system used to raise an injured or stranded person in terrain too rugged for the helicopter to land.

Visitors will be able to see the helicopter up close and talk to the pilot and crew.

The show will also highlight ultra lights, light-sport aircraft and light jets, such as the Phenom 100 and Cessna’s Citation Mustang.

Don Miller, a retired aeromechanical engineer who’s been a member of the association for decades, plans to fly in the show the RV-6 aircraft it took him more than four years to build.

The Westlake Village resident participates in the show every year.

“I want them to share in the aviation experience and enjoy it as much as I do,” said Miller, who will be available at the show to answer questions.

For the second year, the air show will feature the popular Learn to Fly Discovery Center. Visitors 15 years and older can learn what it takes to get a pilot’s license and engage in a free lesson at the controls of a flight simulator under the guidance of a certified flight instructor.

To keep the price of admission within the reach of families, the association lowered the price 25 percent this year. Admission is $6 for adults and free to children 10 and under. Also $1-off coupons are available at retailers around Camarillo and online at www .wingsovercamarillo.com. Parking is free.

Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

The 29th annual Wings Over Camarillo will be at 555 Airport Way in the Camarillo Airport Aug. 22 and 23. For the schedule or more information, visit the website noted above.