JAUNTS : Soaring With Eagles in Homebuilt Planes : After months or years of toiling over their creations, pilots get the chance to launch their aircraft at this weekend’s annual Fly-In at Camarillo Airport.

What does it take to build your own airplane?

For Dave Timms, it took 8 1/2 years of meticulous labor in his Simi Valley garage. For Bob Fowler, also of Simi Valley, it took 7 1/2 years, working side by side with his wife, to blast some 4,000 rivets into his metal two-seater.

Timms and Fowler are members of the Camarillo Experimental Aircraft Assn., an unusual bunch of pilots who not only like to fly but also build their own planes or restore classics.

The group is hosting its 14th annual Fly-In this weekend, along with an air show at Camarillo Airport. Last year, about 10,000 people showed up at the three-day event to gawk at 100 or so home-built or restored planes, some of them pretty wild looking.

Take Timms’ airplane. The propeller is in the back, the wings flip up on the ends, and there is a smaller wing in the front.

“It’s a very odd-shaped airplane,” said Timms, who is a semi-retired aerospace engineer.

The sleek yellow two-seater is not only fast, but Timms set a 30,407-foot world record for altitude in the experimental aircraft. He now uses it mainly for trips to visit relatives.

Some pilots buy kits to build their planes and others, like Timms, buy the plans and assemble the materials themselves, which is much more time-consuming. He knew nothing about building one until he began, and then it took him much longer than he expected.

“It’s the first--and hopefully the last--plane I build,” he said.

But Fowler, who owns a computer products company, is at work building his second plane, which resembles an antique with fabric covering the body. His first one, a conventional-looking plane, can be pushed to a top speed of 300 m.p.h., he says.

The term experimental aircraft does not necessarily imply a wacky-looking flying machine. It means an aircraft built from either plans or a kit, rather than one that comes off an assembly line, and it carries special certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. The 135,000 members of the national Experimental Aircraft Assn. might build gyrocopters, helicopters, airplanes or the newest types, ultra-lights.

Members say it is not only cheaper to build one than buy one ready-made, but the home-builts usually perform better. Nor does it take an aeronautical genius to put one together, according to Richard Trickel, whose Tri-R Technologies in Oxnard sells a kit he designed called KIS (Keep It Simple).

In the last two years, Trickel has sold 73 kits to people of all professions, even to a would-be pilot.

His kit costs $16,000 and takes “about a year of pretty dedicated part-time work, 800 to 1,000 hours,” he said. Once built, though, its builder can sell the two-seat airplane for about $60,000, he said.

One of Trickel’s home-built kit planes will be among those displayed during the show, which opens Friday.. Some old-time planes will also be there for viewing, like the restored PT22 World War II trainer and the other restored warplanes. Pilots from around Southern California and the western states will fly in to show off their planes, compete, talk shop, learn new technology and browse through aviation gizmos at a pilots’ flea market.

During the air show, which starts at noon on Saturday and Sunday, members of the Los Angeles chapter of the International Aerobatic Club will take to the skies--many flying home-built planes--for some dizzying maneuvers.

Two speakers are on the agenda: Bill Smithey, a retired U.S. Navy captain, will talk about blimps on Friday at 5 p.m., and at 5 p.m. Saturday NASA astronaut Carl J. Meade will recall his space shuttle flights.

Kids won’t be bored. They can take special tours and get a glimpse of how airplanes are put together. Also, Barney the dinosaur will fly in for an appearance.

Details

* WHAT: Camarillo Experimental Aircraft Assn. hosts its 14th Annual Fly-In/Air Show.

* WHERE: Camarillo Airport. (Take the Las Posas Road exit off the Ventura Freeway and go south. Turn west on Pleasant Valley Road and follow the signs into the airport.

* WHEN: Event opens Friday with pilots flying in, but most of the activity occurs on Saturday and Sunday. Gates open those days at 7 a.m., beginning with a pancake breakfast. Air show is at noon both days.

* HOW MUCH: $5, children under 12 free.

* FYI: 985-1470.