AIRWOMEN: Thousands of aviation buffs and others...

AIRWOMEN: Thousands of aviation buffs and others will turn out this weekend for the annual air expo at Van Nuys Airport. They’ll see planes old and new as well as military and civilian aircraft (B1). This year the expo honors women in aviation, especially pioneers such as Annette Cutter of Sherman Oaks (above), a World War II air traffic controller. . . . And an all-woman sky-diving team will jump.

*

FOUR NO MORE: Remember that report on how long it takes Cal State Northridge students to graduate? Now CSUN has a plan. . . . Only 29% finish in six years or less, among the worst records of 298 schools surveyed--and poorest for a Cal State campus. A new program will help students make it in four years--if they want to (B3). The school says many students are older now, have families and careers, and would rather spread the load.

*

OLD TIME RELIGION: Some churches have gone New Age. Feel-good is the creed. They’re the targets of a Sun Valley pastor whose book assails “the monstrous offspring” of ministry and marketing (B9). . . . It’s a best seller in religious circles.

*

FIELD OF TEARS: Movies and TV. Aerospace. Tourism. Mainstays of the L.A County economy. Who thinks of farming anymore? Well, it’s down from the era of endless orange groves, but not gone. The biggest crop is onions, 50,000 tons in the Antelope Valley (B1). . . . The harvest attracts migrant workers, living under makeshift shelters for a chance to make 94 cents per 100-pound sack.

*

FIELD OF DREAMS: It’s the All-American dream. Middle-aged men still wonder: “What if?” What if they had a crack at a big league baseball career in the full bloom of youth? Seventeen top Valley high school players got a shot at just that in The Area Code Games, where 260 major league scouts and college recruiters had stopwatches and radar guns on them (C12). . . . The name? It comes from assembling teams of players from throughout the state.