Flight of Fancy

Don’t panic, San Fernando Valley residents.

Friday’s invasion by 45 military aircraft was strictly a peaceful mission: the Aviation Expo ’96 scheduled to get under way today at the Van Nuys Airport.

The 33rd annual expo is a family-oriented event which in the last few years has drawn about 250,000 people--mostly from the Valley--over two days, said Stacy Geere, the airport’s spokeswoman and the event’s coordinator.

“It’s a huge community function,” said Geere.

Spectators can “get up close to the military jets and meet the pilots,” she said. “They stand outside their planes ready to greet everyone and sign autographs.

The airport’s gates will open at 9 a.m. today and Sunday and close at 5, Geere said. Admission is free.

Today’s opening ceremonies include a presentation by City Councilman Joel Wachs.

Wachs, the grand marshal, will recognize actor Taran Noah Smith--from the ABC show “Home Improvement”--a pilot who has done volunteer work with the Make a Wish Foundation.

Wachs also will honor the Experimental Aircraft Assn., a nonprofit Young Eagles program and the North Valley Occupational Center Aircraft Mechanics School, one of two schools in the country that offers aviation training to students still in high school.

On both days there will be flight demonstrations using some of the craft, including formation flights of F-16s and maneuvers by Apache Helicopters.

The Misty Blues All Woman Skydiving Team will also perform stunts on both days, Geere said.

Fighter jets such as the F-16, and the B-2 Stealth bomber--a first-ever in the Van Nuys show--are usually the most popular craft among aviation enthusiasts, Geere said. But pilots of lesser-known planes such as the KC-10, a tanker that fuels jets in flight, will also answer spectators’ questions.

Geere said some of the older planes that will be on display, like the Russian MiG, trace back to World War II.

“A lot of [teenagers] want to know how to become a pilot and what it’s like,” said Capt. Ken Wisher, who flew a T-38 jet from Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, Calif.

“People ask a lot of good questions,” said Capt. Scott “K-9” Kindsvater, particularly about the bomb racks beneath his F-15E Strike Eagle.

In the last few years, the event raised about $45,000 from concessions, money which was donated to local charities, Geere said.

Van Nuys Airport is at 8030 Balboa Blvd.