WWII Exhibit Off to Flying Start : Museum: Opening of display at Reagan Presidential Library draws about 2,600 and begins with vintage aircraft show.

As museum exhibit openings go, Saturday’s kickoff of the “World War II: Personal Accounts” display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley was a smashing success.

About 2,600 people came to watch an impressive World War II-era aircraft show, enjoy live 1940s swing music and take a first glance at the exhibit, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the second world war.

“We are very pleased to see all of this support from the public,” said Richard Norton Smith, director of the library.

Throngs began to descend on the library early in the day and by about 1:30 p.m. both parking lots were filled and the entrance gates were shut to motorists.

Library personnel directed latecomers to park along winding Presidential Drive, which entailed a lengthy uphill walk to the library for those seeking prime vantage points for viewing the aerial display.

When the call to commence the proceedings at 2 p.m. rang out over a loudspeaker, the crowd looked up to the hazy, cloudy sky, where a smallish plane circled high above.

On command, two jumpers from the Pacific Coast Pelican Parachute Team leaped from the craft at 6,000 feet and began a 15-second free fall.

To oohs and ahs from the crowd, the duo clasped together for a moment, tumbled and whipped around, then broke apart during their spiraling descent.

With the American flag unfurled in midair and red smoke trailing from one jumper, the parachutists made a pinpoint landing on the library entrance lawn and were welcomed by loud ovations.

Soon it got much louder.

Pilots from the Camarillo-based Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force zoomed overhead in their vintage WWII-era aircraft. The larger, more cumbersome craft flew by in a straight line while smaller, more agile planes drew cheers from the crowd as they performed aerobatic twists and turns, leaving smoky trails in their wake.

“These are some of the rarest (aircraft) you will ever see flying in the sky,” Confederate Air Force historian Ron Fleishman announced to the crowd.

Seventeen craft in all took part in the air show, including:

* The B-25 Mitchell bomber. One just like it delivered the first strike against the Japanese mainland.

* The amphibious PBY--with its fat, elongated body placed below a large wing--rescued downed airmen in the South Pacific.

* A reconditioned Heinkel HE-111, the first World War II-era bomber used by the German Air Force, and the only one flying in the world today.

Don McMillan, 74, knew that a TBM Avenger was about to cruise by before it even appeared over the Simi Valley Hills. Its cackling engine was a dead giveaway for McMillan, who piloted the torpedo bomber in the South Pacific.

“I’d like to be up there with them,” he said, looking skyward.

After the 45-minute show, many headed indoors to view the exhibit, which continues seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Feb. 28.