RECREATION / IRENE GARCIA : They’re Just Plane Folks

Every Sunday morning, Albert Valencia packs his brown van with a sophisticated model airplane, an array of tools to service its engine, food and a cooler.

He unloads at the Apollo Model Airport in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and spends the day flying a model of an F-89 Scorpion, a black fighter jet used by the military as a spy plane.

The Scorpion model can do everything a real plane does except carry passengers. With a remote control, Valencia makes it perform all sorts of acrobatics, including loops, rolls and dives.

Eighty-two inches wide and 72 inches long, the Scorpion weighs about 15 pounds and can travel up to 120 miles per hour. Its powerful engine rotates as many as 22,000 times a minute.

For Valencia and many of the hundreds of model plane buffs who frequent the facility, remote control flying is a serious business.

On a recent afternoon, an array of planes were parked between runs. They ranged from a P51 World War II plane complete with invasion stripes and swastikas, to a Mooney 231, a civilian plane with photos of two human faces glued to the side windows as if they were passengers.

The accessories are extremely important for those who want their aircraft to look authentic.

“It took me seven months to build this Scorpion,” said Valencia, who lives in Torrance. “Every time I fly it I put about 20 hours of work into it.”

Before sending his plane up, Valencia tunes the engine and thoroughly checks the landing tires, battery and electrical system, like a real mechanic working on a full-sized plane.

And it’s no wonder. These toys aren’t cheap. A bottom-of-the-line plane costs about $375, with the more sophisticated ones ranging up to $20,000.

The airport, which is run by the L.A. City Department of Recreation and Parks, has a 10-acre field, complete with a 650-foot-by-40-foot runway. There’s a frequency control panel and a large board that lists rules and regulations.

The Apollo Model Airport is the best facility of its kind in Southern California, which is why pilots--that is what they consider themselves--such as Valencia don’t mind driving 35 miles to reach it.

“About 500 people use the field on a weekly basis,” said Don Goeschl, president of the San Fernando Valley Flyers Club, which helps run the airport. “Everyone who comes out goes through preflight training for safety.”

Planes aren’t allowed to fly higher than 200 feet and are required to stay within a four-mile radius. Pilots’ ages range from early teens to late 70s.

Jim Arthur, a retired industrial engineer from Reseda, visits the field an average of three times a week. He owns a basic trainer, called a Lucky Stik, and an Astro Hog that can travel up to 80 mph.

“I come at sunrise and I’m usually here a couple of hours each day,” Arthur said. “I really enjoy it. It’s great for recreation and I really like visiting with the other fellas.”

The San Fernando Valley Flyers Club was founded in the 1950s for those who wanted to fly radio-controlled model airplanes. For a $20 annual membership fee, newcomers have access to one of the club’s six instructors.

Novices receive flying lessons and in-depth instructions on how to build a plane. To fly alone, a pilot must be able to take off and land in both directions, rescue a stalled plane and perform a dead-stick landing--avoiding a crash when the engine dies.

“It’s very thrilling when there’s a plane up there and you make it do what you want with two little sticks,” said Bob Brushaber, an instructor who has flown model planes for 25 years. “It’s very challenging.”

Valencia, who owns a body shop, says his life has taken a turn for the better since he started flying model planes about five years ago.

He competes in about five events a year, so most of his spare time is spent preparing his planes.

“I used to drink a lot,” Valencia said. “Now all my nights I spend working on my models. On weekends I fly. It’s very relaxing.”

He plans to buy a War Hog, the biggest and most powerful of model planes. Its size alone--115 inches long by 115 inches wide--is impressive.

“Now that one looks real,” Valencia said. “It’s bigger than anything else out here.”

But it still fits in his van.