Plans for Hawthorne’s Annual Air Faire and Banquet Take Off

Two famous combat planes and the Allied victory in the Battle of Britain will be celebrated at the seventh annual Hawthorne Air Faire on Saturday and Sunday and the accompanying History of Aviation Banquet Saturday.

The fair is at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The banquet is 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel.

The annual event takes note of the golden anniversaries of two locally built, World War II-vintage planes, the P-51 Mustang fighter and the B-52 Mitchell bomber, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Also being honored are employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for their role in the Voyager space exploration program.

The key event of the two-day celebration will be the takeoff at 1:15 p.m. Saturday of a squadron of P-51s and six B-25s. The planes will fly over LAX and the airports of Torrance, Long Beach, Corona, Chino, Bracket Field, El Monte, Glendale, Burbank, Van Nuys and Santa Monica, returning to the Hawthorne field about 2:30 p.m.

The WWII airplanes will arrive in Hawthorne Friday and will be on exhibit at the Hawthorne Airport throughout the fair Saturday and Sunday. Both the P-51 and B-25 were built by North American Aviation, now Rockwell International.

There will be a chili cookoff both days, as well as airplane rides, model airplane demonstrations and souvenir vendors. Also on display will be antique and vintage automobiles, from the LeCercle Concours d’Elegance, Antique Automobile Club of America and the Horseless Carriage Club.

Admission to the fair is $3, children under 12 are free. Tickets to the banquet Saturday are $45 each. For information, call 970-7216. For banquet reservations, call 676-1163.

Hawthorne Municipal Airport is at 12101 S. Crenshaw Blvd. The Airport Marriott Hotel is at 5855 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles.